Technically Women

Dennis Howlett doesn’t fool around. When he wanted an authentic perspective on a McKinsey Quarterly report on women and leadership, he collected a really interesting group of women to comment. I was flattered to be included and fascinated by the group he had assembled. Collectively the perspective presented was also much richer than any one part. And that collective perspective doesn’t surface very often.

As someone with a background in technology, product management, and software I’ve often been the lone woman on management teams or in engineering design sessions. I’ve experienced very few overtly sexist issues and, for the most part, I’ve been treated fairly and on my own terms. Having gone to a women’s college I am certainly aware of a variety of gender-related issues but have always been hesitant to get involved in women’s professional groups. Why? Gender is such a nuanced issue in today’s world. Sure, it’s been difficult to establish high trust relationships with some of my male colleagues and I have a lot of conflicting and stressful tugs at my time that I have a hard time juggling but I know many men who share those issues. I’ve also had some wonderful relationships with male colleagues – from early mentors to my current business partner Jim Storer. Making the issues of women and leadership an us vs. them situation is just not helpful. It’s not that simple.

Having said all of that, I think women – with all of our many priorities – probably have a different perspective on technology and why it is important. From personal experience I am less likely to enjoy technology for its own sake than the men I know – it can be cool but it has to be practical or helpful for me to use it regularly. So I believe there is a different perspective that women bring to how technology integrates with our lives and our businesses – but it’s often subtle. The concept of Technically Women intrigued me as an opportunity to collaborate with a bunch of whip-smart woman who have interesting perspectives on technology and to see if, over time, that collective ‘voice’ can be better articulated. But really, we are a bunch of technology professionals that just happen to be, technically, women. It’s an opportunity for me to share my love of technology, its potential, and its limitations and collaborate with some great people.

Looking forward to it!
Rachel Happe