You think - Oh NO! It's Saturday and Sunday. It sounds like a great idea working on a new project with new toys - or tools as they call them. But what about your family? You are probably going to be away from them most of the week anyway. You’re a Mom or a Dad, a wife or a husband. You will be away. How sad, you will be away from your family for a week! Trust me it is hard. Harder than you may think.
I'm a home type person. I have a lot of animals. A small home. A lot of property. A husband who I adore. A son who I believe is the best in the world - most of the time. OK all the times, I doubt he will read this. Even when he is up to something, I still think he is the best in the world.
Be warned I'm about to try to stereotype people:
Now a man - Shall I label you? - You are used to your wife taking care of the children. You are used to your home running smoothly with the help of your wife. She may work. You may share chores with her. But the kids? Well the kids depend on her. She's there Mom. And you, you have a little freedom. You are their dad but they may be used to you leaving. Leaving for the week of Teched maybe alright. But the extra 2 days for Innojam? Maybe? It will be a strain on your wife and your children. But maybe. Sound like you? Not like you? Comment.
Now a woman - Shall I label you too? - You are used to taking care of the children. If your husband has to leave for work, you are there at home. You may or may not work outside of the home. You may or may not share the chores with your husband. Leaving for a week for clear defined company objectives. Yes, that may be OK. You will miss everyone, but you can still make it happen. Your husband will not mind, it's work after all. Innojam? Well, really? Is that work? Will that help you? So why should you go? Why should you leave your family you should miss? Sound like you? Not like you? comment.
Now Innojam:
The one thing I would not miss! Why? Will it help me at work? Will it make me move ahead? No, no, no. So why wouldn't I miss it? Many reasons. I make contacts, friends from other parts of the globe. I get to "play" / use the new technology that I've only heard about. And I will be blogging about it. I just haven't gotten all my thoughts together yet.
Now - I'm going to step off the path again:
And I'm a woman. Hear me roar! That's not a politically correct thing to write or say. Michelle Marie - do you really think women are better than men? Or maybe you think the US is better than any other country? No and No. I don't agree with any of that. A person is what they do and how they act. I do embrace inclusion. I just went to an event called Embracing Inclusion with Design Thinking. What did that mean? Please, please, look and read those blogs about the event.
Why do I say women should go to Innojam? The reason why is simply diversity. I saw many people from many different contries at Innojam LV. I saw a handful of women. Some groups were trying to find one to get diversity. And guess what? There were none to be had.
So my comment to you - man or women. Both of you come and have fun. I know it's extra time away from your family. I left Saturday and was back home the next Saturday. Seven days - SEVEN DAYS! I couldn't wait to go home, and my home life is very different than most. I'll try to write about it in the next mentor's quarterly.
So hopefully, this isn't too bad.
My request is geared to women. I'm sending out a personal request - my request is to the women! To you reading this. Try to reorganize - all developers - are good at reorganization. Try really hard to get to Innojam.
Being a woman in technology is cool! It is something your daughter may want to do someday! Believe it or not, diversified teams do better. So most of the teams will be hunting for you!!!
Now more Diversity
Now men - I am women hear me roar! That must mean I don't want men to show up? Really? Not true. I want men to show up too! I want just as many people as can show up. I would love to see the Innojam weekend full! Why? I am not going to be there. Why? Because I love the SCN community. I love to think of you working together to come up with a design. My personal Innojam experience blog is coming up shortly. And by the way diversification does not happen without men and women. I'm appealing to, and hope you and anyone who reads this does go to Innojam, to women because they do not come as much as men. There are a lot less Women than men. At a guess 1 in 45.
So this will be one of the few times I split up talking about men and women. I believe we are both equal. I can't complain about how I have personally been treated most of the time. I tend to not notice things like that very often. There are a couple of occasions I could tell you about, and may in future blogs. However, we need everyone to get a good design and development. I am not the first one to stand up and say - I am a woman. I just don't think like that. You probably don't either. I am the first one to stand up and say I am a developer. I hope that's what everyone reading this can say. (Or whatever you are, I've heard there are people like managers there.)
Oh and you "functional" people we don't need you! Are you kidding? Of course Innojam needs you too. I worked with Eric Ledo. He created a - I hope I get this right - a DMS configuration for our project. He did it very fast - in less time than we could talk about it. Yes, he was technical as well. But he was good at the functional side. So when the design ideas come up, you can think about how to make the process better. How can you link it back to SAP? Maybe you can configure an area of SAP? Or do a flow chart? Or... you name it.
I drank the "Embracing Inclusion with Design Thinking" juice. I hope you do too. Both my Innojam and Embracing Inclusion with Design Thinking were, you guessed it, diversified.
So:
- Go Woman!
- Go Man!
- Go all Countries!
- Go Functionals!
- Go Developers!
- No Excuses - just go!
Now - do I sound like a cheerleader? I probably do. But I don't care. This is a fun project. I hope you enjoy it just as much as I do / did. BUT try to sleep more than I did. Lack of sleep is not a good thing for me.
I missed my family. But it was all worth it. I'm back home now. I am sick. I blame the airplane - a lot of people were coughing in the airplane. But everyone is being so nice to me. This may last a couple of days. I have a teenage son who usually has to be prodded into talking with me. My husband, he is wonderful and he is making me feel like a queen.
That strange relationship I talked about. My husband is a stay at home dad. That allows me more freedom than a lot of you. SO - I do hope you can still go. I also know it is a lot harder to get away than I am making it sound. Like I said I hope to write an article in the Mentors Quarterly about that. My husband has the hardest job in the world.
