Reflecting and Moving Forward

Over the past few years, I have had the opportunity to organize seven Agile to agility online conferences and interview over 100 people on my podcast. My aim has always been to invite knowledgeable and diverse thought leaders to share their experiences. You can view the recordings on my YouTube channel .

The goal of Agile to agility conferences is to gather some of the foremost thought leaders to share their knowledge, providing people worldwide with the opportunity to attend these events for free.

For the latest conference titled Evolving Organizational Structures for Agility scheduled for June 12, 2024, I unintentionally ended up with an all-male panel. Initially, I didn't think much of it because I focused on inviting individuals I believed were highly knowledgeable on the topic. I've always taken pride in featuring a diverse array of speakers at my conferences. I view diversity as encompassing more than just color and gender. In hindsight, I realize I could have made a greater effort to include a more diverse group of speakers and also sought guidance from others. Organizing these events largely on my own, I aimed to keep things simple and rushed to fit this conference in before summer.

One of the speakers decided to withdraw because he was uncomfortable with the all-male lineup. That was a wake-up call for me. He was right. I asked for his help in finding other non-male speakers.

In the meantime, I managed to get two female speakers to join, but it felt forced and unnatural for all of us. Other speakers raised their concerns as well, and I realized it would be better to postpone or cancel the conference.

I removed the speaker's details from the website as he requested but didn't delete the LinkedIn post , and I posted this , which most likely prompted him to post about it . I understand why he did that. Following that, there were so many attacks and comments from people who didn't have the full context.

I tried to make things right. I sent another message:

"Hey Matthew,

I wanted to give you an update. It's still early here, and I can see LinkedIn blowing up with comments and attacks.

I believe we all have positive intentions and that nobody is trying to exclude or offend anyone. I've never dealt with a situation like this before, so I'm figuring things out as I go. My gut feeling tells me that something positive should come out of this misunderstanding and misalignment in our beliefs.

Sonja Blignaut has agreed to present, and I've also reached out to Sarah Gruneisen to see if she is willing to participate.

I think if we work together to send a message of understanding and collaboration, it would be much more powerful than what's happening now. The conference will go on no matter what, but we have a choice in the type of message we want to send. I would like to promote a message of love, unity, and rising above to honor multiple viewpoints.

Consider this an invitation to help send the right message. I'm open to your suggestions and ideas, and I would welcome your participation in any way or form.

Best,

Miljan"

I posted this message on his LinkedIn post as a comment to provide transparency to everyone, especially those criticizing me.?

To which Matthew responded with:

"Miljan Baji? super. But the fact that you were happy to run an all-men event speaks volumes. I stand by my decision." I empathize with Matthew, understand his perspective, and respect his decision.

I decided to cancel the event and plan something more thoughtfully for the fall.

My intention was always to bring people together to discuss important topics that benefit many individuals and companies. I have no hatred or intent to discriminate against anyone. This has been an eye-opening experience for me, and I hope that we all learn from it. I strongly believe that when people are not willing to work with each other and empathize with each other's perspectives, it leads to nothing good. I want to turn this into something positive. Stay tuned.?

Cheers,?

Miljan