Every business has its own challenges. Identifying them is one thing. Finding the right person, resource, or opportunity to help solve them is another. Sometimes, it starts with just getting the right people in the same room.
This past February, MTEC SmartZone hosted its Reimagining Leadership Conference in Houghton, Michigan. The event brought together four experts to share their experience and insights with business and community leaders located in the Western Upper Peninsula. One of those experts was Jon Harry. Harry is a Yooper and Michigan Tech alumni with over three decades of leadership experience in strategy, operational excellence, and leadership development. During the conference, he spoke of his experience deploying continuous improvement and lean principles – resulting in quality improvement and financial rewards experienced by businesses utilizing such practices. One of the audience members was Jordan Hillstrom, Managing Partner and Chief Revenue Officer of Xeratec, based in Hancock.
After the conference, Hillstrom struck up a conversation with Harry. The two hit it off. Seeing the potential fit, MTEC SmartZone CEO David Rowe helped connect the two following the event. Through the Small Business Support Hub program, MTEC sponsored the engagement, allowing Xeratec to utilize Harry’s expertise.
According to Hillstrom, sometimes an outside perspective is exactly what you need:
“You don’t know what you don’t know. You don’t necessarily change unless an outside influence exposes you to a better way to do it. The way in which John communicated at the Leadership Conference made it clear he would be somebody that we can learn from very quickly. Lean is not typically something that’s practiced in our world, talked about very much, but it’s very, very applicable to how we consider our clients.”
Discovering an Opportunity
The engagement began with a simple idea: introduce lean principles to Xeratec and see how they could be incorporated into the company’s software development process. Harry began working with Xeratec’s leadership team and introduced tools like value stream mapping, standardized work, and visual management. As their conversations progressed, however, a new opportunity arose. Rather than focusing solely on Xeratec’s internal processes, they began to see that there was an opportunity to apply these lean principles directly to the company’s clients. Harry recalls coming to this conclusion, stating,
“Lean principles apply to any business, whether it’s custom software development, construction or manufacturing. For example, when you create a Value Stream Map for any business process, you see the flow of value, and you see where you have waste. Then dialogue happens and you realize that, geez, we have some broken processes. We didn’t even realize it.”
A Lasting Impact
That shift has already had a real impact. Xeratec formalized its paid discovery service for its clients. This has created a more consistent process for identifying problems before developing solutions. The approach also gives the company an opportunity to rely less heavily on senior leaders for every new inquiry.
For Harry, part of what made the engagement so successful was Xeratec’s willingness to learn and experiment. The team asked questions, tested new ideas, and was willing to make adjustments along the way.
MTEC brought that same level of flexibility to the engagement. Both Jon Harry and Xeratec were given room to explore where his expertise would best fit. As the engagement progressed, so did the scope of work.
“David Rowe was so accommodating and able to make the connection. Based on our dialogue and our experience together, he knew I had a certain skill set, and he was able to match that up with Xeratec. This [partnership] was so easy because of how accommodating David was to let us go into this project without a real specific roadmap. It was nice to have easy parameters to allow us to flex as we went. That was vital in the process.” – Jon Harry
That flexibility made a huge difference. Instead of forcing the engagement to have a narrow, predetermined scope, Rowe gave both sides the flexibility to determine where Harry’s expertise could serve Xeratec best.
“David Rowe’s leadership and what he’s bringing to the table is really helping this region. I’ve commented to multiple people in the last couple months on their need to get in contact with MTEC SmartZone, just because the impact is felt.” – Jordan Hillstrom
There is no one right way to support a business. In this case, MTEC saw an opportunity and facilitated a connection. We provided the space for a conversation to be had, and from there, that connection grew to be something impactful. Knowing our clients, understanding their challenges, and listening to what they need is a key part of our work here. Taking the time to build those relationships allows us to better serve our clients and connect them with the right people, resources, and opportunities when they need it most.
###
About MTEC SmartZone
Michigan Tech Enterprise Corporation (MTEC) SmartZone is one of 21 SmartZone Incubators in the State of Michigan. As a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization directed by the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC), their mission is to accelerate high-tech businesses growth in the region. Since 2003, MTEC SmartZone has provided mentoring, technical support, and other services to local companies that has led to the creation of over 800 high-tech jobs in the Houghton/Hancock area. For more information, visit mtecsz.com, follow us on LinkedIn and Facebook, and email mtec@mtecsz.com.
About the Small Business Support Hub Program
The Small Business Support Hub (SBSH) Program supports small businesses by connecting them with the proper resources to strengthen the regional business ecosystem. Through collaboration with local partners, the program works to help businesses grow, and prosper. The program is funded by the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC) and reflects a continued investment in small business development and economic growth throughout Michigan.