Natalie Warnert: Regional Scrum Gathering South Africa 2019 Presentation - Cape Town - Keynote

1. Nurturing Diversity in
Technology Through Lean
Startup & Product Kata
(case study: Women in Agile Org)
Natalie Warnert
SGUSA Regional Scrum Gathering
October 17, 2019

2. @womeninagile
How do you systemize
innovation?

3. @womeninagileorg
• Sowing the seeds of ideation
• Approaches for experimentation
• Understanding the impact on the
system
• Case Study: Women in Agile

4. @womeninagileorg
The Seeds of Innovation
● Hard work in a specific direction
● Hard work with direction change
● Curiosity
● Wealth and Money
● Necessity
● Combination

5. @womeninagileorg
@nataliewarnert
• A problem that needs to be solved
• Obstacle(s) block a desirable outcome
• Highly uncertain paths to desirable outcome
What do all products have in common?

6. @womeninagileorg
@nataliewarnert
• A problem that needs to be solved
• Obstacle(s) block a desirable outcome
• Highly uncertain paths to desirable outcome
What do all products movements have in common?

7. @womeninagileorg
@nataliewarnert
• A problem that needs to be solved
• Obstacle(s) block a desirable outcome
• Highly uncertain paths to desirable outcome
• Passionate people who are invested & curious
What do all products movements have in common?

8. @womeninagileorg
@nataliewarnert
• Slow hunches
• Collision with other ideas/hunches
• Diverse perspectives and experiences
Where do good ideas come from?

9. @womeninagileorg
@nataliewarnert
“It was not like the legendary apple falling on
Newton’s head to demonstrate the concept of
gravity…it was a process of accretion (growth
by gradual addition).” – Tim Berners-Lee,
Weaving the Web
Slow hunches

10. @womeninagileorg
@nataliewarnert
“Any seemingly grand idea can be
divided into an infinite series of
smaller, previously known ideas.” –
Scott Berkun
Collision with other ideas/hunches

11. @womeninagileorg
@nataliewarnert
“Don’t worry about people
stealing your ideas. If
your ideas are good
enough you will have to
ram them down
people’s throats.”
Howard H. Aiken
The lone innovator is a
myth.
Diverse perspectives and experiences

12. @womeninagileorg
@nataliewarnert
Where are all the women?
There was a known and noticeable
lack of gender parity/proportion in
conferences, speakers, bloggers, and
other agile events.

13. @womeninagile
“It doesn’t matter where you start
as long as you start…Execution
demands more effort than idea
generation, and it’s difficult to know
how much more until you try.” –
Scott Berkun, The Myths of
Innovation

14. @womeninagileorg
@nataliewarnert
So we did a few “experiments”
WiA Open
Space
2013
WiA
Dinner
2013
Stake-
holder
Mtg
2014
Dream
Session
2015
WomenInAgile site
launch
Blog on Coaching
Agile Teams
Face to face
meetings
#WomenInAgile

15. @womeninagileorg
Approaches for
experimentation

16. @womeninagileorg
@nataliewarnert
Lean Startup Principles
• Entrepreneurs are everywhere
• Entrepreneurship is management
• Validated learning
• Innovation Accounting (leading indicators)
• Build-Measure-Learn

17. @womeninagileorg
@nataliewarnert
Where do we get stuck?
Too many
startups
begin with an
idea for a
product that
they think
people
want.
”Just do it” mentality
Scope = too big. Lean startup and MVP = corrupt
term

18. @womeninagileorg
@nataliewarnert
Scope is too
large -- hard
to manage,
experiment &
measure
progress
The smaller
the ambition
the better the
odds.
”Just do it” mentality
Scope = too big. Lean startup and MVP = corrupt
term
Where do we get stuck?

19. @womeninagileorg
@nataliewarnert
The current state of the
market is not ready
”The secret tragedy of
innovators is that their
desire to improve the
world is rarely matched
by support from those
they hope to help” –
Scott Berkun
Where do we get stuck?

20. @womeninagileorg
@nataliewarnert
High expertise and
confidence make
people the greatest
resisters to new
ideas as they have
the most to lose.
Where do we get stuck?

21. @womeninagileorg
@nataliewarnert
Company Goal,
Product KPI, Future
State
What are
users doing
now?
What is the
first little goal
User
Research,
Product
Experiments
Product Kata to manage & experiment
Planning
Experimenting
Source: Melissa Perri - https://melissaperri.com/blog/2015/07/22/the-product-kata

22. @womeninagileorg
@nataliewarnert
Where are all the women?
There was a known and noticeable
lack of gender parity/proportion in
conferences, speakers, bloggers, and
other agile events. We wanted to
change this to be more equitable and
inclusive.
Company Goal,
Product KPI, Future
State
What are users
doing now?
What is the first
little goal
User Research,
Product
Experiments

23. @womeninagileorg
BUT WE DIDN’T
UNDERSTAND THE
ROOT OF THE
PROBLEM…

24. @womeninagileorg
@nataliewarnert
When asked to people of both genders:
Why are you less involved in the agile community?
When thinking specifically of women, why do you think
they are less involved in the agile community?
Thesis Research: May 2015 - Natalie Warnert
Company Goal,
Product KPI, Future
State
What are users
doing now?
What is the first
little goal
User Research,
Product
Experiments

25. @womeninagileorg
@nataliewarnert
When asked to people of both genders:
Why are you less involved in the agile community?
Intimidation from lack of diversity
■ Women 9% (individually)
■ Men 3% (individually)
When thinking specifically of women, why do you think they are less
involved in the agile community?
Intimidation from lack of diversity
■ Women 33% (perception of women)
■ Men 60% (perception of women)
Thesis Research: May 2015 - Natalie Warnert
Company Goal,
Product KPI, Future
State
What are users
doing now?
What is the first
little goal
User Research,
Product
Experiments

26. @womeninagile It’s not that women aren’t
capable or willing to be involved.
It’s that there is a high barrier to
entry when everyone thinks
you’re one of the loneliest people
in the room.
It’s a self-serving and implicit
bias that we are not addressing
the inequality or the root causes.
This is caused by societal
conditioning & perceptions.

27. @womeninagileorg
UNDERSTANDING THE
IMPACT ON THE SYSTEM

28. @womeninagileorg
@nataliewarnert
Current condition is self-perpetuating
Societal conditioning
and perception of
women
Fewer women (less
diversity) in
technology industry
Implicit bias about
intimidation
Few/fragmented
efforts to decrease the
implicit bias
Less diversity and
participation in the
technology community

29. @womeninagileorg
@nataliewarnert
Hypothesis: We believe Women in Agile Org can inform,
empower, extend, and activate more women to develop and
share their ideas and skills with the agile community.
Goal: Increase diversity, inclusion, and participation of
women within the agile community. When there is more
diversity and sharing, everyone benefits from the ideas and
innovations that are generated.
Scope: Women who are already in agile/STEM fields
Agile community = conference speaking & organizing,
podcasting, blogging, meetup groups
We needed targeted hypotheses, goals and
defined scope
Company Goal,
Product KPI, Future
State
What are users
doing now?
What is the first
little goal
User Research,
Product
Experiments

30. @womeninagileorg
@nataliewarnert
• What problems does the idea solve? Whose
problems are they?
• What problems does the idea create? Whose
problems are they?
But it wasn’t that easy…

31. @womeninagileorg
@nataliewarnert
• Bring up the topic at conferences where we see it
• Listen to other obstacles to diversity and inclusion
• Code of Conduct
• Speaker fees and #paytospeak
• Accessible spaces
• Need help from allies
• Take it to social media and start discussion/promotion
• Make spaces for women’s voices to be heard
Goal: Create awareness of the inequity of speakers
and other obstacles to diversity and inclusion.
Company Goal,
Product KPI, Future
State
What are users
doing now?
What is the first
little goal
User Research,
Product
Experiments

32. @womeninagileorg
@nataliewarnert
Make safe spaces where all genders work together to
discuss problems and find solutions together.
Program - Conference Allyship
Agile Alliance Initiative 2016-2019, SAFe Summit 2017-2019, Business Agility
Conference 2019 (Pictured above: Agile2018 Women in Agile Initiative)
• Greater diversity
representation
• Speaker fee
transparency
• Attendee sponsorships
• Universal code of
conduct
• Focus on inclusion,
allyship
• Decentralization of
events for scaling

33. @womeninagileorg
@nataliewarnert
• Pairing women & allies together for presentations and mentoring
• Specific opportunities for women to speak
• Conferences
• Podcasts
• Blogs
• Meetups
Goal: Make spaces for women’s voices to be heard
Company Goal,
Product KPI, Future
State
What are users
doing now?
What is the first
little goal
User Research,
Product
Experiments

34. @womeninagileorg
@nataliewarnert
New voices power our diversity, and we seek to lower the
barriers to entry while empowering and amplifying those
voices.
Program - Launching New Voices
• 2017 - Launching New Voices Program
Established
• Lower barrier to entry (mentors/allies)
• Showcase new ideas
• Grow the next generation
• 9 new voices launched via conference
presentation
• Expanded to podcasts, writing etc.

35. @womeninagileorg
@nataliewarnert
• Local groups that can meet more frequently
• Places to share ideas and networking
• Low barrier to entry, high return and scalability
• Meetup expenses paid
• Code of conduct
• Simple, repeatable onboarding process
• Low overhead
• Open to anyone
Goal: Accessible connections that can scale rapidly
Company Goal,
Product KPI, Future
State
What are users
doing now?
What is the first
little goal
User Research,
Product
Experiments

36. @womeninagileorg
@nataliewarnert
Extending reach and connecting through a
network of sustainable local groups
Program - Seeding Local Communities
● 2015 – First group formed in Florida
● 2018 - WomeninAgile.ORG group affiliation
● 48 - local groups in the world and continues to grow.
● The Local program has two key goals: growth
through launching new groups and nurturing
vibrant active groups
● Decentralization of ownership and management
By activating sustainable small communities
around the world, we broaden the reach and
impact year round. We provide tools and
support and promotional efforts to the group
organizers, to enable community engagement
and lower the barrier to entry.

37. 30
3
1
1
6
Women in Agile Local Groups
2
1 1
2

38. @womeninagileorg
@nataliewarnert
Everyone is an entrepreneur and needs to have room to
experiment on problems instead of focusing on epiphany.
Small experiments through kata can thrive within the larger
build-measure-learn loop to chip away at the larger
current condition by tackling smaller symptoms if they’re
actively managed.
Decentralization allows for more diversity, curiosity, ideas
and enables rapid scaling.
Focus on validated learning and leading indicators of
change are set for the current condition in the larger build-
measure-learn loop (centralized).
Decentralized decision making & control leads to a
system that supports systemic scaling of ideas!

39. @womeninagileorg
@nataliewarnert
Women in Agile, Inc. Est 2018
A 501(c)(3) Non-profit Organization (May 2019)
The Women in Agile community drives toward equality and inclusion of
diversity representation, expertise, and involvement in the agile
community. We value diverse idea representation to empower the
agile community and enterprises and believe everyone is better off
when more ideas are shared.
We support this mission through three programs:
Conference Allyship
Seeding Local Communities
Launching New Voices
Executive Board
Deema
Dajani
Natalie
Warnert
Joanna
Vahlsing

40. Timeline of Experiments
May2013
Aug2013
Aug2014
May2015
Aug2015
Fall2015
Aug2016
Aug2017
Oct2017
May2018Aug2018Oct2018Dec2018Mar2019April2019
InitialGatheringWebsite,Twitter,PartnerBlog,
LinkedInGroup
InformalGatheringThesis&PrimaryResearch
DreamingSessionSouthFloridaLocalGroup
Aug2019
InitiativeAgile2016
InitiativeAgile2017,LNVLaunch
SAFeSummitBreakfast
Nonprofitentity&TMapplication,Twitteracct,logo
InitiativeAgile2018
SAFeSummitBreakfast
CorporateSponsorship,LinkedInCompanypg
BizAgilityPartnerConference,Instagramacct
501c3StatusAgile2019PartnerConference
Larger current condition: There are too few women involved in
the agile community.

41. @womeninagileorg
Leading Indicators: Women in Agile
■ 3 large supporting donors to the 501(c)(3) non profit
■ Flagship Conference Events Held: 8 (largest with 300 + attendees)
■ Local Groups Started: 48
■ New Voices Launched: 9 + additional at regional/national events
■ Countless local meetups & regional conference pairings
■ Code of Conducts added to conferences: 5 (known)
■ Female Conference Speaker Increase
– 2013-15 Female Agile20xx conference speakers: 25% (avg)
– 2016-18 Female Agile20xx conference speakers: 30% (avg)
– 2018 (solo) Female Agile2018 conference speakers: 35%
– 2019 (solo) Female Agile2019 conference speakers: 38%

42. @womeninagile
It’s the difference
between caring and
caring enough to do
something.
Anyone can innovate!

43. Thank you!
Natalie Warnert
www.nataliewarnert.com
@nataliewarnert
www.womeninagile.org
@womeninagileorg