Last week, I applied a lesson that I often have trouble with: you can’t get something if you don’t ask for it.<\/p>\n
During an all-hands meeting, our executives announced that they’re doing special t-shirts for VMware employees that mark when we joined the company. \u00a0They said that we’d get an email so that we could choose our t-shirt size. \u00a0The following day, the email arrived. \u00a0And there were 8 sizes to choose from, XS through to 3XL. \u00a0There were no options for women’s t-shirts.<\/p>\n
I grumbled to myself, annoyed at having yet another t-shirt that I won’t wear at any time other than at the gym or when washing my car. \u00a0I grumbled some more, annoyed that we were actually being asked for our t-shirt size, and it’s not like t-shirt vendors don’t have women’s shirts. \u00a0Then I heard more grumbling, from a couple of women on my team, and another couple of women on my hallway.<\/p>\n
Grumbling doesn’t solve the problem. \u00a0The only way to solve the problem is to ask. \u00a0(Actually, as I said to a friend, I decided to start rabble-rousing.) \u00a0I asked: I posted a request to our internal social network and asked if we could get women’s sizes. \u00a0I posted it at 10am on Wednesday morning. \u00a0I sent the link to a few of the people who I had heard grumbling too. \u00a0By noon, there were already 50 “+1” and related comments on my post. \u00a0By the time I left the office that afternoon, there were more than 100. \u00a0And the next day, there was a post from the relevant team saying that it was going to be addressed. \u00a0For those women who had already selected shirts, or who had posted to the thread, they received an email asking them if they’d like to select a different size. \u00a0For everyone else, they received a new email to let them know that women’s t-shirts were also available.<\/p>\n
You can’t get something if you don’t ask for it. \u00a0I asked, and I got it. \u00a0Thank you, VMware, for helping out.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Last week, I applied a lesson that I often have trouble with: you can’t get something if you don’t ask for it. During an all-hands meeting, our executives announced that they’re doing special t-shirts for VMware employees that mark when we joined the company. \u00a0They said that we’d get an email so that we could … Continue reading you can’t get it if you don’t ask<\/span>