Last week, Cucumber hosted the Instep Young Leaders for an insiders look at what a future career in technology looks like. Sarah Bacon, Marketing & Design Specialist at Cucumber, gave us a recap on the day and shared her personal highlights.

I have recently joined Cucumber and was lucky enough to be involved in this month’s Instep Young Leaders breakfast. With the aim of inspiring study and careers in Computer Science and developing the leadership skills of attendees, Cucumber hosted senior students from around Tauranga.

The morning started with a shared breakfast (brainfood) followed by introductions to members of the Cucumber team, their roles, and how they came to a career in technology. Scrum master and Technical Lead, Matias Iacono, presented a quick intro to software development management frameworks with a focus on the collaborative methods of agile and scrum and how they are applied in a real-world setting.

The agile process was then illustrated further with “The Big Ugly Bird Game” which allows teams to confront real life management and development challenges in a contained way. After a run down on the rules, design brief, and timeframes, students divided into teams to begin the task of building the ultimate Big Ugly Bird using Lego bricks.

New build requirements were introduced throughout the game, each time requiring teams to review their progress, add new features and adjust their design. By focusing on problem-solving and collaborative skills, the students worked together to overcome each hurdle presented, adapting their design as you would expect in a career in computer science.

As the morning progressed it was great to see the initially shy students becoming earnestly engaged in the process. Even though expectations were already set high, the students produced results that exceeded expectations with innovative solutions that surprised even the Cucumber team. What the morning highlighted for me is that it doesn’t matter if it’s a software or Lego problem but that it’s about people working together, combining their ideas and skills toward the shared goal of creating great solutions!

Sarah Bacon
Marketing & Design Specialist

Instep inspires our young people about career and training opportunities, and prepares them to thrive in a world of change. Our Young Leaders’ Forum and events such as the Young Leaders breakfast provide provide real-world experiences that help develop the leadership skills necessary to succeed on their journey to a post-secondary stage.

We’re pleased to have the support of our local business who understand the importance of establishing meaningful relationships and engaging with our future workforce on a personal level. If you are interested in supporting our Instep Young Leaders’ Forum, or would like to be involved in the Priority One Instep Programme, please contact info@priorityone.co.nz.