Dame Stephanie Shirley: Why do ambitious women have flat heads?
Dame Stephanie Shirley: Porque é que as mulheres ambiciosas têm a cabeça achatada?
In 1962, Dame Stephanie "Steve" Shirley founded Freelance Programmers, a software firm with innovative work practices -- and (mainly) women employees. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
software company back in the 1960s,
de "software" de alta tecnologia,
mais de 8500 pessoas?
of an autistic child?
duma criança autista?
now given away serious money?
está a doar muito dinheiro?
I got onto a train in Vienna,
entrei num comboio em Viena,
nearly 10,000 Jewish children
quase 10 000 crianças judias
of my nine-year-old sister
agarrada à mão da minha irmã de nove anos.
what was going on.
why am I going there?"
e porque é que vou para lá?"
I was helped by generous strangers.
fui ajudada por estranhos generosos.
to be later reunited
quando mais tarde
with them again.
consegui ligar-me a eles.
desde esse triste dia
since that miserable day
naquele comboio,
imaginado ser possível.
who has lost their human rights can feel.
os seus direitos humanos.
que tenha valido a pena salvar.
that was worth saving.
as questões sexistas da época
of the first such startups in Britain.
ditas "startups" britânicas
a company for women,
de mulheres e para mulheres,
because software, at that time,
porque "software", na época,
com o "hardware".
certainly not from a woman.
muito menos a uma mulher.
of the universities with decent degrees,
bem formadas das universidades
nesse teto de vidro
who'd left the industry on marriage,
profissionalmente qualificadas
quando casaram,
home-working organization.
de trabalho, a partir de casa.
going back into the workforce
das mulheres à força laboral
new, flexible work methods:
de novos e flexíveis métodos de trabalho:
and eventually, co-ownership
e, por fim, co-propriedade
into the hands of the staff
nas mãos das funcionárias
or the only woman that.
ou a única mulher aquilo...
on the stock exchange,
na bolsa de valores,
nem pilotar um avião.
without my husband's permission.
sem a autorização do meu marido.
the battles for the right to work
lutou as batalhas do direito ao trabalho
from people at work or in society
no trabalho ou na sociedade
family responsibilities.
e as responsabilidades familiares.
the conventions of the time,
as convenções existentes,
from "Stephanie" to "Steve"
de "Stephanie" para "Steve"
before anyone realized
antes que alguém percebesse
and that's precisely what it was,
on the dining room table,
a 100 dólares de hoje.
of 100 dollars in today's terms,
by borrowing against the house.
e pelo empréstimo assegurado pela casa.
o mercado era comercial
the market was commercial --
which I found rather boring.
que eu achava aborrecido.
operational research work,
com o trabalho operacional de investigação,
that interested me
que mais me interessava
that was valued by the clients:
valorizado pelos clientes:
dos comboios de carga,
lots and lots of stock control.
controlo de "stocks",
part-time nature of the staff
e de tempo parcial do pessoal
one of the very first to do so.
uma das primeiras a fazê-lo.
that the programming
of Supersonic Concord
do Concorde Supersónico
of women working in their own homes.
das suas próprias casas?
"trust the staff" approach
abordagem de "confiar no staff"
"Do you have access to a telephone?"
software standards
era o de desenvolver normas de "software"
maddeningly hard-to-control activity,
uma atividade muito difícil de controlar,
them over the years,
ao longo dos anos,
— lembrem-se, apenas mulheres,
to develop flowcharts
para desenvolver fluxogramas
usually machine code,
normalmente código de máquina,
by mail to a data center
para uma central de dados
paper tape or card
fita de papel ou cartão
in order to verify it.
para ser verificado.
near a computer.
perto de um computador.
no início dos anos 60.
came in in Britain
entrou na Grã-Bretanha
our pro-female policies.
tornaram-se ilegais.
unintended consequences,
não intencionadas,
tinha que deixar entrar os homens.
empresa de mulheres,
it only works because it's small."
só funciona porque é pequena."
they accepted, "Yes, it is sizable now,
aceitaram: "Sim, agora já tem dimensão,
valued at over three billion dollars,
em mais de três mil milhões de dólares,
into millionaires,
70 funcionários,
"Muito bem, Steve!"
by the shape of our heads:
ambiciosas pelo formato da cabeça.
patted patronizingly.
pancadinhas condescendentes.
away from the kitchen sink.
da banca da cozinha.
two secrets of success:
dois segredos do sucesso:
and people that you like;
e de quem gostem;
very, very carefully.
muito, muito cuidadosamente.
"My husband's an angel,"
"O meu marido é um anjo,"
"You're lucky," she said,
"o meu ainda está vivo."
we'd all be millionaires.
seríamos todos milionários.
of family trauma and indeed, crisis.
do trauma e crise familiar.
a beautiful, contented baby.
era filho único,
de fala que tinha
unmanageable toddler.
selvagem, incontrolável.
and he never spoke again.
nunca mais voltou a falar.
house of the first charity that I set up
na primeira casa
serviços para o autismo.
a groundbreaking Prior's Court school
Prior's Court,
de investigação médica,
again, all for autism.
in services, I tried to help.
nos serviços, tentava ajudar.
and making new things happen.
e de as fazer acontecer.
think tank for autism.
de 3 anos, para o autismo.
to the industry from which it stems,
regresse à indústria que a originou,
the Oxford Internet Institute
focuses not on the technology,
não se dedica à tecnologia,
and ethical issues of the Internet.
legais e éticos da Internet.
without his need of me.
necessidade que tinha de mim.
de me preocupar se me perder
would quickly come and find me.
rapidamente me encontrariam.
for an enterprise,
para uma empresa,
nesta sala saberão,
self-belief and determination,
autoconfiança e determinação,
a família e a casa,
that borders on the obsessive.
que roça a obsessão.
that I'm a workaholic.
sou uma viciada em trabalho.
do it properly and in humility.
quando o fazemos bem e com humildade.
when I'd rather be doing something else.
quando preferiria fazer outra coisa.
never going to be like today,
nunca vai ser como hoje,
dar as boas-vindas à mudança,
que eu sou muito difícil.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Dame Stephanie Shirley - Entrepreneur and philanthropistIn 1962, Dame Stephanie "Steve" Shirley founded Freelance Programmers, a software firm with innovative work practices -- and (mainly) women employees.
Why you should listen
In the austerity of post-World War II England, jobs were few, and opportunities for women to earn a wage were even fewer. So, on her dining room table, Stephanie Shirley founded the kind of company she'd like to work for -- one that posed challenging, rewarding tasks, built around flexible work rules that made it possible to have a real life. Her software company, Freelance Programmers made her one of the richest women in England (and one of the few to have earned her own money). Initially employing only women -- Shirley often bid for contracts as "Steve" to compete in the male-dominated industry -- the company was eventually valued at $3 billion, while 70 of the staff became millionaires when it floated on the stock market.
But money wasn't Shirley's object. "A lot of people go into business to make money," she told the Guardian. "I really didn't; I went in with a mission for women. Conversely, I was determined never, ever to be poor again." Freelance Programmers became the FI Group became Xansa; it was acquired by Steria in 2007.
Shirley retired in 1993, but she hasn't stopped pushing for progress in the fields she loves. For instance, she works tirelessly to push forward research into autism spectrum disorders, as well as to study and improve the IT industry and the role of the internet in society. She told the Guardian, "I do get committed, and I don't just give my money; I try to give of myself."
Dame Stephanie Shirley | Speaker | TED.com