The shift to work-from-home and adoption of virtual meetings placed new focus on the importance of technology and innovating the way we do business as design firms. For Mead & Hunt, innovation and incorporating new technology has informed our story from the beginning. Our founder Daniel Mead was well ahead of his time in understanding ground water flow and his course on hydrology, offered in 1904, was said to have been the first of its kind in the US. His expertise was sought for the most challenging hydrology problems of his time, notably as a consultant to the Hoover Dam. This foundation in technical leadership continues to inspire actions of innovative thinkers at Mead & Hunt today.
In my role as Mead & Hunt’s Curator of Innovation, I am leading with purpose as we embrace technology and accelerate innovations. This is the second year of our Foresight + Innovation + Technology program (FIT) and it marks a shift from the NOW period (with its focus on building our culture of innovation) into the NEW period. Our purpose for 2021 is to create new beginnings and opportunities by learning from the past, embracing change and acting upon vetted ideas. This supports our overall goal for FIT: leading with innovations that put people first.
The NEW phase of FIT will take us from 2021-2025 with a focus on Innovation + Strategy. With our FIT team of two co-program managers and a cadre of 20+ FIT Champions companywide, we’ve developed a robust plan for 2021 that incorporates lessons learned in 2020. It includes:
Enhanced technology
We will connect our strong visualization capabilities to provide enhanced client experiences through virtual reality. We are encouraging learning and sharing of knowledge through software users’ groups on the Teams platform.
Make innovation transparent
We will introduce IdeaScale innovation management software as an interactive platform for capturing, managing, and advancing ideas throughout the Focus, Ideation, Ranking and Execution (FIRE) process. IdeaScale connects our Focus and Ideation efforts to Ranking and Execution transparently, giving the entire Mead & Hunt community the ability to innovate and engage.
Test new business ideas
We will test our vision for delivering advanced data analytics to clients in our intelligent transportation by designing and conducting rapid experiments. This will help us understand the desirability, viability, and feasibility of investing in this technology sector that is increasingly intersecting with traditional engineering business.
Connect with diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging (DEI&B)
Mead & Hunt’s FIT program and our Employee Resource Group (a group created to support our DEI&B efforts) are both comprised of change agents. We will leverage many perspectives both within and outside our company as we seek solutions to problems and be more inclusive of employees in planning and conducting activities.
Apply the Lean methodology
To make continuous improvement within business, it is essential to create employee engagement and seek input from staff at all levels. This cannot happen without a culture that values listening to others and respecting everyone’s ideas. Lean recognizes that each employee brings value. As employees expand their knowledge and skill sets, their level of contribution to the firm increases, as does the firm’s level of performance. The Lean methodology aligns well with Mead & Hunt’s core values of putting people first.
Learn from the pandemic
We’ve absorbed pandemic lessons that we expect to stick for the long term. Internally these include reshaped offices, more intentional inclusivity, displaying empathy and increased mentoring. Externally, this includes showcasing for clients and applying enhanced technical and technological capabilities on projects and expanding research partnerships.
Hone our foresight
We will challenge our markets to explore new directions and develop new strategies. Our FIT team will host workshops with market leaders and diverse groups of forward-thinking people to brainstorm how to anticipate and adapt to market shifts.
This collection of actions will allow us to innovate successfully. I am recharged when I engage with colleagues who share interests to impact the future. This includes our FIT Champions who have committed time to pursue innovation, as well as employees who bring forward ideas and seek support to accomplish their plan. I also find inspiration from external partners, especially through my work with the Engineering Change Lab USA (ECL-USA), which fosters connection and collaboration within the engineering community to unlock the full potential of engineering for the benefit of society. If you want to get more involved in engineering innovation, you can learn more about ECL-USA here.
Through observing, learning, and adapting to so many significant changes in the past year, Mead & Hunt has become more resilient as a company. You can also take steps in your own company to embrace technology and enhance the resiliency of both staff and business.