Putting the T in

Katie Sylor-Miller @ksylor

Etsy is a global marketplace where people around the world connect, both online and offline, to make, sell and buy unique goods.

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Teams

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Systems Design

Development

PM

Systems Design

Development

PM

Marketing

Branding

Product Engineering

API

Ops

Security

Analytics

Market LocationPerformance

Accessibility

Internal Platforms

The web is made by teams

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Web development is changing

rapidly

Waterfall

Back in the day

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Waterfall SDLC

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Requirements/Analysis

Design

Front End Dev

Back End Dev

QA/Testing

Release

Maintenance

Agile

Now

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Agile Methodology

The Agile Manifesto

• Individuals and interactions over processes and tools

• Working software over comprehensive documentation

• Customer collaboration over contract negotiation

• Responding to change over following a plan

12 agilemanifesto.org

The Agile Manifesto

• Individuals and interactions over processes and tools

• Working software over comprehensive documentation

• Customer collaboration over contract negotiation

• Responding to change over following a plan

13 agilemanifesto.org

Changing technology

Now

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Image by Jeff Pelletier @withinsight1

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Front end

Design Back end

Changing technology

• Javascript on the server

• Complex apps in the client (MVC, React)

• Designers are learning to code

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Front end

Design

Back end

The web is a holistic enterprise

IT

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Information Technology

I - Shape

Deep knowledge in a single functional area

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I

I - Shape

Deep knowledge in a single functional area

Deep expertise, plus ability and desire to collaborate across related disciplines

T - Shape

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I T

Which one are you?

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THERE IS NO I IN TEAM

THERE IS NO I IN TEAM

But look, there’s a T!

T-shaped people are in demand

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World Economic Forum - Future of Jobs 2016

“Social skills—such as persuasion, emotional intelligence and teaching others—will be in higher demand across industries than narrow technical skills, such as programming or equipment operation and control. In essence, technical skills will need to be supplemented with strong social and collaboration skills.”

27 WEF Future of Jobs 2016 executive summary

OLIN COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING

USC THIRD SPACE

D SCHOOL AT STANFORD

MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY

DUBLIN CITY UNIVERSITY

UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY OF COMPIÈGNE

AALTO UNIVERSITY

HANZE UNIVERSITY GRONINGEN

ZHEJIANG UNIVERSITYVIRGINIA TECH

T-shaped Education

Engineering Education

“The intrinsic value of knowing things has declined drastically—and permanently. To a large extent today, it matters much less what you know than it does what you can do with what you know.”

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-Richard K. Miller, Dean of Olin College of Engineering

How do you cross your T? (instead of dotting your i)

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HTM

L, C

SS, J

S

HTM

L, C

SS, J

S

Empathy

Communication | Collaboration | Curiosity | Creativity | Adaptability

T traits

Empathy

Communication Collaboration

Curiosity

Creative problem solving Adaptability

T traits

Empathy

Communication Collaboration

Curiosity

Creative problem solving Adaptability

Practicing empathy

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Imagine things from another person’s point of view

• What are they thinking?

• What are they feeling?

• What is motivating them?

• What are their values?

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Practicing empathy

Behind every design, every business decision,

and every line of code is a person.

Empathy

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• Surround yourself (both in person and on social media) with people who are different than you

Practicing empathy

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PHOTO BY CHRISTOPHER ROBERTSON

• Surround yourself (both in person and on social media) with people who are different than you

• Read fiction

Practicing empathy

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A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies.

The man who never reads lives only one.

GEORGE R.R. MARTIN

• Surround yourself (both in person and on social media) with people who are different than you

• Read fiction

• Play video games! gamesforchange.org

Practicing empathy

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Practicing empathy

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• Surround yourself (both in person and on social media) with people who are different than you

• Read fiction

• Play video games! gamesforchange.org

• Open up

Practice empathy for our users and our colleagues

Empathy

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T traits

Empathy

Communication Collaboration

Curiosity

Creative problem solving Adaptability

The most efficient and effective method of conveying information

to and within a development team is face-to-face

conversation.PRINCIPLES BEHIND THE AGILE MANIFESTO

Actually listening to what another person is saying, and not just thinking about how you are going to respond.

Active Listening

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Actually listening to what another person is saying, and not just thinking about how you are going to respond.

• Acknowledge what they are saying - nod, say “yes” or “uh huh”

• Ask for clarity “Help me understand…”

• Reflect back “So what I’m hearing is…”

• Defer judgement till the end

Active Listening

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T traits

Empathy

Communication Collaboration

Curiosity

Creative problem solving Adaptability

PHOTO BY DIMA BARSKY

YES, AND…

PHOTO BY DIMA BARSKY

Build on each other’s ideas instead of tearing them

down.

Collaboration

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Practice Collaboration

• Put your own ideas out there

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Practice Collaboration

• Put your own ideas out there

• Share what you know - wikis, documentation, code comments

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Practice Collaboration

• Put your own ideas out there

• Share what you know - wikis, documentation, code comments

• Look for similarities, not differences

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Invite yourself to meetings

Collaboration

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T traits

Empathy

Communication Collaboration

Curiosity

Creative problem solving Adaptability

PHOTO COURTESY NASA

PHOTO COURTESY NASA

“We look for people who are so inquisitive about the world that they're

willing to try to do what you do”TIM BROWN - CEO IDEO

Designers should learn to code. Coders should learn

to design.

Curiosity

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• Go to conferences

Practicing Curiosity

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• Go to conferences

• Read a variety of blogs (Smashing Magazine, A List Apart)

Practicing Curiosity

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• Go to conferences

• Read a variety of blogs (Smashing Magazine, A List Apart)

• Try new things, experiment, and fail

Practicing Curiosity

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15 minute rule

There are no stupid questions, only stupid

answers

Curiosity

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T traits

Empathy

Communication Collaboration

Curiosity

Creative problem solving Adaptability

Design an alarm clock

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?

Design an alarm clock

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Design an alarm clock Design a better way to wake people up

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?

Design an alarm clock Design a better way to wake people up

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Ask why, not what

Creative problem solving

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T traits

Empathy

Communication Collaboration

Curiosity

Creative problem solving Adaptability

Image by Jeff Pelletier @withinsight1

Focus on the fundamentals

Adaptability

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Adaptability

• Never say “this is how we’ve always done it”

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Adaptability

• Never say “this is how we’ve always done it”

• Anticipate and embrace failure and change

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Adaptability

• Never say “this is how we’ve always done it”

• Anticipate and embrace failure and change

• Everyone fails, it’s how you recover from failure that matters.

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Your code and your ideas are not you. Be willing to let

go of them.

Adaptability

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T traits

Empathy

Communication Collaboration

Curiosity

Creative problem solving Adaptability

PHOTO FROM RAWPIXEL.COM

Imagine if everyone on

your team was T-shaped?

Have a strong foundation

In Summary

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In Summary

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Cross your T

T traits

Empathy

Communication Collaboration

Curiosity

Creative problem solving Adaptability

Put as much time and effort into developing “soft skills” as you put into traditional “hard”

front end skills

In summary

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Don’t be a unicorn

Don’t be a unicorn Be a ___________

Don’t be a unicorn Be a dolphin

Don’t be a unicorn Be an elephant

Don’t be a unicorn Be a rat

Don’t be a unicorn Be a sloth

Pictures of humans?

Don’t be a unicorn Be a human being

Thank you

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@KSYLOR