Revenge of the Nerds: People, Culture & Innovation

Revenge of the Nerds:People, Culture & Innovation

Meghan (@irishgirl) Nancy (@nylons) www.geekgirlsguide.com

Follow. Friend. Stalk.Work: clockwork.netBlog & Podcast: geekgirlsguide.comFacebook: facebook.com/geekgirlsguideTwitter: @geekgirlsguide

People, Culture & Innovation

technology != innovation

User-centered DesignA philosophy in which the needs, wants,and limitations of end users of aninterface or document are givenextensive attention at each stage ofthe design process. - Wikipedia

User-centered CultureA philosophy in which the needs, wants,and limitations of end users of aproduct or service are givenextensive attention at every level ofthe organization. - Geek Girls Guide

Everyone’s a user. Employees Clients Customers

The problem with users.

People-centered CultureA philosophy in which the needs, wants,and limitations of people are givenextensive attention at every level ofan organization. - Geek Girls Guide

Users are people. Employees Clients Customers

Corporate structures haven’tchanged (much) since the 1800s.

Distribution of power and information is tightly controlled.

2000 “Hyperlinks subvert hierarchy. In markets and among employees, people are speaking to each other in a powerful new way. These conversations are enabling new forms of social organization and knowledge exchange to emerge.”

“Companies that areboth deeply and widelyengaged in social mediasurpass their peers inboth revenue andproﬁt performance bya signiﬁcant difference.” http://www.engagementdb.com/

Employees Clients Customers

Happy people do good work. It’s not about kegs and foosball. Image source: http://www.ﬂickr.com/photos/sharynmorrow/2618698358/

What makes us happy? http://www.fastcodesign.com/1663166/infographic-of-the-day-what-makes-a-company-good-to-work-for http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/bestcompanies/2011/word_cloud/index.html

A product-driveneconomy is relativelypredictable.A people-driveneconomy is chaotic.

Attention, nerds:We are uniquely equippedto harness the chaos.Except for one thing.

Typical Developer Typical User Male Female 19 - 29 35 - 54 White White College Educated High School Education Doing job for 3 yrs or less Sources: http://aneventapart.com/alasurvey2009/ http://www.istrategylabs.com/2010/01/facebook-demographics-and-statistics-report-2010-145-growth-in-1-year/ http://www.census.gov/hhes/socdemo/education/data/cps/2009/tables.html

Mini-jackass 5priceless.

technology != innovation

humanity = innovation

Emotional Intelligence The ability to identify, assess, and manage the emotions of self, others, and groups.

1Communicate openly.Speak the other person’s language,don’t expect them to speak yours.

Loud talkingdoesn’t help.One language isnot superior tothe other.

2Listen.Don’t just listen to what people say,try to understand what they mean.

3Treat the client as the expert.You’re the idiot in the room.

4Push your boundaries.Practice humility.

5Don’t allow“us vs. them”attitudes.

“The Internet will not ﬁxwhatever happened in highschool.” - Meg Fowler

Thank you. If you hated us, tell us.If you loved us, tell the Internet.

Revenge of the Nerds: People, Culture & Innovation

by Geek Girls on Apr 11, 2011

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Revenge of the Nerds: People, Culture & Innovation Presentation Transcript

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