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Hello, and welcome to the Engineering Influence podcast from ACEC.
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My name is Thomas Grogan, Senior Director, Economics and Market Intelligence here at ACEC.
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We're really happy to have Chelsea Hendrickson from Kimley Horn on our podcast
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today. Welcome, Chelsea.
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Hi, thanks for having me, Thomas. Yeah, really happy to have you here.
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Chelsea leads the New Ventures Incubator and Technology Solutions team at Kimley Horn.
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So she's a great guest to dive into the topic of digital transformation,
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which is what we've been talking about a lot here at ACEC.
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So Chelsea, to kick things off, I'd love to get your thoughts.
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What does digital transformation mean to you?
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Sure thing. So to me, digital transformation means leveraging technology to
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provide a better work experience for our people and better outcomes for our
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clients and the communities that we serve.
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Whether it's reducing tedious tasks, providing more accurate answers faster,
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or improving team coordination, or even equipping organizations to make more informed decisions,
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technology is empowering our industry to increase our impact. act.
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Absolutely. And so could you maybe walk us through what, you know,
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a day in the life as someone leading new ventures at an AE firm,
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what that looks like and type of stuff you're doing leading the technology solutions team?
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Of course. Well, as you might guess, doing things kind of in an innovation space,
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things look different every day.
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I have a team of people that I'm working with who are amazing.
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And we are some days or some parts of Mayday, perhaps I should say,
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I'm really focusing on that incubator piece,
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both talking with those within Kimley Horn as well as talking with some of our
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clients about some of the things that they're facing that are new challenges
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that are needing to be addressed,
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whether through new consulting services or new technology solutions,
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really paying attention to what our people are seeing,
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what our people are hearing, and likewise with our clients so that we can be
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either providing new consulting services or developing technology solutions
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to be meeting those kind of changing needs.
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So a lot of collaborative conversations, both internally as well as externally,
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and then And, you know, following those conversations, figuring out what we're
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going to do about them, doing market research on those things to say what else
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already exists in the marketplace.
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What's Kimley Horn's space in addressing this? And then for some of the things
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that we've carried out and done something about, how is it working?
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How can we be continuing to enhance what we're doing so that we can be continuing
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to kind of meet the need? And then, of course, there's a piece, too, about,
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getting the word out and the marketing and communication to really increase
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adoption on things that are more internally facing for our firm, as well as increase,
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you know, sales and implementation externally for things that are more externally facing as well.
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Wow. Yeah, that's definitely a busy day in the life.
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One thing, you know, that you mentioned And when you were talking about digital
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transformation is, you know, one of the components is helping your coworkers,
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your team internally be more efficient.
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How do you work on those projects or really how do you think about solving some
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of those problems that are around, say, organizational efficiency,
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the technologies you're using internally and how you kind of work collaboratively together?
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Yeah, great question. I think one of our technology solutions in particular
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that we have been working on really for the past decade, but have more recently
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really been honing in on, I think does just that.
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And that's why that's a solution that we're really excited about.
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Because I think that's an issue or a challenge that organizations have across
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the board, whether they're other consulting firms,
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whether they're architect firms or, you know, private companies or even,
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you know, public agencies.
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I think that's something that everyone is trying to figure out of how do we
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most effectively collaborate between entities.
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A lot of times our industry is working on projects that have a lot of different
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partners involved in them.
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And in our firm, for example, we're a national firm, and so we're serving our
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clients across the country with staff. yeah, so how do we produce that work
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efficiently, communicate effectively?
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And so I think identifying and leveraging solutions that are able to equip you
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to do that are really important.
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Yeah. And so for some of these solutions, whether they're internal or external,
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how does the process work?
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With new ideas? You mentioned some of it involves market research and talking to a customer.
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Do you have like a pipeline of employees submitted ideas?
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How do you kind of, you know, go from source the ideas, get them,
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you know, vet them, try to work on a project delivery with them?
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How does that work at Kimley Hort?
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Yeah, so I think this is a process that continues to evolve over time as we're
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trying to really get more effective at incubating things, just like we're trying
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to get more effective at our design consulting work as well.
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I will say, historically, how this has worked at Kim Linkhorn has been very
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grassroots and broad-reaching of trying to hear from as many people as we can.
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And because innovation and entrepreneurialism are such a core part of Kim Linkhorn's
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culture, I think it's always going to be part of the broad sourcing of of what we're doing.
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At the same time, what we have learned is just because things are interesting
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to our staff or they maybe are something that people would be interested in
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working on doesn't necessarily mean that there's a place in the marketplace
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for that item of interest.
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And so how can we bring together our people's passion, their technical expertise
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with those things that are rooted in marketplace needs?
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And so, as I mentioned, we're still doing some of that broad sourcing,
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but we're also trying to focus the sourcing.
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So what are we seeing as needs and kind of gaps in the marketplace?
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And how do we get our people to focus on those things?
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So we've done things like genius grants, where we've had a number of different
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topics where we say, come to us, you know, Kimley Horn employees with your ideas
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related to these five different topics. fix.
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We've also worked with partners to identify kind of key things to be working on.
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We're also working to leverage some of our great innovators within the firm
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who really have a great kind of pulse on what's happening in the marketplace,
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who have some great ideas, and also tapping into some of those kind of collaborative
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meetings that are already happening within our organization, whether those are key,
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you know, face-to-face practice meetings that are happening or some of our emerging
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leader meetings that are happening.
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How do we kind of leverage places and gatherings where people are already talking
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about different topics and we have some of our great staff together and leverage
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that time to then be talking about innovation and what we need to be doing next
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as a firm. Yeah, fascinating.
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So, you know, as you mentioned, you know, some people.
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Project solutions you've been working on or iterating on for over a decade.
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Kimley Horne has many employees.
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This is clearly a concerted effort to do things like genius grants for some
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of the smaller firms who are members of ACEC that might only be a handful of
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employees or newer firms to the industry who just don't have the history and resources.
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What sort of advice would would you give for someone who's kind of going to
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begin doing new technology ventures or work on incubation, you know,
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who is just getting started?
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I would say really take things incrementally and really leverage,
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you know, your people's, I talked about this earlier, but leverage your people's
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passions and your people's expertise.
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I think one of the unique things as we think about out what's happening in our
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industry and in our marketplace is that we have this convergence,
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right, of technology, of business consulting, of design consulting.
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And where I think the ACEC firms can really hone their place in the market is
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by leveraging their industry expertise and their industry relationships.
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And so what the expertise and relationships of every firm look like are going to be different.
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But I would say pay attention to your people, pay attention to your clients,
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because I think that can also help you know where your place is in the marketplace
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to help you solving those problems.
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And don't try to do it all at once. I think for us as an organization,
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we have done things in pieces.
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And now we've gotten to a place where we have different teams focusing on different
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things, but that didn't happen overnight.
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And so I would I would encourage others to similarly start in one place with
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what you're looking to do and really try to leverage your strengths and leverage
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your differentiators in the marketplace.
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Yeah, no, absolutely. And so, you know, you had mentioned, think about ideas
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from your people, as well as your clients.
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And they'll mention that just because an idea someone might think is a good
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idea, it doesn't mean it's been market tested.
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Suggested how can a firm
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you know think about ideas or
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work generated with a client but be
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have that critical lens to maybe not put
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all their eggs in one basket and think okay i came
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up with this one solution for this one client or
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this one client is saying it'd be really great if this
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thing could do xyz you have limited resources to
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try to make xyz happen how how
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what are some frameworks or ways to think about
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you know getting the most bang for your buck and also really you know thinking
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does does does this one client solution actually lead to a bigger you know technology
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product or venture yeah i think there's a lot of great answers or a lot of great
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questions that come with answers and what you just asked.
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So I think a couple of things that come to mind with what you're talking about.
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We always like to ask, okay, one client is having this problem.
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How many other clients are having the same problem?
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Because if the problem looks different to 25 different people,
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it's hard to scale a solution that works for everyone.
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But if those same 25 people are having the problem, at least somewhat similarly.
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It's easier to go and address the problem.
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I think in the same way, how big of a problem is it and how much of a pain point is it for people?
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Because part of what we're doing with this digital transformation requires people to change.
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And if it's not too big of a pain point or not a big deal,
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people may not be willing to change and or they may not be willing to pay for
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what you're talking about, which I think is critical in what we're all doing
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because we need a revenue stream that goes along with these investments.
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So, excuse me, I think those are a couple of critical things.
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I also think as As design professionals, we also...
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Tend to have a very high bar for performance and tend to be maybe a little bit more risk-averse.
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And so what we need to think about in this innovation space is a little bit
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some willingness to fail and to try to either win fast or fail fast,
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such that not everything we're going to try in this innovative space is going to work.
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But how do we identify when we missed
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the market it somehow or this what we brought or
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worked on wasn't quite right and on
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our team we like to call it composting right rather than
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failing or something like that because how do we
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then like reuse what what we've done in some way and how do we learn from that
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and leverage it for the next thing and so with what you were saying with you
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know one thing for one client well how do we kind of think about okay not everything
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is going to work so we can't put all our eggs in that one basket,
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what are 10 different things we could be looking at, hoping that we can find
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a couple that are going to be the right fit in the marketplace?
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Yeah, I like the word composting. Also, a nod to sustainability.
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In our space, when I was talking to someone else about this and basically said.
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What do you know that you failed?
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They said, let's not think about it in terms of failing, but rather pivoting
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to a new solution, or maybe pause it while you then go gather more research
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and, you know, get more feedback.
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So within Kimley Horn, how does your group work in terms of, you know.
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Upskilling or collaborating with
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the different offices for training teaching
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your employees about new technologies
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new ways of doing project delivery do you work with your you know hr group is
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it once a year everyone gets together and talks about technology how how are
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you kind of of embedded in the fabric to keep your workforce innovative,
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creative, entrepreneurial?
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Great question. I think that, too, we're continuing to evaluate what's working, what's resonating.
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On our internal website page,
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we have resources and space dedicated to both what we're doing in terms of an
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innovation incubator, but also the things that we have developed in terms
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of internal and external technology solutions that people can be leveraging
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on their projects or sharing with their clients.
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And so, of course, just having that broad-based communication is helpful.
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In terms of the training and communication that way, Kimlinghorn has a very
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robust training system.
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And so we have integrated well into that.
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This summer, a colleague and I taught three rounds of what at Kimlinghorn is
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called consultant Consultant Training, which is a program for our emerging leaders within the firm.
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And so this year, it was a new class entirely focused on new ventures and technology solutions,
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both trying to better equip our emerging leaders with what we have already invested
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in as a firm, but continuing to help them think about, okay, but then what's next?
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So there's the broad-based communication on the website, in embedding in the trainings.
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We've also tried to do firm line events of some sort every year.
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So several years ago, we had a new ventures week where it was all about promoting
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innovation throughout the week with TED Talk Tuesday and Walkabout Wednesday,
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where there were questions of getting people to think about things.
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And then at the end of that week, we had a big Shark Tank pitch event at each of our offices.
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So that was like a pretty big week Last year, we had a technology solutions
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day where across the firm and over the lunch hour, people were able to join
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and kind of broad-based hear some stories and then get into individual breakout rooms.
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Just like we want what we're working on to be innovative and fresh,
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we're trying to do that with how we're engaging with people and really hearing
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about what's working, what's not working,
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and whether it's videos or podcasts or different things of how we're trying
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to communicate and get the word out too. Yeah. Fascinating.
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So what are some of the risks a small firm or a new firm or rather any firm
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might face if they're going to start a digital transformation journey?
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What things should they kind of be on the lookout for?
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I think one of the things that comes to mind initially with risks,
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and I balance this maybe with the word challenges too, is managing expectations.
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I think a lot of times people can have really big expectations for what something
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related to innovation or technology could do for their firm.
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And I think you know managing those
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both what we are doing and what we're not
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doing to keep people aligned and on
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the same page and also be willing to adjust expectations I think this is a space
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where we're continuing to learn and grow of what this could look like for us
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and of course markets change different we learn along the way as we were talking
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about not everything we try is going to work.
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So how do we continue to communicate those things?
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Another topic I touched on earlier, but I think is really important to highlight
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is change management, that doing something related to technology and innovation
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requires your people to be willing to change and do something different.
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I think people like to say they're very supportive of technology and that it's
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something that we need to do as a firm or as an organization or industry.
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But if not, if your people aren't willing to actually make the change themselves
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and not just say the change is for everyone else, then it's not going to work.
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And so I think that change management, both kind of at the personal level,
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at the firm level, and at the industry level, it's so critical right now.
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Sometimes I wish I would have gotten a psychology degree with some of the conversations
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I'm having to have with people. But I think, yeah, expectations and change management
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are two things that come to mind.
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Yeah, no, change management is definitely a topic that has come up again and again and again.
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And, you know, it's easy to get caught up in what the newest technology.
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Technology hype is, whether it's AI or virtual reality, something like that.
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But at the end of the day, it really kind of comes down to people.
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Well, we're approaching the end of our interview,
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but I want to end on a positive note and kind of get your thoughts and ideas
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on what you think the top opportunities and benefits are for a firm who's going
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to embark on a digital transformation transformation journey?
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Yeah. Well, I think one of the top things that I'm seeing within our organization
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is that the way it energizes people, I think especially young people that we're
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all working to recruit and retain.
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Technology is increasingly something that is part of people's day-to-day life.
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And so I think as firms and as organizations, if we're embracing that,
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If we're saying I want to be investing in you and your innovative ideas,
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I think that that really energizes people and makes them feel empowered to both
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contribute something to your organization, but also to the communities that we're working in.
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And I would say that's the other thing that I really feel energized.
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The world that we're working in is an increasingly complex place.
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And I think that leveraging technology is a way that we're going to be able
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to have a really big impact. And I would say an even bigger impact.
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That's what I love about our industry is that on a daily basis,
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we're able to see the impact that it has in the places where we live, work and play.
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And I think that's just going to grow even more as we're able to leverage technology to do that.
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Well, that's a very optimistic and exciting piece of this digital transformation
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is really the employee engagement and excitement in capturing it.
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Well, Chelsea, thank you so much for coming on our podcast today and talking
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to us about digital transformation.
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And we wish you the best and look forward to connecting again throughout our
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technology committee here at ACEC.
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Awesome. Thank you so much, Thomas. I appreciate it.
