Lindsey had a solution to a problem that would deliver benefits to the team and customers. And for 10 years she only told a select group of people about it.

This year Lindsey looked at the problem statements for the Innovation Hackathon at Telstra and realised her solution was a great match.

There were a couple of aspects out of Lindsey’s comfort zone.

“I’ve been quietly championing away. And when I say quietly, it was really quiet. It was only within a group of about four or five people where we all were on the same page about what & why we needed to do it. We’re all excited. But it’s obviously not enough to make change on a big scale. It was going to take a lot more momentum and a lot more people talking about it. And that’s where the hackathon gave me that opportunity. I had to be willing to jump off the edge and do it. And once I had made up my mind to do it, then I had to go and convince other people to take time out to come and do a hackathon with me. Finding the right people to want to support you on that kind of journey, it can be a bit difficult, however I had some really good enthusiastic people that wanted to have a go.”

The next part that Lindsey found scary was pitching to senior executives! Although it was something she didn’t feel fully prepared for, it went well. Despite not winning the hackathon, Lindsey’s team’s solution is being built! “The hackathon was successful because it made the solution “sing”. We built a working prototype that we could give to the head of small business segment and go ‘look, here’s a here’s a working visual of that thing we were talking about two years ago.’”

Lindsey found a huge list of benefits from this step outside her comfort zone – aside from the progress on her solution!

These included professional visibility and PR, an expanded network, and, more importantly, a reminder that she loves to be creative.

Lindsey encourages others to step out of their comfort zone by first weighing up the risks – they are usually much smaller than you think – and then gathering a support team around you.

“For me, when I sat back and thought about jumping into the hackathon, I thought best case scenario we’ve created a nice lean canvas and some visually appealing slides that we might reuse, another day. Then weighing up, what’s the worst that could go wrong? And they usually won’t be many things I could think of.

“You’ve got to find the right team, as well. I cant stress that enough. And when I say team, whatever you’re doing or trying, you’re going to have a group of diverse people that are actually going to help and support you through it. So, I think that’s really important that you don’t go into it thinking that you’re doing it alone. It’s unrealistic to think that you can really go outside your comfort zone without there being some sort of virtual safety net around you.”

“Don’t wait till tomorrow. I think, particularly during the era of the working life that we have now, there’s no point waiting. Hackathons are a great way to test your comfort zone and the beauty of it is that most events are hosted 100% online!   So, in fact, the opportunities are greater than ever, because everybody is looking online. So, get out there, beef up your LinkedIn profile. Don’t be afraid to put yourself out there.   Remember, diamonds are made under immense pressure”.

Great advice Lindsey!

About Lindsey Myers

As a Business Specialist in the C&SB Production Customer Data Management & Service Migration Mission,  Lindsey’s been party to the Pillar 1 & Digitisation  commitments to simplify and customer offerings & interactions within the T22 strategy, which will forever change Telstra. 

Lindsey has recently competed in the Telstra Innovation Hackathon and spoke at the Telstra Unconference in November 2020.. a life-long learning enthusiast