I’m running a second design sprint. This time with three main differences: We are working as a team of two (so I’m not just running it, I’m also teaching), we’re doing only two days on site and three remotely, using Miro, and I’m doing the facilitating myself.
I usually write about how things feel. But this process is so unusual… there is such a deep, deep exhaustion. There is so much excitement, so much frustration, and it all seems amplified. So it’s very difficult to share it. And now that I think about it, I don’t see facilitators share a lot about how their work feels, even if they share a lot otherwise.
I’m also looking left and right at who else is doing Design Sprints. Nobody in our organisation of about 9000 people seems to be (and I’ve asked the CIO), we only have the one Scrum Master and he is a contractor. Outside of my organisation, the people doing this in Germany seem to be women. And in Germany, where there are so much fewer social links between diverse groups of people, I am observing a new quality to how much powerful men ignore us when we do the collaboration stuff and just keep doing whatever they are doing, because that’s always worked for them and got them to where they are.
In Germany, collaborative working seems to be seen as a female trait. We talk to each other, they don’t. And because they see it as something we naturally do, they won’t even think of learning it from us.
That is the only way I can explain the amount of attention I am getting from my direct male colleagues. I mean here we are, doing the thing successfully, using the tools, while they are so involved in trying to do that exact thing and learning those exact habits and tools. Nobody talks to me. Despite the fact that I’m right there, actually in the room.
We have a campaign going on about gendered assumptions, with the headline “imagine an assistant. Is it a woman?” All coaches and most of the bosses are male. And despite the fact I’m not an assistant, I got grouped with the assistants. We’ve talked about this not actually making sense, but we still have a jour fixe together, so that view is perpetuated all the time in our team.
In brighter news, using Miro is a fantastic experience. It’s such a great tool. I love their philosophy too. We’re still only using the free version and even that does everything we need, that’s clearly a conscious choice. I’ve never used it with a group of people, and it does all the things a collaboration tool should and in a very fun, visual way.
It's the break in the middle of my second design sprint
I worked ina project about ten years ago looking at why more women weren’t taking more senior roles. We did various things such as interviews and analysis, but I wouldn’t say it was with the degree of rigour that a proper scientific study would follow. Our conclusion was that it was down to the older generation. So, as those older folk leave their roles and are replaced by younger people who have been exposed to the more diversified thin king, we saw a gradual change might occur. So for any company wanting to be truly diverse they have to consciously make changes. And do so at the highest levels of their organisation.
I agree that women work differently than men. They encourage a less competitive way of working, which matches what you say regarding communication and so much more. I’d suggest employing diversity and inclusion (D&I) metrics as that might fit in with what companies are asked to do. That will lead to a more diverse work population. Having more and different ways of thinking will aid the sort of change you’re looking to achieve. Just my thoughts. Well done though for doing what you’ve done and hopefully getting others tontake up the challenge.