Company culture, or its DNA, is one of the most important factors to determing if a company succeeds.  Many companies claim to have great company culture.  But what does this mean, how can you know if your company has a great culture, and how can you go about improving the culture?  This talk will explore what great companies have in common, and share experiences I have had in helping to develop engineering culture during my career.    

Will also explore how Agile principles help to foster creating the best possible culture for your organization.

You cannot effectively push a rope, similarly you cannot force innovation to happen. You can only set up an environment where it is fostered and allowed to thrive. This is even more relevant in an Agile environment, where there is freedom to explore innovation. This talk will be a review of the lessons learned while implementing innovation programs in Agile environments at Atlassian and Bigcommerce. This session covers programs that worked (like FedEx/ShipIt/Hackathons, 20% time) and programs that failed (dedicated Innovation Team). Most importantly it will explore why certain types of programs are more successful that others.

It will also explore how Agile methodolgies and practices can help to improve the results of innovation programs. The talk will also detail some strategies for setting up a culture of innovation, and discuss the pre-requistes to creating and fostering an environment where innovation is celebrated.