We continue our conversation with “The” William A. Adams with a foray into diversity. Differing perspectives that are correctly managed and embraced are a part of high-functioning teams. Diversity is a popular term to use to get good press. However, that is not useful in itself. We must look for diverse experiences and backgrounds and then utilize them to improve the team. This benefit only occurs when we work with the differences rather than force them to conform.
Differing Perspectives For A Complete Picture
There are countless stories of companies that built a product they thought would take the world by storm only to release it to the sound of crickets. These often come from a team that was in a form of a bubble that kept them from considering the real world outside. When we hire a diverse group and incorporate those differing perspectives, we open ourselves to a larger world of opportunities. We discuss examples in this episode, including the idea of men coming up with a menstrual tracking application.
A Little Background
William A. Adam is an award-winning D&I innovator, engineering trailblazer, and philanthropist. After rolling out critical XML code globally in many of Microsoft’s core products, he was named the first Technical Advisor to the CTO, Kevin Scott.
Plenty Of Accolades
As co-founder of the LEAP apprenticeship program – named Microsoft’s D&I Program of the Year in 2020 – William helped launch the training of more than 26 engineering cohorts worldwide. Today, 98% of LEAP participants work at Microsoft or other high-tech companies. His most recent collaboration is with the leadership of the U.S. Virgin Islands to establish and train a technical talent pool and build critical technology infrastructure.
Early in his 30-year career in software engineering, he was one of the first Black entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley and was recently profiled by the Computer History Museum. Through his company, Adamation, William developed mission-critical custom enterprise apps for Steve Jobs’ NeXT computers and pioneered a network instant messaging service purchased by the CIA. He’s been awarded two patents.
Where Is He Now?
Today, in addition to his role at Microsoft, William is the philanthropic founder of The EV3NT, a collaborative, community-based hackathon designed to use technology to address critical real-world needs. William is busy as a husband and father of three when he’s not tinkering with bits and bytes. He builds kitchen cabinets, knits, and tries to recapture the exhilaration of riding a motorcycle in India.
His Web Site: https://www.william-a-adams.com
