Rebooting Tech Culture: How to Ignite Innovation and Build Organizations Where Everyone Can Thrive

Drive a more innovative, inclusive culture that welcomes all talent.

Many technology leaders believe in having more women and people of color in technical and leadership positions throughout their organizations. In truth, though, they just fall back on exclusionary behaviors, like revering the typically male "lone genius" who is essential to their innovative future. Why the disconnect?

According to Telle Whitney, cofounder of the Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing, while tech leaders may want to talk about inclusivity, few actually change their cultures to dismantle the unwelcoming environment, fearful that doing so will compromise innovation. Women and people of color pay the price, facing exclusive and even hostile workplaces. They're held back from professional growth and, in many cases, choose to leave the industry altogether.

But there is a solution. In Rebooting Tech Culture, Whitney argues that the same values at the heart of innovation—creativity, courage, confidence, curiosity, communication, and community—can also foster a culture that’s welcoming to all employees. Drawing on more than fifty interviews with tech executives and a survey of a thousand people in tech, she shows how these "six Cs" can power real change in technology organizations, creating workplaces where anyone can be successful and where innovation thrives.

Today, every company is a tech company. By understanding how to apply these values and reinvigorate their cultures, leaders will learn how to eliminate the behaviors holding their teams back from true belonging, growth, and innovation.

© 2025 Harvard Business Review Press (Ebook): 9781647829865

Release date

Ebook: 27 May 2025