A Reflection on Inclusion
Steven Westlund is the author of today’s Tuesday Reading. He is the Director of Enterprise Applications Architecture at Washington University in St. Louis. His essay first appeared as a leadership program reflection earlier this year. [Steve may be reached at [email protected].]
A few weekends ago, my wife and I watched Alexandra Dean’s documentary, Bombshell: the Hedy Lamarr Story. I think this film relates well to Brian McDonald’s recent guest Tuesday Reading, The Leader’s Role in Creating an Inclusive and Engaging Work Environment. In the essay, Brian wrote that IF we want people to ascribe to the philosophy that anyone can lead from anywhere, the environment needs to be conducive not exclusive. So, here’s the story.
Most of us remember Hedy Lamarr as the beautiful actress and Hollywood star who came to America after fleeing Austria and the Nazis just before the start of World War II. But, there’s another part of the story. It wasn’t that long ago that the public began to discover this other side of Hedy. She was a brilliant technical innovator. Hedy Lamarr and composer George Antheil invented frequency hopping, otherwise known as spread spectrum radio. Their invention is the foundation for the secure digital communications and comforts that we enjoy today. They could not have envisioned the impact it would have in the future. Their intent was to provide the Navy with a jam-proof radio guidance system for torpedoes to help the Allies win the war.
Lamarr and Antheil seem like an unlikely pair to come up with such a revolutionary innovation. They were not engineers. When I saw the film I realized that this gave them an advantage. How? They had the creative freedom to think outside the box. Lamarr and Antheil synthesized the concept of frequency hopping from the way synchronized player pianos work. Brilliant! So, what happened when Lamarr tried to give her invention to the Navy? They rejected it. The naval officer told her to sell war bonds if she wanted to help the war effort and leave the guidance systems to the Navy. Because she was an alien, the government also seized her patent and locked it away in a top-secret vault for over a decade. Lamarr’s work was eventually rediscovered and put to use by the Navy during the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962. By then the patent had expired, so she never received any compensation. It wasn’t until just before Lamarr died at the turn of the century that she was even recognized for her contribution.
We have come a long way since the 1940s. But, as Brian pointed out in his essay, too often the tendency at an unconscious level is to listen to individuals who see things as we do or hire people in our own image. (See the March 6, 2018 Tuesday Reading, Bias.) Work groups can, and often do, develop norms or patterns that are unknowingly excluding others.
Viewing the documentary and reflecting on this theme brought back a memory from my own career. It was 1999, about the time Lamarr was recognized, that I was leading a team of software developers working on the Student Information System at Washington University. We were given a project to replace the hard copy photo book of the incoming freshman class with an online version. While analyzing the problem, Jason, the lead developer, discovered that there was a lot of social interaction among students around the book. Concerned that this would be lost in an online version, he researched, designed and implemented a social networking component to fill the gap. The idea was to enable students who viewed the book online to link and communicate with one another. We called the application Faces.
When we demoed Faces to our leadership team, they expressed apprehension. The problem was the social networking component, which was a novel concept at the time. We had nothing like this in our application portfolio. There also was a concern that the usage of this feature could grow beyond the capacity of our network and computing infrastructure to support it. So, I was directed to remove it from Faces immediately. How did I respond? Even though I saw merit in the solution, I did not support my team and argue why the social networking features were important. I did not identify ways to mitigate the perceived risks. I did not recognize Jason and the team for taking the initiative and developing this innovation. Instead, I just delivered the bad news to the developers and made sure social networking was removed from Faces before it went to production. I did not envision the impact this type of application would have on our society in the future.
This experience and the Hedy Lamarr story prompt me to raise the following questions. As leaders, do we provide real opportunities for our teams to take the initiative and lead from anywhere? Do we welcome different perspectives, even when they challenge the status quo or our current ways of thinking? Do we encourage, recognize and reward innovation? Are we willing to accept the risks associated with change?
<<<<>>>>
Like Steve, I and very likely many of you have a “Faces” story where we did not step up and support our team as they stepped up, beyond our expectations. This make’s the questions Steve asks timely and important to each of us. To emphasize that, I’m going to take the liberty of making them personal:
- Do I provide real opportunities for my teams to take initiative?
- Do I welcome different perspectives?
- Do I encourage, recognize, and reward innovation?
- Am I willing to accept the risks associated with change?
These are really good questions, ones that I challenge myself and you to take time to reflect upon. And, and then find ways to change the way we lead.
Make it a great week! . . . . jim
Jim Bruce is a Senior Fellow and Executive Coach at MOR Associates, and Professor of Electrical Engineering, Emeritus, and CIO, Emeritus, at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA.
- November 2024 (2)
- October 2024 (5)
- September 2024 (4)
- August 2024 (4)
- July 2024 (5)
- June 2024 (4)
- May 2024 (4)
- April 2024 (5)
- March 2024 (4)
- February 2024 (4)
- January 2024 (5)
- December 2023 (3)
- November 2023 (4)
- October 2023 (5)
- September 2023 (4)
- August 2023 (4)
- July 2023 (4)
- June 2023 (4)
- May 2023 (5)
- April 2023 (4)
- March 2023 (1)
- January 2023 (4)
- December 2022 (3)
- November 2022 (5)
- October 2022 (4)
- September 2022 (4)
- August 2022 (5)
- July 2022 (4)
- June 2022 (4)
- May 2022 (5)
- April 2022 (4)
- March 2022 (5)
- February 2022 (4)
- January 2022 (4)
- December 2021 (3)
- November 2021 (4)
- October 2021 (3)
- September 2021 (4)
- August 2021 (4)
- July 2021 (4)
- June 2021 (5)
- May 2021 (4)
- April 2021 (4)
- March 2021 (5)
- February 2021 (4)
- January 2021 (4)
- December 2020 (4)
- November 2020 (4)
- October 2020 (6)
- September 2020 (5)
- August 2020 (4)
- July 2020 (7)
- June 2020 (7)
- May 2020 (5)
- April 2020 (4)
- March 2020 (5)
- February 2020 (4)
- January 2020 (4)
- December 2019 (2)
- November 2019 (4)
- October 2019 (4)
- September 2019 (3)
- August 2019 (3)
- July 2019 (2)
- June 2019 (4)
- May 2019 (3)
- April 2019 (5)
- March 2019 (4)
- February 2019 (3)
- January 2019 (5)
- December 2018 (2)
- November 2018 (4)
- October 2018 (5)
- September 2018 (3)
- August 2018 (3)
- July 2018 (4)
- June 2018 (4)
- May 2018 (5)
- April 2018 (4)
- March 2018 (5)
- February 2018 (5)
- January 2018 (3)
- December 2017 (3)
- November 2017 (4)
- October 2017 (5)
- September 2017 (3)
- August 2017 (5)
- July 2017 (3)
- June 2017 (8)
- May 2017 (5)
- April 2017 (4)
- March 2017 (4)
- February 2017 (4)
- January 2017 (4)
- December 2016 (2)
- November 2016 (7)
- October 2016 (5)
- September 2016 (8)
- August 2016 (5)
- July 2016 (4)
- June 2016 (12)
- May 2016 (5)
- April 2016 (4)
- March 2016 (7)
- February 2016 (4)
- January 2016 (10)
- December 2015 (4)
- November 2015 (6)
- October 2015 (4)
- September 2015 (7)
- August 2015 (5)
- July 2015 (6)
- June 2015 (12)
- May 2015 (4)
- April 2015 (6)
- March 2015 (10)
- February 2015 (4)
- January 2015 (4)
- December 2014 (3)
- November 2014 (5)
- October 2014 (4)
- September 2014 (6)
- August 2014 (4)
- July 2014 (4)
- June 2014 (4)
- May 2014 (5)
- April 2014 (5)
- March 2014 (5)
- February 2014 (4)
- January 2014 (5)
- December 2013 (5)
- November 2013 (5)
- October 2013 (10)
- September 2013 (4)
- August 2013 (5)
- July 2013 (8)
- June 2013 (6)
- May 2013 (4)
- April 2013 (5)
- March 2013 (4)
- February 2013 (4)
- January 2013 (5)
- December 2012 (3)
- November 2012 (4)
- October 2012 (5)
- September 2012 (4)
- August 2012 (4)
- July 2012 (5)
- June 2012 (4)
- May 2012 (5)
- April 2012 (4)
- March 2012 (4)
- February 2012 (4)
- January 2012 (4)
- December 2011 (3)
- November 2011 (5)
- October 2011 (4)
- September 2011 (4)
- August 2011 (4)
- July 2011 (4)
- June 2011 (5)
- May 2011 (5)
- April 2011 (3)
- March 2011 (4)
- February 2011 (4)
- January 2011 (4)
- December 2010 (3)
- November 2010 (4)
- October 2010 (4)
- September 2010 (3)
- August 2010 (5)
- July 2010 (4)
- June 2010 (5)
- May 2010 (4)
- April 2010 (3)
- March 2010 (2)
- February 2010 (4)
- January 2010 (4)
- December 2009 (4)
- November 2009 (4)
- October 2009 (4)
- September 2009 (4)
- August 2009 (3)
- July 2009 (3)
- June 2009 (3)
- May 2009 (4)
- April 2009 (4)
- March 2009 (2)
- February 2009 (3)
- January 2009 (3)
- December 2008 (3)
- November 2008 (3)
- October 2008 (3)
- August 2008 (3)
- July 2008 (4)
- May 2008 (2)
- April 2008 (2)
- March 2008 (2)
- February 2008 (1)
- January 2008 (1)
- December 2007 (3)
- November 2007 (3)
- October 2007 (3)
- September 2007 (1)
- August 2007 (2)
- July 2007 (4)
- June 2007 (2)
- May 2007 (3)
- April 2007 (1)
- March 2007 (2)
- February 2007 (2)
- January 2007 (3)
- December 2006 (1)
- November 2006 (1)
- October 2006 (1)
- September 2006 (3)
- August 2006 (1)
- June 2006 (2)
- April 2006 (1)
- March 2006 (1)
- February 2006 (1)
- January 2006 (1)
- December 2005 (1)
- November 2005 (2)
- October 2005 (1)
- August 2005 (1)
- July 2005 (1)
- April 2005 (2)
- March 2005 (4)
- February 2005 (2)
- December 2004 (1)