Ideation and Methodology at Systech

For my company to be successful, I try to make sure all the ideas in my organization are given visibility and explored to find out if the idea is useful for our business plans. Ideation is encouraged at both the individual and the group levels. We have a highly successful Round Table forum about once a month, open to all levels of the company, in which developments and ideas can be voiced.

Most of my time is spent identifying potential problem areas and business ideas, making sure a knowledgeable person is handling them, and then moving to the next problem area. I try to catch up with my employees whenever possible, but also I follow an open-door policy in which any employee can walk into my office and ask questions. At Systech we often do things the MBWA way - Management By Walking Around, or trying to assess project and strategic situations firsthand as they arise. Systech employs people who are good thinkers and able to proactively follow up on their ideas. We have sought to maintain flexibility within the company, and this includes the willingness to stay open-minded, take suggestions, and admit mistakes. Ultimately, success comes down to challenging employees through opportunity and ideation. If you offer the best and brightest an impossible task and foster the conviction that a project team is only as good as each team member, a business thrives and even excels.

In a networked organization that delivers cutting-edge solutions to businesses, adoption of new ideas gives us a tremendous competitive edge. The new ideas we adopt need to be communicated throughout the organization. As a leader, it is my role to make sure the ideas we adopt to move us forward as a company are communicated throughout the organization. I do this by involving people in planning our implementations to make sure people take true ownership of the processes to be implemented.

To be effective I want to focus on things that are most effective in producing results. I split my time by spending 15 percent of it on the future, in alignment with my vision for the company, and 85 percent on the present and near-future. I have been able to carry this methodology into the organization in such a way that each department has its own principle of success, where 10 percent of time is spent on the future, 30 percent in the near future (three to six months out) and 60 percent on today. This 10-30-60 split is informally referred to as the "Triangle of Success" within Systech. Take, for example, our Advanced Technology Group, which is a team of senior consultants responsible for bringing new technology into Systech and ensuring proper internalization and evaluation. Systech's triangle methodology extends to the technology group's time management of spending 10 percent of their time on exploring cutting-edge technologies; 30 percent on preparing training regimens and conducting training for Systech consultants in satellite facilities; and 60 percent on supporting our project teams at critical points on client projects.

Ultimately, a consulting company depends on its people. My ideals come down to what we can do collectively, how we can innovate more as a group. When we talk about Systech's momentum, it is because we are constantly seeking new solutions, new paradigms. The thrill we get from devising solutions, taking them to market, and watching them succeed - there's no thrill like it.