We've always been here to help clients build quality technology and credible systems. To be the most innovative partner possible, we need to push them to understand that the biggest value comes as part of a well thought-out strategy. Our challenge is that the strategic thinking we need to be involved in happens early, while the quality builds we’re known for happen very late.
So we need to shift left, to be involved earlier in the process. Get left of boom, as they say in the military.
This is easier said than done.
How do you shift the focus of your entire workforce to approach their work differently? How do you communicate to a wild market during a global pandemic, obsessed with second-guessing hybrid office models, that you're doing something new?
You do it. You jump. Start small, then refine and build over time.
We started asking what we could do to immediately show up in the market the way we wanted to be seen. We want to support our customers in finding that next great idea, and partner with them to shape it. We want to be the first call they make when they are confronted by a problem.
We had an idea back in 2017. What if we give away an innovation session, help people kick the lid off their best ideas, and align them on which ideas will solve their most important problems? We didn’t do it in 2017, but in 2021 this plan is still powerful enough to act on. In fact, it is this idea that could drive the next evolution of our business.
What would that really look like? It might just look like this! We are providing a free half-day session for a handful of people in your organization to explore your biggest problem. Our sessions are virtual for now, but we will run them in-person when it makes sense (we're definitely not risk-ready in our approach to COVID). Thankfully, the pandemic has helped us nail down tools like Mural and smooth processes that make for a great session, in person or virtual. Process is the key here. An Innovation Kickstart from DEVFACTO is the best way to get a group from problem identification to a prioritized list of ideas they can act on to solve that problem.
If you're eager to find out, you can read more about our innovation kickstart program. And while you're there, sign up for a session! They're open to everyone as long as we have time slots available.
About the author
Taylor Reese is our Principal Innovator based in Edmonton, Alberta. His background is in design and facilitation, but he also loves drawing, cycling, and craft beer. He believes the things we build must improve the lives of those who use them. You can follow some of his adventures on instagram @sketchnote.love.
About the artist
Jeff Martin is an award-winning cartoonist and comics educator from Edmonton, Alberta, and is definitely not a robot. When not at comic book conventions or teaching classes, he can usually be found in the section of his living room that he refers to as his “comics bunker,” which doesn't make him sound crazy at all. If he's not in his living room, he might be on twitter.
For this piece, he was thinking about the idea of future-proofing and risk readiness speaks toward anticipating what is coming and preparing for it, which immediately made him think of wizards scrying the future to formulate their plans. To be fair, though, most ideas can lead him to wizards.
