The story of Joy

This month it is our sparkling Joy!

“Nicole reached out on LinkedIn to meet each other, this was the first contact with Spargle. For me this was a big plus for Spargle because it did not feel like I had to send a CV that they will scan on keywords. This was really about meeting each other and see what we mean for each other. There was also a match in what we were looking for. And after that very long, nice talk with NicoleI heard there was a possibility at Nike. So that is how it started.

When I started at Nike, I started as a Product Owner and that means I am the linking pin between the business and the engineering team discovering together what we need to build and what is the right order of priorities. Always having in mind that we want to maximize value for the users and the business as much as possible. Since two months ago now I have the chance to have a more overseeing role in product management. So officially it’s a lead technical product manager role.

I experience the culture of Nike as being a very open and diverse culture where everybody can be themselves. That is amazing and refreshing to see in a huge organization of complex. Where nobody is forced to be anything else and everybody is so different and so positive and so collaborative. It is also a very competitive environment because of the “just do it” mentality. Although in tech we have to take a step back and think ten times before we do something in order to make it scalable and future proof.

Nike differentiates herself first by the culture. They are really good in their storytelling and that makes them so persuasive towards the consumer and the people working in the company to install this. They know it takes time. They know the human brain love stories. The best way for us to change and even to feel gratitude and to feel good things is not just by repeating things to ourselves but to tell compelling stories and is how we rewire our brain and they are masters in doing this.

I think the biggest challenge in the digital domain is how fast things move in terms of technology and the time that businesses need to think and approach in a different way to be a part of that speed of technology growth. The biggest challenge can be summarized to mindset and finding the right process to help finding you the right mindset. It’s like people sometimes get married to a framework or a way of doing things forgetting on why we do it. And the process has to be a goal to help you to change your way of thinking and challenge your ways instead of “i have a new process that will work”. Agile is all about repeating and learning and improving.”