When creative companies bring diverse teams and skill-sets together, they bank on the idea that seamless interdisciplinary collaboration will lead to truly innovative products and experiences—and it will, if empathy, inclusivity, and communication are priorities. The DevOps community has embraced things like value stream mapping and continuous feedback loops, but these concepts need reframing to resonate with Strategy and Design disciplines. Technologists and engineers have the opportunity to teach and cultivate collaboration strategies beyond the bounds of their area of expertise. In this ignite, I cover some of the successes and failures I’ve experienced when trying to bring DevOps values to the wider organization and explain how empathy, inclusion, and communication are integral to the successes. I discuss a handful of ideas, including surprise reduction, curiosity, and sharing, and will briefly touch upon how diversity in teams enables stronger ideas and better innovation. The journey of cultural change will be different from one organization to the next, but I hope to ignite more conversation on this topic by talking about the changes we’ve attempted. Ultimately, by working to understand other disciplines and finding empathetic, inclusive ways to bridge the gaps between "us and them," technology can work more collaboratively with other disciplines, and we can create better, more innovative products as a result.

1. @LANYONM / CRITICAL MASS, INC.
D E V O P S D A Y S N Y C 2 0 1 5
INNOVATION IN A CREATIVE COMPANY

2. @LANYONM / CRITICAL MASS, INC.
WE ARE A
DIGITAL EXPERIENCE DESIGN AGENCY
WITH A RELENTLESS FOCUS
ON THE CUSTOMER

3. @LANYONM / CRITICAL MASS, INC.
形
(Kata)

4. @LANYONM / CRITICAL MASS, INC.
Deming
IMPORTANT, BUT INSUFFICIENT…
Shewhart Goldratt

5. @LANYONM / CRITICAL MASS, INC.
COMMUNICATION
EMPATHY
INCLUSIVITY

6. @LANYONM / CRITICAL MASS, INC.
SURPRISE REDUCTION

7. @LANYONM / CRITICAL MASS, INC.
UNDERSTAND YOUR ASSUMPTIONS
AND
ANTICIPATE OTHERS’ NEEDS

8. @LANYONM / CRITICAL MASS, INC.
“Surprise reduction leads to
greater happiness, improved trust,
increased productivity, and
stronger collaboration.”
~ COMMON SENSE
SURPRISE REDUCTION

9. @LANYONM / CRITICAL MASS, INC.
CurIoSity

10. @LANYONM / CRITICAL MASS, INC.

11. @LANYONM / CRITICAL MASS, INC.
TAKE ACTION
Reflect on your curiosity
Ask questions
Start conversations

12. @LANYONM / CRITICAL MASS, INC.
RECIPROCATING ACTION
ANSWER QUESTIONS
TEACH
CONTINUE THE CONVERSATION

13. @LANYONM / CRITICAL MASS, INC.
Early in my career…

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SHARE EARLY,
SHARE OFTEN

15. @LANYONM / CRITICAL MASS, INC.
EMPATHY
Surprise Reduction + Curiosity + Sharing
(+ Other things not covered in this presentation)

16. @LANYONM / CRITICAL MASS, INC.
GOOD EXPERIENCE DESIGN
IS ROOTED IN EMPATHY

17. @LANYONM / CRITICAL MASS, INC.

18. @LANYONM / CRITICAL MASS, INC.
INCLUSIVITY
INCLUSIVITY BEGETS DIVERSITY
DIVERSITY YIELDS GREATER PERSPECTIVE
GREATER PERSPECTIVE LEADS TO INNOVATION
INCLUSIVITY LEADS TO INNOVATION

19. @LANYONM / CRITICAL MASS, INC.
CULTURE IS HARD
But you’re among friends, so let’s keep trying.

20. @LANYONM / CRITICAL MASS, INC.
MIKE LANYON
VP OF ENGINEERING
@lany onm
http://b log.lanyonm .org
Photo Sources:
Shewhart - http://www.resourcesystemsconsulting.com//wp-content/uploads/shewhart.jpg
Deming - https://www.census.gov/history/img/deming.jpg
Goldratt - https://orlandoolguin.files.wordpress.com/2008/09/eliyahu_goldratt.jpg
Cat - http://i.huffpost.com/gen/928734/images/o-SURPRISED-CATS-facebook.jpg
Dog - http://images.boomsbeat.com/data/images/full/24389/dog_2-png.png
Sarah Walker, Near Earth Objects VIII - http://i1.wp.com/www.pierogi2000.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/WalkerNEO.VIIIweb.jpg
Sarah Walker, Near Earth Objects I - http://i2.wp.com/www.pierogi2000.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/NEO.I.jpg
Typing - http://blog.marketo.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/jim-carrey-typing.jpg
We Venn - http://ezradew.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/empathy-.jpg