 Live from Palo Alto, it's theCUBE. Covering Women Transforming Technology 2017, brought to you by VMware. Welcome back to theCUBE's coverage of the Women Transforming Technology Conference held at VMware here in beautiful Palo Alto, California. I'm your host, Rebecca Knight. I am joined by Nicola Aikut. She is the Vice President of Sustainability Strategy here at VMware. Nicola, thanks so much for joining us. My pleasure, Rebecca. It's great to be with you. So I want to start out by talking to you about how VMware is thinking differently about sustainability and devising its strategy. Yeah, great. Well, you know, sustainability is something that's not really new at VMware. We've been doing sustainability for many, many years, but what is new is we've rethought our strategy and we've rethought how we frame and think about it. And that starts with the business and what we actually do in the world. And this is what's really exciting to me. We've done a lot of very responsible things from the design of the campus here in Palo Alto, which you've seen, our lead certified buildings and the work that we do in philanthropy and community. And now what we're doing is pulling it all together under this concept of collective impact. And for us, that's about the sum of the parts and really about ultimately how we leave a legacy and impact as a business, but starting with what we do. And I think that that's the, what you're saying is so important in the sense of for corporate social responsibility, there has to start with the business case of why you're doing this, but then there's also this legacy part to it too. So talk a little bit about what you're thinking there. Yeah, well, glad you asked, and it's a large part of why we have, as we rethought sustainability, we put this role in our office of the CTO. And for that exact reason, because it's about what is the legacy we create, not just in our industry, but for the world. So we talk about my role in the office of the CTO is very much about helping to inspire engineering for impact so that our mission is about creating not just the most innovative software in the world, but for the world. So we think about the impact, the legacy impact VMware has had in the data center, which is one thing I can talk about, the environmental impact of that, but then also looking forward in how we enable access to technology, the platforms to really to change the world, whether it's providing solutions for farmers and rural parts of India or Africa, or down the street. It's this view of how does VMware's technology help create a better place, a better world? Well, just the fact that you're in the office of the CTO is such a dramatic change from so many companies. I mean, when you think about the bad rap, the sustainability gets corporate greenwashing and things like that, but to put it at the core of VMware's business, that is a very dramatic difference. What was the, what was the impetus for that? Yeah, that's a great question. You know, I think before we were talking about, I've been at VMware for several years and, you know, been on a journey myself in what we do and started working in the foundation and have moved into this role in the CTO office. And part of that was about how we came to this and this perspective of what is the impact that we want to create and how do we want to go beyond sustainability to collective impact? And that was about this idea of net positive. How do we create a legacy where the sum of the parts are greater than the pieces? And I'll tell you a little story. You know, when I first joined VMware, I remember people describing the impact from an efficiency point of view in the data center and I was always fascinated by that question. And finally, last year, we did a piece of work together with IDC to actually quantify that impact. And so for the first time, we were able to get the data and look at the legacy impact that we've had and the numbers are astounding. And when you look at what VMware and our customers have done over the last 13 years, it's the equivalent of avoiding 340 million metric tons of CO2 going into the atmosphere. It's a pretty astounding number, right? So what does that mean? It's the equivalent, we worked it out. It's the equivalent of powering 43 million homes, which is about 43% of U.S. households for a year. A year, for a year. Isn't that incredible? Yes. And it was that, so that piece of work was really what helped shift this perspective and our collective realization that, yes, we can do all these great things from a social responsibility, environmental responsibility in terms of how we run our business and how we treat our people and communities. But probably the most important and powerful impact that we can have is how we use our technology and the impact that we have and the lives that we change as a result through our technology. You are on a panel here at the Women Transforming Technology Conference that's all about design thinking. And it's about design thinking in terms of leadership and your approach to management, but also your approach to your job and devising, in your case, a sustainability strategy. Talk about design thinking and how it's changed the way you go about things. Yeah. Right, I'm personally a big fan of design thinking and it's one of those methodologies or experiences, when you experience it, you really see the power of it. And when we were working in the foundation, the beginning of this work, we pulled in some design thinking experts to help us just frame a problem that we were trying to solve. And that experience really resonated with me and it stuck with me in these ideas of how you go from kind of brainstorm, big picture thinking to actually impact an outcome. So can just break it down for our viewers, design thinking, elevator pitch, what is it? Sure, so it starts with sort of four key principles. It's about empathy, starting with empathy, thinking about the problem you're trying to solve, thirdly implementing, so rapid prototyping, and then testing again, so lots of testing, before you come to the impact and the outcome. And it's this iterative process, kind of building something, testing it, going back and building it again. But I think the biggest takeaway for me and what I learned about it that I applied to leadership is this idea of empathy. And I think we often think of empathy as feeling sorry for, but it's not. It's really, to me, empathy is radical questioning and radically challenging your assumptions and trying to see what others see. And I think it's that shift of mindset that's so powerful and for me, applying that to my work shows up all the time in whether I'm in a meeting, whether I am running a team, whether we were doing the strategy for sustainability, it's constantly asking the questions, asking why. I think that for me is the thing that I really appreciate about design thinking and try to bring it to everything that I do. From a product standpoint, the empathy is for the end user, for the customer, the person who is going to be using the product. But when it comes to creating a sustainability strategy, who are you empathizing with? Yeah, that's it. So, again, that this word empathy, I think, is tricky. It's trippy, it's trippy. Because we think it means feeling sorry for, right? But no, it's about seeing the other. So because what we were doing is taking this much wider angle view on sustainability, in other words, it's not about the real estate organization or about turning off the lights in our operations, it's about the whole business. So for me, empathy is about trying to step into other people's shoes and working with stakeholders across the business. So not just in our real estate and operations, but in the business, in HR, in legal, across all of the functions and asking questions and listening to stakeholders and really trying to understand their point of view on the business so that I can connect what they care about to ultimately the sustainability strategy. Talk about design thinking in an approach to leadership. And particularly in light of why we're here, women transforming technology, how does it work when you're on a team? Yeah, I think it starts with that individual, it starts with empathy always and the why and really trying to understand others, the people that you're working with. And when I say empathy, I think about trying to see others and part of seeing others is knowing what their strengths are and knowing what their uniquely plays to do. So in working with a team, I think that is a great leadership skill is to really know and understand your team and to build a team that functions really well together. That skill I think is irreplaceable in leadership. And what about for the person who's being led? So the person who is not quite the manager yet, maybe earlier in her career, how can she use design thinking and empathize both with her colleagues and her customers, but also perhaps her manager too in terms of not only moving the product forward, but also moving her career forward. Yeah, the speaker in the panel just, we just listened to Lynn Christensen talked about the importance of understanding the needs of others and how powerful that can be when you're trying to get work done and have an influence. So she gave an example which I loved about, often we're trying to prove ourselves, especially as young women in the workforce. And there is an important element of confidence in all of those good things that we're talking about here. But I think the other element of what she was getting at is understanding, when you're giving a presentation or you're talking about a product or an idea, to think about who you're talking to and to make sure that when you think about your message and your presentation to be designing your talk, to use design thinking, designing your talk with that person in mind. And that can be a really powerful way to have yourself seen as a potential and as a future leader. In terms of how you are thinking about your VMware sustainability strategy and the way other companies are, what, and I don't want this to turn into a school, a farm, a show, other companies should follow VMware's lead. But at the same time, what would your advice be to other companies that are seeing what you're doing and, for example, putting sustainability in the office of the CTO? What other differences in terms of how you approach sustainability could other companies mimic for the good of all of us? For the good of all? Absolutely, I think that's a really important question because I think there's a role for corporate social responsibility and philanthropy and sustainability and I think every company is unique in depending on their market and their industry. But ultimately, when we think about trying to create a positive impact on the world and frankly to address some of the world's most pressing challenges, it really does require the combination of what I talk about, this collective impact and the skills and competencies that business can bring to that really are in what they offer to the world and often that isn't necessarily just philanthropy, it can be a combination of those things. So my perspective on this is really but thinking about where your unique competencies as a company in a business overlap with the world's great needs and finding that sweet spot is where I believe companies can have the biggest impact. One of the other elements of sustainability strategy is making sure that companies are committed to diversity and inclusion and is there a way that you're working on that here at VMware as part of the sustainability strategy or is that more of an HR function? I mean, how does it all work together? Yeah, the work that we're doing at VMware on diversity and inclusion is very much part of this ethos of collective impact because it's really pulling and connecting these elements of the work that we're doing inside the company, different departments into this legacy of what I call net positive, a net positive impact. So diversity and inclusion is part of that in a really important way and this is what this conference today is really all about, it's bringing a community of women together who are passionate and committed to making an impact in technology and leaving that positive legacy. And so for me personally, today's really quite poignant actually, I'm a mom and I'm also the daughter of a farmer and I'm going to get choked up. And a school teacher. And you're going to meet Gloria Steinem later today, Nicola, I don't know if I can pile on, but absolutely. Well, this is what's so poignant for me is I grew up in the shadow of apartheid and I think that in a very patriarchal society by my mom was very influenced by Gloria Steinem and her fierceness about education for girls was really ultimately, I think had an impact on me, not only finishing high school but going on to get a four year degree and a PhD and ultimately, a South African woman finding herself in Silicon Valley today is a testament to Gloria and to my mom and all the women who have forged this path for us. And so today is an opportunity, I think in some ways to say thank you, me personally, to say thank you to Gloria and those women who have forged the path. But I think today is also important in the recognition that there is this community that is growing, a community of women who are having an impact in technology, but I think the other element is that we realize that our work is not done. Right, and that's what today is about, is this community of women who are carrying the torch because our work isn't done. So yes, I mean, there is that balance. There's this gratitude on one end of our forebears and what they've sacrificed for us to be where we are. But then at the other hand, particularly as you said, you grew up in the shadow of apartheid and now we have Donald Trump as president and we're hearing a lot of scary notions coming from the White House right now. So there is also this other side to it which is feeling anger and a real mobilization to rise up. Yeah. Yeah, you know, Caro was really eloquent about that this morning and I think it's complex, right? This is multiple facets and multiple forces at play. But at the end of the day, I think it is really, really important to be clear about our values and to be clear about the impact that we want to leave in the world and finding a community of people around which to focus our energies. Perfect words to end on. Nikola Eikut, thank you so much for joining us. My pleasure. I'm your host, Rebecca Knight. We will return with the cubes coverage of women transforming technology here at VMware.