Finding Value in Your Inspiration: DTS Dialogs

Brad Novak, DTS Committee

This past year, more than ever, our firms have been propelled forward technologically. Opportunities arose which inspired us to look for creative solutions.  The opportunity came from a staff member saying, “I wish we had a…”.  It came from a client saying, “I need to see the data…”.  It came from a consultant or department head saying, “We could save a lot of time if…”.  As Design Technology Leaders, we see these opportunities as inspiration to improve our firm and ourselves.  

So, what do we do when inspiration strikes? 

For example: A process would benefit greatly by automation through custom software development in C#.  How can we secure the resources to develop it?  Taking advantage of this opportunity may take several paths.    

Depending on your firm, you may need to try one or all these paths: 

Collaboration: Sharing our inspiration with other divisions of the firm may inspire them to allocate resources and collaborate with you.  They may have C# programmers available to assist in the application development. 

Partnering: Identifying the automation as a client-inspired opportunity may prompt management to request that the client commit additional money to the project to cover the cost of a developer.  

Take the Initiative: You may need to take it upon yourself on your own time to pursue the opportunity and present the results afterwards.  Learn C# by the means most comfortable to you.  Find someone in the firm who shares your belief that the automation is needed and collaborate with them during off-hours.  Reach out to management to ask for learning resources to assist your development with the end goal being an improved project or process. 

In conclusion – If we feel strongly about our inspiration, we know that there are many ways to incorporate it into our firm’s technology portfolio.  These are just 3 examples.  What paths have you taken to turn your inspirations into reality? 

Join the DTS Dialogs discussion Finding Value in Your Inspiration on Tuesday February 23 2:00PM EST.
DTS Dialogs are exclusive for DBEI Community paying members. Membership starts at just $15/month. View All Options Here.