The mission of Agile Alliance for many years now has been to “create a global and inclusive community.” It’s been almost 2 years since I took the stage during Agile2019 at Agile Tonight to present the FACTS about Why Diversity and Inclusion (D&I) Matter. I spoke about the truth about team performance and that D&I are good business. The research is clear: both teams and organizations perform best when humans can bring their whole selves to work. Every. Single. Day.
D&I matters because what companies gain from attracting and retaining diverse talent is that we are able to design and develop solutions that are as broad and creative as the people they serve.
We need the community creating solutions to be as diverse as the community consuming it! It’s that simple!
What is Pride?
Pride is the promotion of the dignity, self-affirmation, and equality of humans who happen to identify as LGBTQ+. Pride is the consciousness of one’s own dignity.
As we approach the 51st anniversary of the first Gay Pride march in New York City–which commemorates the Stonewall Riots–and celebrate Pride Month, it’s time to reflect on what I am proud of.
- I am proud to serve on the Board of Directors of Agile Alliance with my extraordinary colleagues. Since 2001, Agile Alliance has been building a more effective, humane, and sustainable way of working.
- I am proud of the Agile Alliance team, including all of the AMAZING volunteers, that have embraced tremendous change during the Covid-19 Pandemic. Your resilience is inspiring.
- I am proud that I’ve been “out” at every organization I’ve ever worked at, including my daily paper route during junior high school that I shared with my best friend, Karen, who also went through her heterosexual phase and found her lesbian identity.
- I am proud to have served on the D&I Councils and Advisory Boards for each of the companies I have worked for over the past 20 years. I have learned much from so many, and I am still discovering my unconscious biases.
- I am proud to have been nominated to STEMconnector’s® list of 100 Diverse Corporate Leaders in STEM in 2014.
- I am proud to be a member of the Agile community, a community that favors individuals and interactions, collaboration, and responding to change – human-centric constructs.
- Perhaps most importantly, I am proud of the love I share with my amazing wife, Anna. This Pride Month we will be celebrating our 31st anniversary – over 13 of those years legally married. #loveconquerseverything
Agile Values, Principles, and Practices
Along with this immense pride I feel this month and every day, I’m incredibly grateful that I was introduced to Agile values, principles, and practices over 20 years ago. I learned that Agile is a fundamentally different way of working, thinking, and being that challenges each of us to meet people where they are and for who they are. Agile challenges us to listen in order to understand and to act with courage, humility, curiosity, and compassion. It’s a way of working, thinking, and being that encourages and supports diversity and inclusion of all humans.
In my TEDx talk on “Agile is Change,” I spoke about the human side of Agile. Why? Because at its core, Agile is about changing human behavior and how we interact with each other. It’s about uncovering better ways of doing things and helping others. It’s about respect. It’s about courage. It’s about PRIDE. Happy Pride Month!
