I am a black man working in technology. I have more than a 20-year career working on the Internet. Whenever I read articles and initiatives promoting diversity in technology there is always a simple preamble that leads the conversation. Learn to code. Teach girls to code. Teach kids to code. It’s as if programming is the ticket to success and riches. The problem with this mantra is that not everyone is cut out to be a coder. Teaching coding isn’t an easy solution to grow talent in the technology field.
Learning to code is a great skill to have. First and foremost it trains your brain to think in a way that makes problem solving more effective. It helps you understand how much thought and hard work goes into getting technology to work well. Knowing what happens under the hood is a valuable tool that will set you apart in your quest to change the world.
I have always wanted to work in technology. In fact my first college major was Computer Engineering at Springfield Technical Community College in Springfield, Massachusetts. I lasted a semester before switching my major to Marketing. I quickly learned that the engineering side of computing was not my strength. Looking back I can tell you it was not the math or the technology that stumped me. It was a difficulty coping with isolation manifesting in my lack of passion. I was not cut out for it.
In 2001 I moved to the Bronx and worked for an Internet Service Provider in Manhattan. Having a passion for film and filmmaking I volunteered with an organization called NewFilmmakers in New York. Every week the group would show new films at Anthology Film Archives and would in many cases have the film director in house to discuss the films and their body of work. I learned a great deal about filmmaking and got to meet a great many film directors. The number one lesson in making a film is you need to collaborate. Film directors start a project with creative vision and have numerous challenges and restrictions set upon them. Without the ability to collaborate and overcome these challenges there vision will never get recognized. Coding in the tech space is very much like cinematography in filmmaking. Although critical it is only a piece of the big picture. In filmmaking photography is a technical skill along with lighting, sound, and editing. Individually these skills can be honed and mastered, but when combined with the creative components of script writing, costume and set design the end result is a collaborative work of art.
I used to preach “don’t learn to code learn to lead”. My feeling was that technology leaders like Steve Jobs, and Jeff Bezos are not known for their coding expertise but their business acumen. Even the more hands on tech leaders like Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk are not investing a ton of their time coding. I believed that if we are going to see more minorities and women in tech we needed to see more leaders. My thinking regarding “learn to lead” has evolved.
Today my message is simple. Collaboration is the key to success. Over the next 3 weeks I will share 3 examples of how collaboration became a key factor in some well-known business success stories. Share your own stories of collaboration successes and failures in the comment section I would love to hear your thoughts.
