Tag: Team

 

 

Psychology studies have found that the human mind is wired to look for problems to solve.

Regardless of your environment, age, IQ or EQ everyone is solving some type of problem in their life. For some, that problem may be finding food and shelter for the night, for someone else it might be ensuring they get tickets to see their favourite band, while for another it could be being part of determining strategies to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

If we only have a finite amount of time and space to solve problems, the question arises “What problems will you focus on solving?” If you are blessed enough to have your physiological and safety needs met, are you going to sweat the small stuff or are you going to focus on solving big problems that truly matter to the world?

2020 highlighted there are a multitude of significant problems that require solving. We are living in a world where people have viscerally felt the environmental crisis highlighted by devastating bushfires and floods, and risks to our health and freedom with the COVID-19 pandemic.

 

“My hope is that engineers, scientists, innovators, and leaders frequently question how they use their talent and their time to make sure that they are helping contribute towards a world that they want to see. In fact, it is more than that, I believe if you have been blessed with the opportunity and aptitude, you have a responsibility to solve problems that truly matter to the world”

 

At Allume Energy, ‘Solve Problems that Matter’ is our company mission.

It applies to both the vision of the company as well as the methodology we use to prioritise work.

Allume Energy is committed to generating social and environmental good by being part of the solution for ensuring we have a world where everyone can access clean energy. The specific problem our team is solving is ensuring everyone can access free electricity from the sun; thereby reducing their greenhouse gas emissions and electricity bills with rooftop solar. We have achieved this by developing the SolShare: the world’s first behind the meter technology for sharing rooftop solar in multi-dwelling buildings.

Allume Energy takes pride in being part of the renewable energy transition and solving a problem that matters.

 

As we continue to grow our business and refine our product, we need to ensure we are being as efficient as possible with our resources. Our organisational culture creates an environment that encourages every team member to reflect on questions such as:

 

In my next blog, I will discuss that to solve problems that matter you need others on the journey with you. And talk to one way that Allume Energy is facilitating this and creating deeply meaningful work for all people in our organisation.

 

Throughout my life, creating environments that generate connection and inclusion has always been a theme. Whether it was being the person that made the new soccer teammate feel welcome or providing opportunities for inter-department connection in the workplace.

I have realised in recent years that I love to create environments that give people the opportunity to thrive; fun, lots of laughter, inspiring, empowering, open-minded, and full of regular feedback. There are two key drivers within this:

 

As Allume was growing, questions arose: how do you successfully marry the two drivers together? Would having truly diverse teams still support building a culture that everyone would be aligned with? Or would everyone be so different that there was not enough commonality to create that connection?

And then it hit me. An organisation that builds its culture around core value alignment unites people around a common cause. And the beauty of alignment on values rather than background, hobbies or lifestyle, is that you open the door to a diverse mix of people who still feel connected.

 

Allume Energy’s mission is making rooftop solar accessible to all and in doing so reducing carbon emissions and energy bills for people in apartments. Therefore the key values for those that work at Allume Energy are conservation of the environment and using their talents to solve problems that truly matter to the world.

As a team, we came up with a set of company values that drives our approach to business, product development, how we prioritise our work, and how we collaborate as a team. They are:

  1. Have the courage to create, the passion to persevere, and the diligence to deliver.
  2. Solve problems that matter.
  3. Share the power.

 

I am so proud of the diverse, driven and supportive team we have created at Allume Energy. One where we appreciate our individual similarities but also differences.

We currently have six women and ten men, born in seven different countries: Mexico, China, UK, Colombia, Turkey, Ecuador and of course, Australia. It did not take a tick box recruitment system to achieve this. For every single position, we have hired the strongest candidate for the role.

Maybe just as like attracts like, diversity attracts diversity.

 

If you’re interested in joining the Allume Team, follow us on LinkedIn to see all our job openings.

When becoming a CTO for the first time I thought hard about the following questions:

 

Some months later a few things became clear to me.

I am an expert in product development; in taking a technical concept through requirements, prototyping, verification & compliance, transfer to manufacture, and out into the world. I want to utilise this knowledge to solve problems that genuinely make a difference in the world. But my fire, my passion, my inspiration comes from helping people grow and evolve to all they can be.

And it would be through making those around me better that we would get the SolShare out to the world. And in getting the SolShare out to the world, we would help preserve the environment and make solar accessible to all.

 

Kristy overseeing a SolShare technical discussion at Allume’s manufacturing facility

 

So, what do I focus on to achieve my vision as CTO at Allume Energy?

 

This approach is having fantastic results. I am so proud of the professional growth I have seen in each and every individual, of the highly functioning and cohesive team that we are building, and how this is translating to growing business success.

The past year has also reinforced for me that if there are no examples of leaders around you that look like you or think like you, that does not mean you are not meant to be a leader. Forge your own path! Being authentically you is the most powerful leadership asset that you have.

 

I believe Allume Energy will continue to have increasing commercial success with the SolShare as we will continue to reflect, adapt and evolve to ensure we:

And that’s why for me, the T in CTO is as much about Team, as it is about Technology.

 

Want to join the Allume team and help change the world? Be sure to follow our LinkedIn page for future opportunities.