THOMAS COWELL EMBER LONDON - 16 OCTOBER 2014 HEAD OF EXPERIENCE TECHNOLOGY, SAPIENTNITRO
T H O M A S C O W E L L E M B E R L O N D O N - 1 6 O C T O B E R 2 0 1 4
H E A D O F E X P E R I E N C E T E C H N O L O G Y, S A P I E N T N I T R O
W H Y J Q U E R Y I S S U P E R I O R T O E M B E R J S
W H Y J Q U E R Y I S S U P E R I O R T O E M B E R J S
W H Y I E 6 S H O U L D N O T B E R E T I R E D !
W H Y I E 6 S H O U L D N O T B E R E T I R E D !
W H Y E V E R Y O N E I N Y O U R T E A M S E C R E T LY H AT E S Y O U
W H Y E V E R Y O N E I N Y O U R T E A M S E C R E T LY H AT E S Y O U M E
W H O A M I ? A N D M Y R O L E
• I am a developer
• I build relationships
• I advise on technology
• I lead teams
• I have had share of my successes and failures
– A N O N Y M O U S
“You are a boss that is why everyone hates you.”
W H Y E V E R Y O N E I N Y O U R T E A M S E C R E T LY H AT E S Y O U
H O W D O G E T T O W O R K I N G R E AT T E A M S
R E G A R D L E S S O F R O L E
M Y H O P E
• Understand more of what makes a great team
• How to proactively build and support a team being / becoming great
• Share some of experiences and learning of my journey
W H AT C H A R A C T E R I S T I C S U N D E R M I N E T E A M
T H E A C T O R S
O F F I C E J E S U S
• Catch Phrase:“Couldn’t have done it without me”
• The reason the business, team, etc survives is because of them
• Don’t trust others to get it right
• Only they can save ”X”
• Believe they are worthy of adoration and exultation
M A S S I V E D E B AT E R A K A M R K N O W I T A L L
• Catch Phrase:“Well that is a matter of opinion”
• Need to be right
• Their opinion must be heard
• Clearly they know something us mere mortals can’t comprehend
T H E P O R C U P I N E
• Catch Phrase: “F*@K OFF”
• Abrasive, Grumpy
• Easily threatened
• In need of a good hug (always)
• Nothing is good
S L I P P E R Y S A M A K A S L A C K E R S A M
• Catch Phrase: “I had nothing to do with it.”
• Know what is happening on Reddit, Twitter, Google+, Facebook, Ello, etc.
• Always very busy…. Doing ????
• Overtime == Time to bugger off
W H I N G I N G W I L L I A M
• Catch Phrase: “I don’t know what is wrong with these people, can’t they get X right?”
• There is always something to complain about.
• They will complain about this presentation, pizza, beer, soft drinks, something missing, etc.
I A M N O T I N T E N T I O N A L LY S I N G L I N G A N Y O N E O U T ! A P O L O G I E S I F Y O U D O ; B U T Y O U R G U I LT, I S Y O U R G U I LT Y C O N S C I E N C E W O R K I N G !
D I S C L A I M E R
W E A R E A L L O F F E N D E R S I N VA R Y I N G D E G R E E S
T H E A C T O R S
W H AT A B O U T M Y S E L F - T O M C O W E L L
• Beside the Terrible Mustache
• Office Jesus
• The Porcupine
• Whinging William
• Massive Debater
• Let’s not leave off…General pain the back-side
W H AT C H A R A C T E R I S T I C S E N A B L E A N D B U I L D T E A M
T H E Q U A L I T I E S
C O M M O N / S H A R E D G O A L S & V I S I O N
• We all desire direction and focus to our activities
• Working with the end in mind; aids in building better results
• All team members need to sign up to a shared vision
• We all need to be regularly reminded of the vision
F R E E D O M & U N D E R S TA N D I N G T O M A K E M I S TA K E S
• Willingness to take on necessary risk
• Opportunity to learn and space for people to grow
• Not a license to be sloppy, but a license to grow
W I L L I N G N E S S T O D I S C U S S , C O L L A B O R AT E & S H A R E
• Communication is the key
• Misunderstanding is the enemy
• We all have insight, which should be shared
• Generally there are not wrong comments / answers, just different perspectives
E N C O U R A G E G R O W T H I N Y O U R S E L F & O T H E R S
• There are areas of growth in all of us, lets graciously help each grow
• There are small victories we each make, so lets celebrate them
• We are in it together! Even if we can’t individually succeed, we can as a group
Y O U R T E A M I S W H AT Y O U M A K E O F I T
• You have a choice to build value in a team
• You want it to be a more caring team, then care
• You want it to try out new things, then tinker
• You want to be able to make success, then celebrate it
WE TROLLED PEOPLE
BEFORE IT WAS CALLED TROLLING
H O W D O S U C C E S S F U L B U S I N E S S E S B U I L D T E A M S ?
W H AT A B O U T C O R E VA L U E S ?
• Client-focused Delivery
• Creativity
• Leadership
• Openness
• People Growth
• Relationships
W H AT O F C O R E VA L U E S ?
VA L U E I N T E N T I O N
C L I E N T- F O C U S E D D E L I V E R Y
Shared Goal
C R E AT I V I T Y Freedom To Make Mistakes
L E A D E R S H I P Your Team Is What You Make Of It
O P E N N E S S Willingness To Discuss, Collaborate & Share
P E O P L E G R O W T H Encourage Growth In Others & Yourself
R E L AT I O N S H I P S All Of The Above
C H A N G E I S N O T A LW AY S W I T H I N M Y P O W E R T O E F F E C T, Y E T M Y P O W E R T O E F F E C T A C H A N G E I N M Y AT T I T U D E I S A LW AY S W I T H I N M Y P O W E R
W H A T H A V E I L E A R N T ?
Y O U R T E A M I S W H AT Y O U C H O O S E I T T O B E ; E M P O W E R E D B Y Y O U R C H A N G E
M I N D S E T
W H AT W E P U T I N T O O U R T E A M ( S ) I S R E F L E C T E D I N W H AT W E G E T O U T
I N D I V I D U A L LY
R E A D B O O K S L I K E T H E S E
7 Habits of Highly Effective Personhttp://www.amazon.co.uk/Habits-Highly-Effective-People-Anniversary-ebook/dp/B00GOZV3TM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1413320080&sr=8-1&keywords=7+habits+of+highly+effective+people
The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Leadership Fablehttp://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Five-Dysfunctions-Team-Leadership/dp/0787960756/ref=pd_sim_b_2?ie=UTF8&refRID=0A5Q0N6MXF8DN631QGNY MANGA VERSIONhttp://www.amazon.co.uk/Five-Dysfunctions-Team-Illustrated-Leadership/dp/0470823380/ref=asap_B001ILFMB2_1_10?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1413320734&sr=1-10
Leadership and Self-Deception: Getting out of the Boxhttp://www.amazon.co.uk/Leadership-Self-Deception-Getting-out-Box/dp/0141030062/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1413320641&sr=1-1&keywords=leadership+and+self-deception+getting+out+of+the+box
T H O M A S C O W E L L @ T H O M C O W E L L H T T P : / / U K . L I N K E D I N . C O M / I N / T H O M A S C O W E L L /
H E A D O F E X P E R I E N C E T E C H N O L O G Y, S A P I E N T N I T R O
T H A N K Y O UB E G R A C I O U S
? ? ? ?Q U E S T I O N S