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Women leadership series - In conversation with Jade Daubney 5 Mar 2022 Jade Daubney is a go-getter and the Global Programme Manager with Thoughtworks University How would you introduce yourself? I am Jade Daubney and I am the Global Head of Thoughtworks University. Can you tell me a bit about your career journey? When did you first get into a leadership role? I trained to be a Teacher at University, and after realising I completely disagreed with our education system, I 'fell' into Recruitment. I later joined Thoughtworks as part of the UK Recruitment Team and became our Graduate Project Manager; managing all UK Graduate hiring, University relationships, events and scholarships. I spent numerous years training in Change Management and Transformation and have spent the majority of my Thoughtworks career in the Global Recruiting Team, managing our portfolio of change. I threw myself into something new and joined the Digital Platforms Team, doing a very similar role but taking away a whole new wealth of knowledge in a new part of our business. I very recently started my new position as Global Head of Thoughtworks University. I have done a whole 360 and I am back working with our graduates! I would say my real first leadership role was when I joined Global Recruiting, although I have always seen myself as a 'leader' in some capacity at Thoughtworks. What were the top challenges you faced during your journey and how did you overcome them? My main challenge was definitely due to my own internal blockers. As a 'non-technical' young woman, joining a Technology company, in an historically male-dominated sector, it took me a little while to overcome my fears. I would spend time doubting myself and my possible impact. I would even hold back on opinions, nervous that people would think I am too young to make senior executive decisions. I am happy to tell you that I am not that woman any more. I am extremely lucky to be surrounded by incredible colleagues and the most valuable coaches. I overcame my challenges when I realised that I am actually the Subject Matter Expert in MY own area, I don't need to understand how to code, that isn't what I was hired for. When I understood my strengths and how to utilise them, I grew tremendously as a leader and my business impact grew. It is important to remember that skills and attributes that come naturally to some of you, are skills and attributes that other people have to try really hard to learn how to do - that is our special power. What motivates you? Seeing people grow and achieve their goals/dreams is what motivates me to be a better cultivator. Seeing our business do things that we only ever imagined motivates me to think bigger, be more courageous and work smarter. Having siblings motivates me to be a better woman and lead my example. Do you have a role model in your life? Can you name a few people who you look up to? I am blessed to be surrounded by role models, but two that stand out... Emmeline Pankhurst is my hero. She was the leader of the suffragette movement that played a critical role in helping to win British women the right to vote. Her extreme courage and fearless nature constantly inspires me. Secret - I have her tattooed on my body! Iris Apfel is 100 years old - she is an interior designer and fashion icon. She is not afraid to be herself and she taught me that being different is a gift, not something to hide! What does leadership mean to you? How would you describe your leadership style? For me, leadership is the ability to lead, inspire and guide a team, whilst empowering them to reach their fullest potential. I like to think my leadership style is flexible depending on who I am working with. Some people like full autonomy and some people prefer more direction. I prefer to alter my leadership style depending on my team's needs. It is important that my team members are meeting their goals, are happy, are learning and growing, have clarity and direction and are feeling empowered ... Without these things, I am not succeeding as a leader. What would be your advice to young leaders? There is nobody else like you. Understand your strengths and what you bring to the table, and utilise those things. Be open to feedback...getting defensive will stunt your growth. Never stop learning - there is always more. Embrace change. Ask yourself regularly 'what would I do if I was not scared?'

Emerging leadership series - In conversation with Jinjun Huang 30 Jan 2023 Jinjun Huang comes with 14+ years of experience in IT and has been with @thoughtworks since 2018. He joined us as a Tech Lead and then switched to become a Product Manager in 2020. Jinjun looks up to his father in law as a role model. Jinjun has learnt key lessons of responsibility, hardwork, and optimism from him. How would you introduce yourself? Hi everyone, nice to meet you. My name is Jinjun Huang. I am from Wuhan, China. I am a product manager of the Digital Platforms team in Thoughtworks. I have 2 kids, an 11-year old daughter and a 5-year old son. In my spare time, I like to take them for a trip by car, playing basketball and computer games as well. Can you tell me a bit about your career journey? What inspired you to take on the leadership role? I graduated from Harbin Institute of Technology in 2008 with my bachelor degree in the major of Computer Science. Then I worked as a software engineer for over 10 years in multiple companies. I joined Thoughtworks in 2018 as a Tech Lead, then switched to a product manager in 2020. At the beginning, it was very natural for me to take the role as a technical lead because I was more senior than the other team members. But after taking the technical lead role, I found it challenging to leverage the team to achieve the team target instead of working individually and finishing my own development task. I started to enjoy my leadership role when I found my leadership can amplify the team's performance. What were the top challenges you faced during your journey and how did you overcome them? The top challenge for me was the mindset change. I used to think about a product from a pure technical perspective. But when I found technology was not the only determinant to make the product successful, I started to learn what business success means from different perspectives. My MBA courses helped me a lot during this progress. I learnt a lot from some failed business cases, even some of them were amazing from a technical perspective. What motivates you everyday? I am motivated by the sense of accomplishment of my daily work. My clients and target users’ daily life can get easier with the products and support of my team. My organizational leaders are confident that my team is working on the correct things and in the correct way. My teammates enjoy their daily work and feel their hard work is meaningful to the organization and the whole world. Do you have a role model in your life? Can you name a few people who you look up to? I look up to my father-in-law as my role model in my life. My father-in-law is a farmer. He raised 4 nephews and nieces after his elder brother passed away, even though he had 3 kids already. He works really hard to feed the big family. He keeps studying as a great wireman. He can handle all kinds of difficult conversations in his daily life with his great emotional intelligence. I learnt a lot from him including responsibility , hardwork and optimism . All of them helped me a lot during my career journey. I look up to Dewang Cao, a Chinese entrepreneur, the founder of Fuyao Group. He is a very successful businessman, a very famous charitarian. At the same time, in his biography he admits some personal mistakes, including some very sensitive parts. I learnt what courage and introspection means from him. I look up to Shijian Chu, a Chinese businessman. He brought his first cigarette company to top1 of Asia, and then was thrown in jail for some reasons when he was 71 years old. When he got out of jail when he was 74 years old, he started his new undertaking and became the King of Orange in China when he was 84 years old. I learnt what gritty means from him. What does leadership mean to you? How would you describe your leadership style? Leadership seems like a catalyst to me, which can enable the whole team to achieve something they didn’t look forward to. I think all of my team members are really talented. What I need to do is accelerate the chemical reactions happening in the team, enable all of them to be a better team player, a more professional employee, a better person. I’d like to build my leadership style as a visionary and coach. On one hand, I think it is really important to be a visionary as a leader. When the whole team can be united with the same vision, and all of the team members think it meaningful for themselves, for their clients and end users and even for the whole world, they can make great decisions by themselves to achieve it. And they can benefit a lot during the process. On the other hand, leaders need to stand with their coworkers daily. Leaders need to coach the team members not only to do the correct things, but also do the correct things in the correct way. With the coach they can be cultivated to handle more complicated scenarios by themselves in the future. Only in this way, the team can grow organically in the business style of a professional service company. What would be your advice to other leaders? Pay special attention to be a visionary. Be confident of the subjective initiatives of the team members. Believe they can make great things happen when they believe what you believe. At the same time, help them in the operation level in the coach way. Day by day, they will grow naturally until they surprise you. Chinese version 你会如何介绍自己？ 大家好，我叫黄进军，来自中国武汉，是 Thoughtworks 的数字平台团队的一名产品经理。 我有2个孩子，一个11岁的女儿和一个5岁的儿子。 闲暇时，我喜欢带他们出去自驾游，偶尔也会跟他们一起打篮球，玩switch游戏。 你能告诉我一些你的职业生涯吗？ 是什么促使您担任领导职务？ 我2008年毕业于哈尔滨工业大学计算机专业，获学士学位。此后在多家公司担任软件工程师超过10年。在2018年，我作为技术主管加入Thoughtworks，然后在2020年转职成为产品经理。 一开始，因为我比其他团队成员都更资深，所以担任技术负责人是一个很自然的事情。但是在担任技术负责人之后，我发现带领一个团队来实现团队目标远比单打独斗地完成开发任务要困难得多。 当我发现我的领导能力可以提升团队的整体绩效之后，我开始喜欢上了我的新角色。 你在旅途中遇到的最大挑战是什么？你是如何克服这些挑战的？ 对我来说最大的挑战是心态的改变。 我曾经习惯于从纯技术的角度来思考一个产品。但当我发现技术并不是使产品成功的唯一决定因素时，我开始从不同的角度了解商业成功意味着什么。在这个过程中，我的 MBA 课程对我帮助很大。 我从一些失败的商业案例中学到了很多，其中一些如果从技术角度来看甚至是非常先进和超前的。 你每天的动力是什么？ 激励我的每天的工作所带来的成就感。可以把它们分为三个层面： 第一，借助我们团队的产品和支持，我的客户和目标用户的日常生活会变得更加轻松。 第二，我的组织领导者相信我的团队正在以正确的方式做正确的事情。 第三，我的队友享受他们的日常工作，并觉得他们的辛勤工作对组织和整个世界都有意义。 你的生活中有榜样吗？ 你能说出几个你敬仰的人吗？ 我的岳父是我生活中的榜样。 我的岳父是一个普通的农民。 他的哥哥去世后他养大了4个侄子和侄女，尽管他自己已经有了3个孩子。 他非常努力地工作来养活这个大家庭。他一直在学习并成为一名出色的电工。 凭借高超的情商，他可以应付日常生活中各种棘手的谈话。 我从他身上学到了很多，包括责任感、勤奋和乐观。 它们在我的职业生涯中对我帮助很大。 我敬仰中国企业家、福耀集团创始人曹德旺。 他是一个非常成功的商人，一个非常有名的慈善家。 同时，在他的传记中他也承认了一些个人错误，包括一些非常敏感的部分。我从他身上学到了什么是勇气和自省。 我敬仰中国商人褚世建。 他将自己的第一家卷烟公司成功的经营成跻身亚洲第一，却在71岁高龄时因故入狱。74岁出狱后又开始二次创业，直到84岁成为中国橙王。我从他那里学到了什么是坚韧不拔。 领导对你意味着什么？ 您如何描述您的领导风格？ 对我来说，领导力就像是一种催化剂，它可以让整个团队达成他们不曾预想的成就。 我认为我团队里的所有成员都非常有才华。我所需要做的只是加速团队中发生的化学反应，让他们都成为更好的团队成员、更专业的职场人、更好的人。 我想建立的领导风格是成为有远见的人和教练。 一方面，我认为作为领导者，成为一个有远见的人真的很重要。 当整个团队能够以同一个愿景团结在一起，并且所有团队成员都认为这对他们自己、对他们的客户和最终用户乃至整个世界都有意义时，他们就可以自己做出伟大的决定并实现它。 他们自身在此过程中也会受益匪浅。 另一方面，领导者需要每天与同事站在一起。 领导者不仅要指导团队成员做正确的事，还要用正确的方法做正确的事。 有了教练，他们可以培养自己在未来处理更复杂场景时的能力。 只有这样，团队才能在专业服务公司的经营模式中有机成长。 你对其他领导人有什么建议？ 成为一个有远见的人。 相信团队成员的主观能动性。当他们相信您所相信的愿景时，他们可以成就伟大的事情。 同时成为一个好的教练，在操作层面帮助他们。日复一日，他们会自然生长，直到让您大吃一惊。

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Women leadership series - In conversation with Sudeepa Ghosh Majumdar 7 Mar 2022 Sudeepa is an amazing photographer, likes to travel, has a great attention to detail and is an extremely hardworking individual. She works as the Techops Head of Finance with Thoughtworks. How would you introduce yourself? I am a Finance Professional with diverse experience in Controllership, Business Finance, Procurement, Revenue Compliance, Financial Planning Analysis and Asset Management software delivery over a period of 16 years. I feel I am in pursuit of challenges to keep learning. Can you tell me a bit about your career journey? When did you first get into a leadership role? I started my career with IBM and then worked with ITC before moving with HP for a period of 7 years across various roles in country and region which help me understand the dynamics of a well oiled organization with process and policies. Joined TW back in 2014 as I wanted to apply my learnings to a growing organization. My leadership journey started in Thoughtworks as I navigated my own through limited processes and policies to a Public Company. What were the top challenges you faced during your journey and how did you overcome them? One of my learnings has been that as Finance professionals we struggle to tell the story behind the numbers and make it presentable in a way that helps drive decision making by business leaders. How to present the technical information to business teams has been challenging and it’s a constant learning process. Over the period I have realized that understanding the Business basics is very critical for Financial story telling, If you don’t understand the business- the numbers themselves will not make any sense. Playing the role of a Product Owner to understand software delivery has played a crucial role in understanding the intricacies of the business and eventually helped me model financials in a way to invoke discussion and thoughts among the business leaders and also play the role of trusted advisor to business leaders. What motivates you? New challenges and learnings always motivates me. I am not afraid of going into a situation where I have no clue as that is the biggest opportunity to maximize learnings. Do you have a role model in your life? Can you name a few people who you look up to? My mother is one of my biggest role model. I saw her studying along with working and managing kids and family. It showed me at early age that if you are determined , disciplined ,have a passion and with planning and support- one can achieve anything in life. In my professional work I have come across some amazing leaders and peers – from whom I am always learning. What does leadership mean to you? How would you describe your leadership style? Leadership to me means the ability to lead, influence and guide the business leaders with help of financial insights for decision making . For me leadership is also the way of building a strong autonomous team who are on a learning journey and able to grow. What would be your advice to young leaders? Embrace the unknown and always challenge yourself to learn new things. Build a strong diverse team which works on each other strengths and complement each other . A leader is indeed as good as his/her/their team. And lastly in all the crazy madness – always breathe – find something outside work which you are passionate about – which helps you to unwind .

< Back Why IT departments must reinvent themselves - Part 3 In continuation from my previous blogs, here I write about the direction ... In continuation from my previous blogs, here I write about the direction we intended to take with Workspaces. In this part, I offer my thoughts on the perennial debate around what is BAU and what is innovation. I have recently been a part of several conversations that have led me to believe that confusion exists within a team like Workspaces where the majority of the work is BAU. I hosted a workshop on innovation at a team offsite sometime ago which was really useful in discovering what the team thought of innovation and some of the challenges and opportunities they perceived. Although the team has changed a lot since then, when I look at the notes from the workshop, I believe some of the perceptions about innovation remain same. How interesting! I have been recently interviewed on my thoughts on innovation and also took part in a global IT survey for innovation (hosted outside of Thoughtworks). It was a good time to reminisce on my thoughts on innovation. I present some of these thoughts to you: Innovation is a culture of thinking differently and challenging oneself to do things differently Failures in innovation is great learning and offers important lessons Successful innovations often result in reduction of time while doing the same work, reduces effort taken towards any task, saves cost or improves quality Innovation does not only mean building a product or an app or a software but also innovation in process, service or pretty much everything you see around Innovation doesn't only happen in the NASAs and ISROs of the world. It happens in smaller bits around you that will help you solve your daily problems and issues. We just need to build a curious mind and challenge status quo to think about innovation and ideas that can improve things for us and around us. With so much focus on innovation, does it mean the BAU is not appreciated? What about those of us who enjoy our work? Well, the answer to this is partly yes and partly no. Let me explain. Yes, because if we continue to do the same and routine work over and over again, the value of that depreciates over a period of time and we have to think of doing the same work differently or keep questioning why we are doing it. No, because there will always be some work that we will have to continue doing to keep the lights on. And let’s be honest, it’s a vicious circle. For things around you to change and become better, you need time and because you are so busy with day to day work, you just don’t have time to think or act or even suggest improvement. In my opinion, the change will not start unless we really want to change and think of getting out of doing ‘only’ routine stuff. In some ways, we have to push ourselves out of our comfort zone to think about and bring a change around us. Lots of us have ideas and most of them are really good. Talking about the idea in a social forum and within the team is the first step towards thinking about the change. Being accepting of someone else’s idea and contributing through discussions is another thing that helps us follow and think about the change. I also believe that the best ideas will come from people who are closest to the problems. The success of the idea will truly be dependent on how participative we can make it for everyone. I believe that with ‘Workspaces Global Ideas’, we have taken the first step to share our ideas.The showcases that we schedule have the potential to become one of the most important tech showcases within Thoughtworks, if we do them right. So, in summary, I feel that innovation will come from people around us, who are looking at the same things differently. BAU is important and so is innovation, but they are not mutually exclusive. You can not do one ignoring the other. For TechOps, 'innovation' means not accepting the way things are, especially if it can be better for our customers and ourselves. It could be an incremental improvement or a disruptive game-changer. Either way, innovation really should be our business as usual. We hope TechOps will increasingly incorporate a true learning culture where we are always observing and experimenting together. Previous Next

Women leadership series - In conversation with Chandni Stiehl 8 Mar 2022 Chandni is passionate about growing people, teams and companies in the data space and currently, working as the Principal Data Strategist at Thoughtworks. How would you introduce yourself? Hi. I’m Chandni. It’s nice to meet you. I always find it difficult to categorize myself into succinct buckets. People are inherently complex and I enjoy hearing about their experiences and expertise. So, usually I stop with a quick intro and start listening. When pressed I usually share that I am passionate about growing people, teams and companies in the data space. Currently, I’m working as a Data Strategist at Thoughtworks, which means I act as a practitioner leading implementation efforts, as a strategist providing advice, and as an evangelist. If you would like to know more about me, visit my linkedin profile . Can you tell me a bit about your career journey? When did you first get into a leadership role? My career journey started quite young. I would go into my father’s office when I was 14 and manage the front desk. Since then I worked most summers or took extra classes. My journey in leadership really started when I moved to San Francisco and took over the role for a Bank of America manager who was leaving. That was 12 years ago and my career has been a fun rollercoaster since then. I shifted from the Financial sector to start again as a data passionate developer at Thoughtworks. I’ve been at Thoughtworks the last 7 years sharing my passion for all things data. What were the top challenges you faced during your journey and how did you overcome them? Early in my career, I believed that I could do anything I put my mind to. One of my first jobs after my 2nd Masters Degree in Financial Mathematics was with a global quantitative financial instrument trading firm. My hope was that it would open up opportunities to apply my knowledge in financial mathematics. However, being a trader involves going into the pits at the Chicago Board Options Exchange, standing side by side with competitors and yelling at brokers faster and louder than your direct competitors standing next to you. It was contrary to my natural strengths in strategy, negotiation and team building. So I worked hard to become more tactical, decisive and aggressive, believing I can do anything I put my mind to. The work hit me hard after a day with a fat-finger trade resulted in a flash crash causing an enormous uproar in the pits all day long. I left the company shortly after, and am happier for it. In retrospect I realized that believing that I can do anything I put my mind to was a red herring. My new guiding principle is to leverage my mind, time and energy to bring about the changes I want to see in the world. What motivates you? As part of my career journey I was a Statistic Instructor at Loyola University Chicago. There I was able to see when that proverbial light bulb turned on in people’s heads. Later on I would see how the right product, the right analysis, the right design would do the same for users. I love seeing people have that Aha moment, because to me it means that people are leaving that moment with a little more knowledge and power than they had before. Do you have a role model in your life? Can you name a few people who you look up to? Marion M. Lovett, one of my managers at Bank of America, is my role model. She is a brillant, strong, hard working woman who cared deeply for her team members. Working with her was the first time that I realized that a good leader understands the strengths in her team and how to foster a culture of excellence. Cassie Kozyrkov, Chief Decision Scientist at Google, is someone I have never met but admire deeply. In my work and interactions over the years, I had this idea of “common sense”. For example, First figure out what actions you want to impact, and then determine what data is needed, or that upstream UI and Decision Architecture will impact the downstream data quality and analysis. However, these things are not common sense for those who don’t work in this space, and that is why I really appreciate Cassie’s articulation of keep concepts in Decision Intelligence. I strive everyday to emulate her by articulating data concepts to non-data audiences. What does leadership mean to you? How would you describe your leadership style? My leadership style emulates my role model, Marion M. Lovett, in a lot of ways. I spend quite a lot of time getting to know the people that I’m working with and listening to their thoughts and ideas. This is nothing novel, but I have seen it pay dividend after dividend. The best articulation of this I’ve seen so far is in the book, Smart Leaders, Smarter Teams by Roger M. Schwarz. The book articulates clearly how your behaviors as a leader impact the outcomes achieved by your team and other teams that work with you. So my style is simple, listen and learn. What would be your advice to young leaders? Practically, if you haven’t done so already take the Strengthsfinder test by Gallup and read Smart Leaders, Smarter Teams by Roger M. Schwarz. As a leader you will need to invest in others. I recommend checking out Shine Theory , and supporting the people around you. Lastly, life will take you in unexpected directions, but no matter where you go, know yourself, know your strengths and leverage who you are to positively impact the world.

Emerging leadership series - In conversation with Gayathri Sribharath 13 Feb 2023 Gayathri is the Global IT-Compliance Lead for /thoughtworks and an auditor with a strong focus on Information Technology audits. Professionally, she loves collaborating and accomplishing big things as a part of a team and her thinks current role in /thoughtworks allows her to do this daily. How would you introduce yourself? Hello! Thank you for taking a few minutes to read about my journey. I am the Global IT Compliance Lead for /thoughtworks. I am an auditor with a strong focus on Information Technology audits. I work closely with product and software development teams and help drive best practices in information security, SOX compliance, data security, access management, change management etc. In the current role, I act as the liaison between external auditors, business and technology teams and help organisations comply with the ever increasing and complex requirements of various security and risk standards. I have a keen interest on working with teams to solve Compliance issues using technology. Some of my professional degrees and certifications include Chartered accountancy, Certified Information systems auditing etc. Of late, I have developed interest in Data Privacy and GDPR. On the personal front, I am married to Sri Bharath - an ardent supporter of all that I do and my sounding board. I have a beautiful and talented daughter. I love to learn to cook different South Indian cuisines. I like to go on long solo drives in my car and a lover of the beach and sunsets. Can you tell me a bit about your career journey? What inspired you to take on the leadership role? Born and brought up in Coimbatore, a city that is famous for its visionaries and innovative ideas in business, there is always a thirst to learn and explore new things. It’s in our DNA and I think that has been a factor in the way my career journey has been shaped. My career journey is shaped by the mentors and great thinkers I had the chance to work with. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all those who helped shape my career and encouraged my thought process to be different. As any other intern, I started working on internal and tax audits. But the audit consultancy I worked for believed in me and gave opportunities to work in other specialisations like information security, IT audits etc. This helped me understand my strengths. After almost 5 years of working for the audit consultancy, I moved on to work for technology consulting companies and be a part of their internal audit and compliance teams that focus on IT audits. I have performed so many different types of audits like SSAE 16, SOX, ERP audits, etc. I have had opportunities to consult teams and audit them as well. This exposure and experience are what makes me confident in my leadership role. What were the top challenges you faced during your journey and how did you overcome them? One of the difficult challenges that I had to overcome was to learn how to network and navigate through an organization’s system. This skill is very important for anyone, more so in my role where I must work with so many stakeholders, internal and external. A very powerful leadership development program that I completed a few years ago in one of the organizations I worked for helped me identify my areas of weakness using a SWOT analysis. I took support from my mentors to arrive at a series of things to do improve my communication skills and confidence levels. This enabled me to easily converse with various types of stakeholders. I was able to create the visibility required for the role. A big portion of my success can be attributed now to the relationships I have built with my peers, colleagues and important stakeholders in my career journey. What motivates you everyday? Personally, my daughter, of course. I want her to see a strong mother who does smart-work and someone who is independent. Professionally, I love collaborating and accomplishing big things as a part of a team. My current role in /thoughtworks allows me to do this daily. Isn’t it wonderful to do something that has a meaningful impact on the organization? I travel often. I do some workcations too! This helps me stay not glued to my desk and be one with nature and that motivates me to do what I do best. Do you have a role model in your life? Can you name a few people who you look up to? I have many role models in my life. To being with it is my mother who I look up to first. She has overcome a lot of challenges to raise us and is a very strong woman who looks for solutions and leads the family to its success. And then all my mentors. I am naming a few here. CN Srivatsan & Gita Srivatsan, Meena Swaminathan, Uday Bikkasani, Leena Pandya, Nitin Raina, Sasikala Mahesh. What does leadership mean to you? How would you describe your leadership style? When people feel safe enough to raise their hands and say ‘I made a mistake’ or ‘I need some help’, that leader has succeeded to Put people first and create a congenial environment for them. That to me is a good leader. Leaders are the ones who see the world not as it is, but as it could be. They inspire others to follow them because they believe in something larger than themselves. And that "something" is not a destination or a goal, but a vision- something worth sacrificing for and fighting for. What would be your advice to other leaders? Believe in yourself first and then believe in the people that surround you. A good leader should be able to create more leaders. A good leader should prefer actions over authority. Listen to your heart and put people first. Rest all can wait. My favorite quote by Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev – Integrity, Insight and Inclusiveness are the three essential qualities of leadership.

< Back Trust does wonders to people A little story of a conversation between me and one of my product managers .. [ Originally published on Linkedin here ] PM (A bit worried) to me – Hey Swapnil, we have a 1:1 catch up scheduled every two weeks right now, but I would like it to be a bit more frequent. Can we talk weekly or daily? I would like to validate my thinking and decisions I make before I talk to the team and stakeholders and communicate them the updates and decisions. Me – Hmm. Why do you want to validate your decisions with me? PM – I just want to ensure that I am on right track and making right decisions and have thought through from all perspectives and I think you can help me validate my thinking. Me – What if I say No? PM (Puzzled) – But, what if I make a wrong decision? And how would you know what decisions I make every day with regards to the team? Me – Well, that’s exactly why I say No. I want you to know that I trust you one hundred percent and you should feel comfortable being in-charge and make decisions. Its OK, some decisions will go wrong and we may need to revert those, but that’s the learning you will get through the process. Intent is important and even if you make some decisions wrong keeping right intent, it will not impact my trust and my backing to you. PM (A bit relieved) – Thanks. Feels better now! What if the team members, do not agree with my decisions? Me - Well, it’s not enough just to communicate decisions. You should also be able to communicate ‘why’ you made those decisions and what was the reasoning behind them. Tell them the story, constraints, context and intent behind making that decision and be open and transparent with them. I am sure they will understand each decision you make and by doing this, you are also strengthening the trust bond between you and team members. PM (Happy) – Makes lot of sense. Thanks! But I would still like to come and talk to you on things that puzzle me. Me – Anytime! Like you just did today! Trust does wonders to people! #trust #leadership #decisions Previous Next

< Back Why IT departments must reinvent themselves - Part I IT departments are on the verge of being irrelevant to businesses. .. IT departments are on the verge of being irrelevant to businesses. Increasingly, there is a need to reinvent themselves and align better with the business. The industry is at crossroads, where they need to choose between being merely seen as a cost center in the organization, and instead, take the lead to be an important and influential partner in the business. At Thoughtworks, we have been thinking a lot about the direction that the IT team needs to take. In the last 4-5 years, we have been continuously challenging ourselves and evolving along with our changing business. In this blog, I elaborate on the thought process behind this change in direction and focus and hope that it will get you thinking about the opportunities that exist for your IT departments. IT departments need to reinvent and re-purpose themselves Let’s think of some factors that impact the direction of IT teams so much and so often: The nature of the business is changing, at a rapid pace - With the technologies in the space of Internet of Things, Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning taking center stage, companies need to look beyond traditional ways of doing business. Technology adoption for business is no longer an afterthought, but a driving force. As an operations partner of the business, IT departments need to keep an eye on the changing nature of the business and be proactive to change and evolve along with the business. IT departments have an opportunity to drive future of business - By being a partner, IT departments have an opportunity to disrupt business processes through technology led innovation. They can work with the business to identify customer needs, market trends and help in developing the right capabilities through experimentation and application of technology to their internal solutions. With technology innovation disrupting more and more businesses, IT teams can play an important part to shape the future of the organization. The same work doesn’t give same value year on year - Doing the same work year on year, with the same people and teams offers diminishing returns for companies. As operating costs and people costs increase each year, companies cannot afford to spend more money for the same outcome. There is an increasing need to use technology in business and IT operations to reduce costs and bring in more efficiencies. Having said that, we should also keep in mind the current situation of IT departments and business. Finances will keep getting tighter – Just as customers ask companies to deliver more year on year with same costs, the same expectation is on IT teams as well - to deliver more without a proportionate increase in costs. IT departments need to be clever in cost optimization as their budgets do not keep up the pace with the growth and complexity of the business. Value first – While people are the most important asset of organizations, the outcome is always measured in terms of the value they bring to the organization and their users. The same goes with costs and investments too, as they are always evaluated in terms of the value they generate. Considering these situations, it becomes important for internal IT departments to continuously move up the business value chain. Workspaces at Thoughtworks Let me tell you what happened with my team at Thoughtworks few years ago (earlier known as the Offices and Devices team). We realized that the regional business paradigm is shifting and we needed to gear ourselves to support the future of business. The expectations from the immediate stakeholders were changing and the traditional way of working as support teams in isolation was no longer good enough. We needed to foster the true spirit of leadership, partnership and collaboration within and beyond our teams. To get there, during the last few years we have: Reworked our vision to focus on the ‘future of work’ and ‘strong regional IT partnership’ Rebranded ourselves as ‘The Workspaces’ team that allows us to go beyond previously established scope of work Created smaller region-focused product teams by breaking down one big global team On-boarded experienced and business-focused product owners to lead the teams into regions Evolved the structure of the team to ensure that decisions are made at region level Established a framework for team capability development that aligns with the vision of our team and the regional business Put in place a stronger governance mechanism with the regional businesses While there is still some way to go, these steps have helped us start moving from being a ‘business support’ team to being true business partners. What is the future? The next challenge is for us to think on “ How to move up from being business relevant to become business influencers? ” While business support work such as help desk and customer support, laptop and office support, client project and infrastructure support is important, we can’t move ahead without changing our approach holistically and making the IT department integral to the business. The transition has not been an easy one, but this change in approach has helped us make giant strides in redefining the future of this department. In Part 2 of this blog, I will share my thoughts and ideas on how we can transform from here to become real business influencers. Previous Next

< Back Learning Emotional Intelligence There are two kinds of emotions that one can experience. Simple enough to guess ... So, to start with, do you know what is an “Emotion”? It seems so simple, but when asked this question during the training, probably none could give an exact answer. The answers were such as, ‘ An emotion is a feeling.’ , ‘An emotion is a thought in one’s mind.’ . The answer that the trainer gave was ‘An emotion is an energy within the body that creates an awareness of its state through feeling’, which probably was a sensible answer! There are two kinds of emotions that one can experience. Simple enough to guess, they are Good emotions and Bad emotions. Good emotions (happiness etc) are the ones that the body likes to carry and the Bad emotions (fear etc) are the ones that the body does NOT like to carry. The mind is an invisible force that resides within the human body and assists the human being to experience various states of emotions. The mind plays an important part in managing the emotional state of a person. The equation is simple, Mind is a slate on which the external situation, understood by 5 senses (see, smell, hear, touch, taste) and governed by one’s intelligence, intellect, memory, beliefs & values create an emotion that is visible through the gesture of a human being. Now, what does EI tells us? EI has 5 basic competencies as follows, Self awareness Self awareness is all about being aware of the emotional state of oneself. It also extends to expressing the emotions at right time and not suppressing them within yourself. If you are getting angry, upset, disappointed or frustrated, then its essential to identify the state of emotion and take a corrective action immediately. Self management This is all about managing one’s emotions and how you appear to others. For example, if in a meeting, due to some lengthy arguments and counter arguments you are feeling angry, then its better to announce that I am getting angry, and I suppose I need to take a break. than continuing with the meting, which is likely to affect your judgment and might end into something you might repent ! Self motivation Self motivations tells you to have a passion in life. It tells you to discover your own passion and pursue it in order to keep you motivated in life. It suggest you to have a goal in life (personal & professional) so you can go all about pursuing the goal. Doing the job you love and loving the job you do is the mantra of keeping one highly motivated. Empathy Empathy is all about getting in someone else’s shoes and DO nothing ! Yes, do nothing ! It suggest you should empathize with others to understand what situation they are going through before taking any decision about anyone. It helps you to understand what pains or problems someone is going through and how it might affect someone’s performance at work. It also suggest that one should empathize with oneself. It helps understand what emotional state you are going through and what situation you are under. Self empathy is all about giving time to yourself every day to ensure you are in a good emotional state to realize your situation control limits. Effective relationships Effective relationships is the relationship that is Goal Oriented. In the discussion, after much debate, it was convinced that all relationships you can think of are goal oriented. An effective relationship is also one the one that comes with expectations and the one where the expectations are met. Its recommended that you have a clear understanding of emotions with whom you get into an effective relationship. Finally, in my own words, I would define EI as, EI is all about knowing and motivating yourself, controlling your behavior irrespective of situation type, understanding others better, relate to them for betterment of your social and work life that could translate into more happiness and help earn more money and growth. #personality #EQ #thoughts #emotions #emotionalintelligence Previous Next

Women leadership series - In conversation with Ying Fu 5 Mar 2022 Ying started her career with Thoughtworks and has played roles like Developer, Delivery Lead, Product Owner, Head of Operations and now playing the role of the Program Manager. How would you introduce yourself? Hello, I am Fu Ying and I would introduce myself as a program manager, as a driver to lead the team to move forward in the right direction. Can you tell me a bit about your career journey? When did you first get into a leadership role? My whole career so far is within TW and the journey started as a developer, eventually, shifting the role to Delivery lead, Product Owner, Head of Operation, Program manager. Majority of my career is work under multiple culture environments. Which helps me look at things from different angles. The first time I got a leadership role is quite interesting, it is not an officially "assigned" leadership role. It was the 2nd year I joined TW. There is an NGO project which needs to work with clients from Africa and the UK, and with a group of people from TW Inida. From China, and it was just me and a new hire who have 10 years experience. Given I have longer experience in TW and know about the project, I start to take the ownership and drive the delivery of the work. Even providing suggestions to my teammate. I saw this as the first time I took the leadership role even though at that time, I didn't feel this way. What were the top challenges you faced during your journey and how did you overcome them? My top challenge when I was in a leadership role was the balance of growing people and doing things by myself. As a leader, when I step into an area that I'm not familiar with, I need to build up the team to move things forward instead of doing things by myself (I even can't do it by myself). This will need me to better think about the impact of work and set the right expectations with the team. I'm not overcome them yet. Still working on it. But I'm more and more patient on this now. What motivates you? Ownership motivates me to keep driving the thing forward. Curiosity motivates me to explore different areas from PS to Operation. Willing to get things done motivates me to remove blocker and build connections. Do you have a role model in your life? Can you name a few people who you look up to? I don't have a specific role model. I do learn things from different people. For example: Matheus, he was a very supportive leader who gave space to team members to grow and provide support when they needed it. David, he is great at balancing different parties within TechOps. Jade, putting things better organized. Yuntao, think things from a balanced view, and care about people's career development. Xiaoli, be very clear about what is the target to achieve. Gao Li, very calm and easily takes up new roles. There are still more people I'm learning from. I can't summarize all of them. What does leadership mean to you? How would you describe your leadership style? Leadership means responsibility, means good influence to others. My leadership style is more empowering, creating a safe space and opportunities for team members to leverage their strength and desire. Through supporting their success to make me and the team successful. What would be your advice to young leaders? People are always important. Always think about how to support your people's success and make the work successful.

< Back Digital transformation – 8 inside characteristics of the modern & digital organizations The pandemic has changed the dynamics of almost every kind of business. . The pandemic has changed the dynamics of almost every kind of business. And today, most businesses have no choice but to transform themselves through technology to reach their customers and continue their existence. Digital transformation is not a new concept. Probably, it's one of the most overused terms in recent times, especially during the last couple of years. Every other company is either getting digitally transformed, or helping others get transformed, or both. However, have you ever thought about what a ‘transformed’ organization looks like? What are the characteristics of a modern and a digitally transformed organization? How does a ‘Digitally transformed’ organization function and work, to continue the agility that they have gained through the transformation? Here are 8 characteristics or principles of the ‘Modern and Digitally transformed’ organization. These principles define how these companies operate internally, how their employees and teams see the organization from inside. Simple For digitally transformed organizations, the size of the company does not matter for their IT operations. Whether the company size is 500 people, or 50,000 people, these companies do not find it hard to scale their internal operations and business processes. The internal organization complexities are hidden behind simpler interfaces and intuitive business processes. They provide great working experiences to the employees, customers, and guests alike. The access to their core systems and services are easily available to build better interfaces and experiences for their internal business operations and customer facing processes. Flexible & personalized Employees will work from anywhere, any time and business processes are tuned and built to support flexible, time zone aligned, remote first & hybrid working culture. Cross country markets will emerge and people across the regions will collaborate better on delivering success to their customers. The services that are offered to employees and customers will be hyper personalized and they will be able to take their experience anywhere they go and access services with any device. Social & collaborative Diversity and inclusiveness will continue to be the key elements of the culture, and everyone’s opinions stay important to take the organization forward. Employees will engage in natural and non-hierarchical communications across the organization, and they will have necessary tools and technology at the disposal that allows them to communicate the way they want and improve social collaboration. They will continue to strengthen their ‘networked’ organization through new tools and technologies to make communications and collaboration easier. Open & compliant Information will remain a key enabler, however access to information will change per their compliance policies. Security, privacy and compliance will become even more important in future. The core IT systems will be easily interoperable, and the IT assets will be easily discoverable and accessible through internal developer platform / API / core asset marketplaces. There will be a strong access management & control mechanism in place at various levels that will guard ourselves and their key information from misuse. Smart Companies will integrate the physical workspaces with digital technologies to build smarter and more personalized experiences for their employees, customers, and guests and will continue to improve the experience using the big data. Our technology will enable employees to use different devices and help experience a truly connected workspace. They will use AI for enhancing their human effectiveness at work and provide full or assisted decision support for key organizational decisions. Sustainable Companies will care even more about sustainability and environment and ensure that they run on sustainable energy and prioritize being carbon neutral (if not negative). they would have committed to and demonstrated actions on supporting the SBTi goals towards climate action. For the assets and devices owned by them, they will follow the eco-friendly recycling and promote reusability. Their cloud infrastructure will run on green cloud computing. Fast, yet accurate Digitally transformed organizations are highly data driven. They have trustworthy data, made available to employees and leaders through established data platforms and relevant tools. The data that people are entitled to access is available at fingertips, in the format the employees want. All operational, business, and organizational decisions are driven by intelligent & actionable data insights. Innovative, learnable The digitally transformed organizations make innovation easy and take efforts to democratize innovation within the organization. Their next phase of growth is driven by innovation. They have lower barriers for innovation and experimentation and set clear paths for idea->impactful outcomes. These organizations retain a high focus on research and continuous learning and people capability development. Employee growth & development is a core part of the organizational strategy & culture. Final thoughts Markets and customer needs are evolving fast, and technology is evolving even faster. In the new age of business, there is an inherent need for companies to stay ahead of others. Being a modern & digital organization gives companies an advantage in the competitive market to respond faster to changing customer needs. While above 8 principles define the characteristics of the modern & digital organizations from inside (for employees & its leaders), it’s very important to know that being digital and modern is no end state, but it’s a continuous evolution. The companies who would wait and stay reactive, will be in a true danger of irrelevance, unless they act now, and act fast. Being a modern & digital organization gives companies an advantage in the race, the relentless focus on customer success, being flexible and adaptable to customer needs and being continuously innovative towards building better / newer products and services for customers is what will define the success of these organizations. Previous Next