Diversity as a Dependency - EuroPython · •Solving difficult problems • Unexpected results •...

Diversity as a Dependency

Anna Martelli Ravenscroft

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1Friday, June 24, 2011

What do you think of when you hear the word

22Friday, June 24, 2011

What do you think of when you hear the word

2

diversity

2Friday, June 24, 2011

The Usual Framing

33Friday, June 24, 2011

The Usual Framing

• Moral

• Legal

• Political/Social

33Friday, June 24, 2011

• Moral

• Legal

• Political/Social

33Friday, June 24, 2011

The Usual Framing

4

Guilt

4Friday, June 24, 2011

4

Guilt

4Friday, June 24, 2011

5

Guilt

5Friday, June 24, 2011

5

GuiltThe Great Motivator

5Friday, June 24, 2011

• Laying

5

GuiltThe Great Motivator

5Friday, June 24, 2011

• Laying

• Threatening

5

GuiltThe Great Motivator

5Friday, June 24, 2011

• Laying

• Threatening

• Avoiding

5

GuiltThe Great Motivator

5Friday, June 24, 2011

5

Guilt

5Friday, June 24, 2011

6

Guilt

6Friday, June 24, 2011

Guilt• Guilt-Free Zone

66Friday, June 24, 2011

Guilt• Guilt-Free Zone

• Diversity is NOT a club to beat people with

http://images.buycostumes.com/mgen/merchandiser/33936.jpg

66Friday, June 24, 2011

Guilt• Guilt-Free Zone

• Diversity is NOT a club to beat people with

• No “diverser than thou” games

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mendeley/4088774879/

66Friday, June 24, 2011

Guilt• Guilt-Free Zone

• Diversity is NOT a club to beat people with

• No “diverser than thou” games

• No traps

http://www.flickr.com/photos/51999423@N00/372074641

66Friday, June 24, 2011

Why diversity matters

77Friday, June 24, 2011

W I I F M

Why diversity matters

77Friday, June 24, 2011

W I I F

Why diversity matters

77Friday, June 24, 2011

Agenda

• Review some studies

• Diversity model

• Final thoughts

• Q&A

88Friday, June 24, 2011

Small town

• Study of a small town

• magazine/newspaper subscriptions

• who were the most influential in town

www.bernarrmacfadden.com/ newspapers.gif"Patterns of influence: local and cosmopolitan influentials." Pp. 387-420 in Robert K. Merton (ed.), Social Theory and Social Structure, 1957 9

9Friday, June 24, 2011

Big corporation

Structural Holes and Good Ideas, Ronald S. Burt AJS Volume 110 Number 2 (September 2004): 349–99 10

10Friday, June 24, 2011

Big corporation

• network analysis

Structural Holes and Good Ideas, Ronald S. Burt AJS Volume 110 Number 2 (September 2004): 349–99 10

10Friday, June 24, 2011

Big corporation

• network analysis

Structural Holes and Good Ideas, Ronald S. Burt AJS Volume 110 Number 2 (September 2004): 349–99 10

10Friday, June 24, 2011

Who’s most creative?

1111Friday, June 24, 2011

Who’s most creative?

11

James

11Friday, June 24, 2011

Who’s most creative?

11

James

11Friday, June 24, 2011

• in-groups

Who’s most creative?

11

James

11Friday, June 24, 2011

• in-groups

Who’s most creative?

11

James

Robert

11Friday, June 24, 2011

• in-groups

Who’s most creative?

11

James

Robert

11Friday, June 24, 2011

• in-groups

• structural holes

Who’s most creative?

11

James

Robert

11Friday, June 24, 2011

• in-groups

• structural holes

Who’s most creative?

11

James

Robert

11Friday, June 24, 2011

• in-groups

• structural holes

Who’s most creative?

11

James

Robert

11Friday, June 24, 2011

• in-groups

• structural holes

• creativity study

Who’s most creative?

11

James

Robert

11Friday, June 24, 2011

Science Lab

Dunbar, K. (1995). How scientists really reason: Scientific reasoning in real-world laboratories. In R. J. Sternberg &J. E. Davidson (Eds.), The nature of insight (pp. 365-395). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. 12

12Friday, June 24, 2011

• Solving difficult problems

Science Lab

Dunbar, K. (1995). How scientists really reason: Scientific reasoning in real-world laboratories. In R. J. Sternberg &J. E. Davidson (Eds.), The nature of insight (pp. 365-395). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. 12

12Friday, June 24, 2011

• Solving difficult problems

• Unexpected results

Science Lab

Dunbar, K. (1995). How scientists really reason: Scientific reasoning in real-world laboratories. In R. J. Sternberg &J. E. Davidson (Eds.), The nature of insight (pp. 365-395). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. 12

12Friday, June 24, 2011

• Solving difficult problems

• Unexpected results

• Analogies

Science Lab

Dunbar, K. (1995). How scientists really reason: Scientific reasoning in real-world laboratories. In R. J. Sternberg &J. E. Davidson (Eds.), The nature of insight (pp. 365-395). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. 12

12Friday, June 24, 2011

• Solving difficult problems

• Unexpected results

• Analogies

• Conceptual Changes

Science Lab

Dunbar, K. (1995). How scientists really reason: Scientific reasoning in real-world laboratories. In R. J. Sternberg &J. E. Davidson (Eds.), The nature of insight (pp. 365-395). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. 12

12Friday, June 24, 2011

• Solving difficult problems

• Unexpected results

• Analogies

• Conceptual Changes

Science Lab

Dunbar, K. (1995). How scientists really reason: Scientific reasoning in real-world laboratories. In R. J. Sternberg &J. E. Davidson (Eds.), The nature of insight (pp. 365-395). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. 12

12Friday, June 24, 2011

• Solving difficult problems

• Unexpected results

• Analogies

• Conceptual Changes

Science Lab

Dunbar, K. (1995). How scientists really reason: Scientific reasoning in real-world laboratories. In R. J. Sternberg &J. E. Davidson (Eds.), The nature of insight (pp. 365-395). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

Friedrich August Kekulé

1212Friday, June 24, 2011

• Solving difficult problems

• Unexpected results

• Analogies

• Conceptual Changes

• Different pools of knowledge

Science Lab

Dunbar, K. (1995). How scientists really reason: Scientific reasoning in real-world laboratories. In R. J. Sternberg &J. E. Davidson (Eds.), The nature of insight (pp. 365-395). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

Friedrich August Kekulé

1212Friday, June 24, 2011

Review

13The Difference: How the Power of Diversity Creates Better Groups, Firms, Schools, and Societies ~ Scott E. Page

13Friday, June 24, 2011

Review

Interactions among individuals with different perspectives, skill-sets,

needs and motivations, generates innovation and creativity

13The Difference: How the Power of Diversity Creates Better Groups, Firms, Schools, and Societies ~ Scott E. Page

13Friday, June 24, 2011

Kinds of diversity

• needs/motivations

• skill sets

• perspectives

1414Friday, June 24, 2011

Contributing to Python

1515Friday, June 24, 2011

Contributing to Python

• patches

• modules

• recipes

• bug reports

• beta testing

• documentation

• sprints

• PEPs

• giving talks

• organizing events

• translation

• internationalization

1515Friday, June 24, 2011

Scratching an itch

flickr.com/photos/ rwfreund/73152138/

1616Friday, June 24, 2011

Different itches

• Each person has a different itch to scratch - different needs/wants/motivations

1717Friday, June 24, 2011

Scratching a niche

1818Friday, June 24, 2011

Scratching a niche

• Isn’t focusing on “diversity” just catering to special interest groups?

1818Friday, June 24, 2011

Scratching a niche

• Isn’t focusing on “diversity” just catering to special interest groups?

• WIIFE?

1818Friday, June 24, 2011

Universal Design

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/54/Beast_0096.jpg 1919Friday, June 24, 2011

Universal Design

• curb cuts

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/54/Beast_0096.jpg 1919Friday, June 24, 2011

Universal Design

• curb cuts

• text-to-speech

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/54/Beast_0096.jpg 1919Friday, June 24, 2011

Universal Design

• curb cuts

• text-to-speech

• subtitles/captions

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/54/Beast_0096.jpg 1919Friday, June 24, 2011

Universal Design

• curb cuts

• text-to-speech

• subtitles/captions

• ...

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/54/Beast_0096.jpg 1919Friday, June 24, 2011

Differing skill-sets

2020Friday, June 24, 2011

Differing skill-sets

2020Friday, June 24, 2011

Differing skill-sets

2020Friday, June 24, 2011

Differing skill-sets

2020Friday, June 24, 2011

Different skills

• We all have different skill-sets that we bring to Python

flickr.com/photos/ 87762129@N00/90703029

2121Friday, June 24, 2011

Perspectives

• We all come to Python with unique backgrounds and experiences

http://resumbrae.com/ub/dms423_f06/10/2222Friday, June 24, 2011

Perspectives

http://resumbrae.com/ub/dms423_f06/10/2222Friday, June 24, 2011

Problem-solving

2323Friday, June 24, 2011

Problem-solving

• We all approach problems in different ways

2323Friday, June 24, 2011

Problem-solving

• We all approach problems in different ways

• and may even see different problems

performance, internationalization, testing, ponies,...

2323Friday, June 24, 2011

Problem-solving

• We all approach problems in different ways

• and may even see different problems

performance, internationalization, testing, ponies,...

• and different solutions

Hadoop, ICU, Selenium, Django, ...

2323Friday, June 24, 2011

Diversity matters

• Not just for the moral or political reasons

• but also for very pragmatic reasons

2424Friday, June 24, 2011

Remember all the different ways people contribute to Python?

2525Friday, June 24, 2011

How does diversity matter?

• different needs/motivations + skill-sets + perspectives...

• generate innovation and creative problem solving,

• which leads to...

2626Friday, June 24, 2011

Better Software

2727Friday, June 24, 2011

Better Software

• Python is already the best programming language

2727Friday, June 24, 2011

Better Software

• Python is already the best programming language

2727Friday, June 24, 2011

Better Software

• Python is already the best programming language

• but it isn’t the best language it can be...

2727Friday, June 24, 2011

Better Software

• Python is already the best programming language

• but it isn’t the best language it can be...

yet.

2727Friday, June 24, 2011

For Python to be the best...

• Diversity is necessary

2828Friday, June 24, 2011

Necessary

• but not sufficient

2929Friday, June 24, 2011

Diversity is hard...

3030Friday, June 24, 2011

Diversity is hard...

• All those differences cause friction

3030Friday, June 24, 2011

Diversity is hard...

• All those differences cause friction

• problems communicating

3030Friday, June 24, 2011

Diversity is hard...

• All those differences cause friction

• problems communicating

• different goals and priorities

3030Friday, June 24, 2011

Diversity is hard...

• All those differences cause friction

• problems communicating

• different goals and priorities

• valuing other perspectives and skill sets

3030Friday, June 24, 2011

Harnessing Diversity

3131Friday, June 24, 2011

Harnessing Diversity

• Education

3131Friday, June 24, 2011

Harnessing Diversity

• Education

• Facilitating communication

3131Friday, June 24, 2011

Harnessing Diversity

• Education

• Facilitating communication

• Clear process and goal-setting

3131Friday, June 24, 2011

Harnessing Diversity

• Education

• Facilitating communication

• Clear process and goal-setting

• Clear decision-making

3131Friday, June 24, 2011

Harnessing Diversity

• Education

• Facilitating communication

• Clear process and goal-setting

• Clear decision-making

3131Friday, June 24, 2011

Harnessing Diversity

• Education

• Facilitating communication

• Clear process and goal-setting

• Clear decision-making

• Willingness to Work

3131Friday, June 24, 2011

Programming is hard

• Thought experiment

3232Friday, June 24, 2011

People are harder

3333Friday, June 24, 2011

People are harder

• and we don’t come with docs

3333Friday, June 24, 2011

Diversity rocks!

3434Friday, June 24, 2011

Diversity rocks!

34

You can never go wrong with kittens.--Damian Conway

34Friday, June 24, 2011