Topic(s)
- People-centric leadership
Overview
Menlo Innovations draws visitors from all over the world to benchmark their unique culture founded on the principle of joy. The culture is the result of an ongoing series of deliberate, incremental experiments, each directed toward solving specific problems. Those experiments have resulted in the tools and artifacts that are visible to visitors. Each one was developed with a specific cultural result in mind. In this session, we will look at the most visible tools and share how they help structure the way Menlonians interact with one another.
Key learning objectives
Participants will have an opportunity to:
- Gain a deeper understanding of their own organizations through the lens of the four key elements that shape culture.
- Take a deep dive into Menlo’s latest experiments designed to enhance peer-to-peer feedback.
- Work to develop their own next step against a gap they may want to work on closing.
Company
Founded in 2001, Menlo Innovations designs and builds software that is widely adopted by target users, producing a competitive advantage and better business results for its clients. Its team consists of 40-50 associates and consultants trained in the company’s unique methodology working as a collaborative team in the Menlo Software Factory™ in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
In addition to helping develop world-class software solutions, members of its team are recognized as leaders in their field and have been invited to speak at universities, professional organizations, local and national conferences, and global congresses such as the Project Management Institute in Toronto, Baltimore, Panama, and Mexico.
Menlo’s workspace has been featured in the Wall Street Journal. The company has been recognized for such distinctions as the Inc. 500 list for 2007, Wall Street Journal’s Winning Small Workplaces, Michigan 50 Companies to Watch, Metropolitan Detroit’s Best & Brightest Companies to Work For, Crain’s Small Business Award, and the Alfred P. Sloan Award for Workplace Flexibility.
Furthermore, Menlo president and CEO Richard Sheridan has written a book, Joy, Inc., offering an inside look into how Menlo created its culture and how other organizations can follow Menlo’s methods for a more passionate team and sustainable, profitable results. https://menloinnovations.com/
Presenters
Mollie Callahan is a Principal High-Tech Anthropologist® at Menlo Innovations and recently took on the role of people experience lead. She has more than 20 years of combined professional experience as a consultant, professor, researcher, designer, speaker and instructor.
For the past nine years, Callahan has worked as a Principal High-Tech Anthropologist®, conducting user experience research, designing software, and facilitating process and culture change for Menlo clients. Callahan’s project experience spans multiple industries, including transportation, healthcare, automotive, manufacturing, energy, finance, logistics, insurance, retail and education. Her speaking events have included keynotes for Westminster College’s Center for Innovative Cultures, multiple client off-sites, and presentations at Agile and Beyond.
Callahan holds a Ph.D. in anthropology from the University of Michigan — Ann Arbor, and prior to joining Menlo, she was a faculty member at Oberlin College.
Dan Roman, senior software consultant at Menlo Innovations, exemplifies versatility and dedication. Whether it’s pairing with a fellow Menlonian or a client in the role of developer, functioning as a project manager, jumping in as a High-Tech® Anthropologist, or giving keynote speeches alongside Rich Sheridan, Roman is truly a Renaissance man.
Though primarily a developer, Roman’s commitment to continual growth and team development drives him to lead efforts that effect positive change. This is evident in his stewardship of two key experiments in Menlo’s onboarding and internal review processes: the Passport Experiment and the Prosperity Process. Additionally, his varied roles provide him with a wealth of experiences to share.
“As someone in the midst of a shift in perspective from individual contributor to leader and force multiplier, I’m eager to share the lessons I’ve learned so far,” he explains. “In particular, I’m passionate about topics like efficiency vs. effectiveness, experimental approaches to team and process building, and slowing yourself down to make everyone else faster.”
You’d think that someone so entrenched in the Menlo culture would be a die-hard programmer, but Roman’s road to Menlo was unconventional. After earning a computer science degree in 2015, his career path quickly deviated from what he had imagined. “While I originally started in the software development industry, bad experiences quickly soured my perspective,” he shares. He abandoned the entire industry in favor of the great outdoors by joining the Nevada Conservation Corps. Returning to Michigan, he continued his outdoorsy ways as he worked in landscaping before winter led him to seek other employment.
Falling back on his degree, he applied to Menlo without high expectations, but ended up finding a new home. “My assumption was I could stomach the industry for a couple of months while I looked for other opportunities outside of programming,” he remembers. “Five years later, I don’t know if there’s anywhere else I’d rather be. Every day at Menlo I’m learning something new about either programming, consulting, or leadership.”
The culture of joy that lives at Menlo fuels Roman’s motivation. Beyond his technical and leadership roles, Roman strives to be challenged and wants to inspire others to challenge themselves.
“For any audience I’m invited to work with, I aspire to have them both nodding and scratching their heads as they walk out of the venue. If audience members sharing a ride back to the office/home/the hotel spend most of the drive talking about the ideas covered in my talk, I consider that a success.”
Back at Menlo, he continues to encourage growth and joy among his peers. “There is hardly a force more powerful than participating in and creating a workplace of joy.” 
