Jihad Ghandour

Murex Lebanon

“At school, I was the shortest, and I had the darkest skin. Everyone bullied me for that, but Mama said my shape was okay.

I always thought I needed to look like others to blend in, but I grew and discovered that our uniqueness is key to fruitful integration.

When I started working at Murex, a company with a worldwide presence and more than 2400 employees, the market said there are three shapes of testers, I, T, and X. I was none, nor were these shapes perfectly fitting my needs. Even though at the surface they promote growth, at their core, they encourage growth in specific directions just so that you can fit in a letter, which is actually limiting.

They focus on individual shapes, forgetting about the community shape. Imagine playing Tetris while only being dealt with the same Ts !

I don’t have a static shape. My shape is an ever-evolving one, based on what suits me and my community best. I started a collaboration movement at my company, where we thrived on our uniquenesses, and we grew in all dimensions until we became a solid unity of odd shapes. The whole was greater than the sum of its parts. We started growing collectively, and individually.

Copenhagen and its “”Mama said”” song, scream acceptance, and so shall I.

I am looking forward to discussing why I don’t think you need to be strictly an I, T, or X, and how to start a collaboration movement at your company.

I will clarify the benefits of allowing each person to become their own unique Lego piece and how collectively they form the perfect shape.”

Key Takeaways

1. Learn why you shouldn’t tie yourself to particular type of tester
2. Understand how to create a collaboration movement in your organisation.
3. Discover how to be unique and work as part of a team