Everything is awesome: the LEGOⓇ approach to being an awesome coworker

A presentation at NDC Oslo in June 2018 in Oslo, Norway by Jayne Mast

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Everything Is Awesome The LEGO Ⓡ approach to being an awesome coworker

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Paul Verbeek-Mast   (@paul_v_m) Web person @

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“The great enemy of communication, we find, is the illusion of it.” William H. Whyte

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“We have talked enough; but we have not listened.” William H. Whyte

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“many leaders assume they are better at valuing diversity than they actually are” Havard Business Review – Leaders Aren’t Great at Judging How Inclusive They Are https://hbr.org/2017/10/leaders-arent-great-at-judging-how-inclusive-they-are

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“The great enemy of inclusivity, we find, is the illusion of it.” Paul Verbeek-Mast

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It’s about building a climate of trust, appreciation, and openness to differences in thoughts, styles and backgrounds

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The early days
of tech

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The early
days of tech

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The early
days of tech ENIAC (Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer)

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The early
days of tech

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The early
days of tech

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The early
days of tech

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The rise of men

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The rise of men In 1967 alone,
700,000 people took the
IBM Aptitude test

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The rise of men Of those 1378,
only 186 were women

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The rise of men “[Programmers] dislike activities involving close personal interaction.” A vocational interest scale for computer programmers  

William M. Cannon & Dallis K. Perry

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The rise of men • Antisocial personality disorder favours men by 3:1 ratio; • Autism and Asperger’s is seen as high as 7:1; • Antisocial women are seen as “not liking people”, while men are seen as a “lone wolf”

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The rise of men “[The] industry selected for antisocial, mathematically inclined males, and therefore antisocial and mathematically inclined males were overrepresented in the programmer population” The Computer Boys Take Over  

Nathan Ensmenger

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The rise of men “This in turn reinforced the popular perception that programmers ought

to be antisocial and mathematically inclined (and therefore male).“ The Computer Boys Take Over  

Nathan Ensmenger

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The rise of men

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The rise of men

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The bro culture

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The bro culture Joe Liemandt — Founder of Trilogy Software

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The bro culture “We’re elite talent; and it’s potential and talent, not experience, that has merit.” “only the best”

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The bro culture • How many piano tuners are there in the world?; • How many golf balls fit in standard double decker bus?; • How much would you charge to wash all the windows in San Francisco?

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The bro culture Holidays were called competitive advantage days, because no one else was working.

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The bro culture Insane work hours, drinking, gambling and Vegas. Plus valuing potential over experience, made the culture male dominated.

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The bro culture

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The bro culture • Susan Fowler; • Niniane Wang; • Susan Ho; • Leiti Hsu; • Sarah Kunst; • Cheryl Yeoh.

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The bro culture • Women; • People of colour; • LGBTQIA+; • People with a disability; • People in economic or social hardships.

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Piece of Resistance

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A rant about "Inclusivity and the LEGO Movie”

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</rant>

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If you let everyone be their unique selves, and value each other,
you can achieve great things

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Equality =
uniformity

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Equality =
uniformity

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Equality =
uniformity Equality !=
uniformity

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Make everyone
feel welcome
and included

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Reach out to new colleagues Make everyone
feel welcome
and included

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On-boarding buddy Make everyone
feel welcome
and included

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Your whole team changes Make everyone
feel welcome
and included

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Don’t assume that they will eventually learn Make everyone
feel welcome
and included

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Use inclusive language Make everyone
feel welcome
and included

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• Put people first; Use inclusive language Make everyone
feel welcome
and included Blind man vs. A man who is blind

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Use inclusive language Make everyone
feel welcome
and included • Put people first; • Avoid jargons and abbreviations; “The key test for an acronym is to ask whether it helps or hurts communication. An acronym that most engineers outside of SpaceX already know, such as GUI, is fine to use. It is also ok to make up a few acronyms/ contractions every now and again, […] but those need to be kept to a minimum.”

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Use inclusive language Make everyone
feel welcome
and included • Put people first; • Avoid jargons and abbreviations; • “Guys” is not gender neutral; Instead of “guys”, use “people",
“folk”, “everyone" or “y’all”. Instead of “he” or “she”, use “they”.

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Use inclusive language Make everyone
feel welcome
and included • Put people first; • Avoid jargons and abbreviations; • “Guys” is not gender neutral;
• Don’t underplay the impact of mental disabilities;

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Use inclusive language Make everyone
feel welcome
and included • Put people first; • Avoid jargons and abbreviations; • “Guys” is not gender neutral; • Don’t underplay the impact of mental disabilities; • Coding is also communication;

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Be humble

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Accept your limitations Be humble

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Listen Be humble

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How many times do you bring your phone or laptop to a meeting? Be humble

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Talk less, listen more Be humble

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If someone needs to vent, lend them an ear Be humble

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Let people be heard Be humble

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“When you have a contribution to make in a meeting, how often are you able to do so?” Be humble Let people be heard Only 35% felt they were always able to make a contribution, when they had something to add

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• Introverts; • Remote workers;
• Women; • People of colour; Be humble Let people be heard

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• Share the purpose of the meeting; • Include remote workers;
• No talking over each other; • Keep it central; • Email a summary; Be humble Let people be heard

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• Interrupt long discussions; • Ask for opinions;
• Give credit where it is due; • Feedback round; Be humble Let people be heard

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Be humble Be an ally Someone who supports equal rights for others, and acts when people face exclusion and discrimination

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Be humble • Speak their name when they aren't around; • Share their career goals with influencers; • Invite them to high-profile meetings; • Endorse them publicly; Be an ally 56% of leaders don’t value ideas they don’t personally see a need for

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Be humble Be an ally • Speak their name when they aren't around; • Share their career goals with influencers; • Invite them to high-profile meetings; • Endorse them publicly; • Stop with mansplaining and manterrupting.  

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Be humble Mansplaining – the act of explaining something in a condescending and overconfident way; Manterrupting – when a man unnecessary interrupts a women.