Flying upside down is not on my bucket list - InFlight Episode 2 Kevin Wheat pt. 2

all right Kevin how's the flight was amazing it was it was amazing wow you like that I did like yeah we did a little circle here we're at uh red bird first time I've been here um yeah I had to circle a little bit before we came in it was a really short flight from rock rock wall right yeah real close so we're gonna go in here and Delta Charlie's check this place out maybe a little to eat and continue the conversation it's not good I'm looking forward to it all right dude thank you [Music] talk about that flight yeah crazy crazy man who knew we didn't even do any Loops or anything nothing yeah appreciate it of course it's uh what you know when you're a kid and you go to a buffet and your parents always tell you your eyes are bigger than your stomach or whatever you know it's like oh yeah no man I'm gonna do some cool stuff and now you're like I just want to make it home without getting sick I knew you're looking a little green over there golly with the Gin I mean the ginger beer is helping hopefully uh yeah eventually take your mind off I know I'm I'm a little nervous about the ride home wow I know I mean how embarrassing is that gonna be here to get the barf back out I mean I think it'd take make really good footage yeah yeah I think it could be really good on camera yeah so you had some had some quick word I did yeah I was asking just a little bit about you know dkb what led you to pkb and getting started you talked about uh your time at Perot and Dell and just there needing to be a better way yeah yeah I think I think while we were there you know I was um I was leading implementation of uh EHR electronic medical records health records and it was really one of those deals where it was like we are moving at such Breakneck speed with we ended up having 150 Physician Offices come online moving 700 providers from paper to EHR was like man if you were going to move this quickly you're going to have to have standards you're gonna you're introducing a lot of technology and rocking the world of these clinicians and doctors and and office staff and like the only way to do that and do it well without just Death By A Thousand Cuts I.T you know to where I T is always an interruption and it's getting in the way of patient care it's getting away with them doing their jobs is to put a lot of standards in place and reduce the number of choices and really dial in on that configuration management to where things are configured the same way across the board and that really seeing that and seeing how we were able to control the volume of tickets by putting standards in and that kind of becoming the lever to eliminate those issues it was just sort of a lightning bulb like why doesn't all t i t work this way it should we shouldn't just measure success based on slas or how fast you fix a problem that's important but what happens when there are more tickets well then you have to have more people and more people and more tickets isn't really good for your business and it's definitely not good for people that are trying to deliver patient care care to always be interrupted by I.T issues so I found that and thought you know we can build a company on this and that's what we did and then security came really came along hot and heavy not long after that about about 10 years ago and certainly ramped up in the past couple years is I'm sure you've seen and so we already have that base and that philosophy of Security First uh but balanced with the productivity of end users and and it just worked out and it we just ended up in the right place at the right time really with our philosophy on technology it's a good story yeah yeah so so what about you like and and you're in sales and you're you're uh in Kant relationship and like how did you get started yeah I got started in technology over 20 years ago as an inside seller working for a very large telecommunications company and did that job for a year and then moved into an outside selling role and eventually moved into a sales engineering World primarily on the networking side routing and switching and firewalls and things of that nature and really just decided that I wanted to move into a smaller context so I went to work for a smaller Pure Play consulting company and and figured out very quickly that not that the large contacts versus the small context of a company is is better they're just very different and so I learned some very valuable lessons about the power of the brand and having a more entrepreneurial spirit and just really for me figured out that working in a smaller context was was better for me and so I worked you know for a couple of different companies and a couple of years ago the previous organization I was with got acquired the acquiring organization offered me a role to start an office in a different city and I really wasn't interested in relocating and I had a friend of mine who's the CEO of a oil and gas firm oil Oilfield Services firm I guess probably better way to describe it and they asked me to go to breakfast one morning and he just said you know Kevin you've worked for some folks that have gotten their organizations Acquired and you've had small Equity stake in those those firms and they're all retired and you're still working and I really think you need to step out on your own and start an organization and uh y'all gave it some thought and he came back to me and said I'll be your first client I said well that's really great but you don't even you don't even really know what I do and he's like well why don't you come spend some time with me and figure out if I could use you some help and it just so happened that uh they could use some help and so he was client number one and brought on a business partner because the amount of work that they needed done number one I wasn't gifted to do number two just the amount the sheer volume of it was more than one person could do as a consultant and so brought on a business partner and we started started doing strategy only work which backed into technology projects just really relatively naturally as you talk about process Innovation and efficiency you know that those usually lend itself to being addressed by technology things awesome thank you [Music] and I lead sales and strategies for treaties today and work with a great crew of people like-minded Service First yeah technically I do lead the sales organization but I really don't I don't don't like that you know I'm one of those people where you know you have that traditional view of sales as being one of those things of like oh man I just don't know about that right yeah and so we always say that we we sell or reposition through problem solving and we don't want to create problems that need to be solved you know we want to help people identify a problem statement and really drive to the best way to do that and we're not all things to all people and sometimes we're fit and sometimes we're not we're not there to try to come in and unseat an incumbent that's already doing really great work that makes no sense right we're just there to try to see if we can if we can love and Lead well and serve in the areas where we have expertise [Music] maybe tell us about that a little bit there what you see the needs are for that Journey with with your clients and other companies yeah no I think that's you're bringing up something that's a really great Point that's never been more valid at least in my my experience in this industry so far we live in a world now where we're operating at a rate of innovation we've never seen and the reality that's the slowest it's ever going to be yeah and so if we think of some of the you know the large technology you know disruptors and platform providers you know folks like a Microsoft or an AWS or a Google I read recently that that if you take those three organizations they're releasing a new feature or some some new technology advancement about every 15 minutes wow so think about that for a second every 15 minutes there's something new being released that's supposed to be able to help an organization but how do you keep up with even understanding number one what are those features are they even appropriate or applicable to my environment and what's the tangible value of them if I decide to roll them out how do you see metrics at work in your own company and like what's the importance of metrics that you you can share with others it's just that are in business together yeah well I think the for me at least you know the most important thing is it's not just identifying a metric that's important but it's do you actually have the ability to report on it accurately and do it in a way that's efficient yeah so I think this speaks to technology organizations specifically because we should model this Behavior but if we've got a an okr or a kpi that takes all this manual effort to get um that just seems really counterintuitive right that's it's not efficient I love to work hard I can't stand to work stupid yeah and so I think the first thing is not just hey what metrics matter but what metrics can we actually measure and report on and so you know what what data can we get and then how do we extract that data and then visualize it or report on it in a way that people actually want to look at it and can take action on it and so uh so the first step is identifying you know what metrics are important to you and then hey what metrics do we actually have available to us because there's no sense in saying you're going to measure something if you can't really do it [Music] with the things that you guys are doing with with Dynamics and with Erp and the systems maybe unpack that a little bit how you help your clients you know and embrace metrics and data analytics and yeah and run their business yeah yeah in Dynamics is certainly a really big piece of that I think anytime somebody reaches out to us and whether they're talking about because sometimes it does start with like a product name whether it's Dynamics Dynamics Erp or power bi or business intelligence and analytics and really for us we always want to say okay time out let's let's take a step back because especially in the Dynamics using Dynamics as an example Dynamics engagements are going to be long engagements there's a degree of complexity and they're going to be expensive not only from the actual dollar value that's invested but the time that's going to need to be invested from the client and just the human capital perspective but we're gonna we're gonna talk about data sources workflows you know things of that nature before we even get to the product name because it doesn't doesn't make any sense to invest in that if you haven't looked at some of your business process some of your data sources and how you're going to actually get all of that into a tool to then extrapolate it and report on it in some fashion and so there's just I think oftentimes we even see fatigue around like you guys ask lots of questions you know why are you asking so many questions and you're asking why and all these things and you know we just want to do this thing and buy this thing and because there's just a lot that goes into actually making that happen versus just you know deciding on hey I'm going to go invest in power bi or Tableau and I need to date a warehouse I need to do these things and then I need to do elements of it and and Implement Dynamics because you know I need a code to order process there's just a lot that has to go into that before you even get to insert product name here to actually make it work and I think you know for us that's that's where we shine is investing the time to ask those questions and sometimes again people people say look I feel like you guys just talk too much yeah like like stop engineering and like let's just build right yeah yeah and it's yeah it's wanting to you know hey look let's um get out of that foundation measure twice and cut once [Music] What drew me into this industry over 20 years ago was the fact that I enjoyed connecting with people and I enjoyed problem solving and this was a this was a perfect place and playground to go do that yeah I really passionate though if there is a technology area that I'm passionate about it would be ubiquitous Computing or pervasive Computing or Edge Computing oftentimes those things are very all related in a similar fashion but it's it's you know taking an application or technology and getting it closer to its source of data um so that you can report on it and so like for me I I said earlier I'm I've got three daughters you know something I love an application I love is life 360. yeah that app will tell me not only where they are it can tell me how fast they're driving it can tell me if they're texting and driving like you know there's a very tangible benefit and value to that that's one example of ubiquitous Computing you the other one would be like a Fitbit for example where you're getting Health Data now on a device that can help you um and you know eventually you're going to look at the way that that might eventually get communicated back to healthcare providers and things of that nature and now what happens and you know your insurance your car insurance company can now put controls that allow you allows your insurance premium to be dictated off your actual driving pattern so not a mat you know the not the percentages of drivers in your ZIP code or your area which is the way they've historically done it but your actual driving pattern because now there's technology that says you know what you obey the speed limit 83 percent of the time and you use your blinker and you do all these different things I mean that's that that's data an information that's super tangible and real yeah [Music] a lot of people love hard work but I don't know a single person loves to work hard and work done yeah right and so you know when you can get people that enjoy hard work that are high aptitude high capacity people and then you can augment them with processing tools and things of that nature I mean the efficiency and the productivity you see is off the charts not to mention the fact that you've got a happier team member oh yeah I mean well don't get me wrong I I like hard work too I like the swing I actually like to chop some trees down yeah but um I'd much rather do it with the sharp ax than the Dolex I'm still swinging just as hard yeah absolutely but um using the sharp using the sharper ax man that I think there's so much opportunity in technology for businesses that's just untapped that companies like like tritius and dkb can really help our clients with well there's no doubt and I think we're seeing a tangible results I mean look at look at covid organizations had to look at everything that that's something that nobody could predict that nobody saw coming that nobody no matter how good your contingency planning may have been you probably didn't have Pandemic on the list no and and so not only are you are you a business that's having to Think Through how your customer or your client is being impacted and the fact that you may have to shut down locations or you can't drive Revenue the same but you also have a Workforce that you have to lead and manage differently because now they're all in the office yeah and uh and so you're seeing these things where man um you know technology stepped in in a really big way I mean we were concerned when Kobe first started how's that going to impact our business is it gonna we're gonna slow down and really what we saw was an acceleration of adoption of things we've been talking about for years that people have just kind of said oh well there's no real no real reason to do this right it goes back to the implication of pain right like look this might be painful but we can't really identify you know we can't really quantify the pain and uh then all of a sudden it's like wait a second we can't really operate if we don't start to make something's changes or do some of these things and we we saw the same thing it's [Music] covered really sparked a lot of innovation as painful as it was and it was rough an experience as that was um yeah it made people look and go well what else is possible how can I work differently how can I leverage Tech data different ways of doing business and really get people thinking outside the box um look I think as we head into uh a Slowdown in the economy as a recession then we're looking at the same thing yeah appreciate it yeah people are gonna have to adapt they're gonna have to and they're gonna hopefully uh fight through it and use the use whatever tools are available and make new tools where they're not available absolutely well that's you know the Innovation it helps not only because oftentimes we people think process Automation and process innovation in a way that reduces the human capital cost which the human capital cost is the most significant cost for any organization typically yeah but it's also the buyer journey is different the customer journey is different and so the Innovation needs to needs to impact them because they're in a more competitive scenario with with their traditional competitor that's buying for that same dollar for that same market share for that same spin and so how do they drive engagement and do some of those things and again we live in a much more digital world you know app oriented cloud-centric software-defined space and then on top of that you've got to secure it because we've already talked about the value of data and all of those things and the fact that there are people out there looking for that and I it's really interesting to me to see how some of that's going to play out I don't know that everybody understands that when they walk in somewhere and they opt in just because they want to get you know perhaps coupon or something from the grocery store wherever they are what they're actually giving what what it means when they actually are often yeah all right so Kevin you just recently went on a farm mission trip Nigeria I believe I did I was in Nigeria yeah I was in the city of Joss in the plateau State I love the Nigerian people mission team I've been I went with has been going for over 20 years now and they started over 20 years ago building churches and orphanages don't build churches as much anymore but huge focus on widows and orphans evangelism into Muslim areas clean water and an addiction Ministry there it's the largest country by population it also has the largest economy as well and for the first time in its history it's it's 50 50 Muslim and Christian it's predominantly been a Muslim country and the gospel's taking root there and it's just incredible to see the things that are taking place from that like like we talked a little bit about bucket list items and your bucket list item is not flying upside down or doing spins and spirals in a plane it's not that's unfortunate because I was gonna help you like put a check mark on The Bucket List here today but interestingly enough I think we did one turn and I felt like I went inverted in fact that might be the story I tell you know if if puking your guts out in a small plane is not on your bucket list and I can't fulfill that today yeah uh what's your bucket list item Kevin I want to go to Seminary it's awesome Seminary I'd love to get a degree in biblical counseling I'm looking at going to the Masters College on the west coast there's a number of great schools in Texas so I may end up doing something here too but that's my bucket my bucket that's it that's it what are the challenges that you've overcome uh obviously being an entrepreneur growing a business dealing with people and living life like it's full of challenges it's hard it is have you overcome yeah it is uh you know when you try to lead in a way that's really gracious but there there are still times when you you find yourself having really tough conversations and uh and you've got to lean into and Lead through those and um it can be challenging it can be it can be heart-wrenching sometimes but uh but that doesn't make them less necessary right as as you've prayed and processed through things once you come to what you believe is the point of clarity on uh what needs to be done you have to answer the call to go and do it for me one of the things I'm very aware of is you know treaties has 70 ish people and I view that as I'm responsible for 70 families yeah no the same the same burden you know we've got around 55 very similar size companies yeah no you you're spot on yeah we've got people that work with us that are not of the same worldview sure and belief system that we are yeah and uh and we love the fact that they're a part of our team and they do great work you know but the reality is when you're Faith forward you're now putting that front and center to the point that your actions could potentially turn somebody away from the gospel I mean that's the you look at the number one reason why people leave the church it's hypocrisy yeah and so you you're now putting a heightened sense of that into the workplace and it's just it's critically important and and you know for me at least you know looking at the call of the Great Commission it's awesome that at least have an opportunity not to beat people over the head with the scriptures not that I don't think the scriptures are important I mean they breathe life into me if I can love and serve people in a way that makes them go man this place is different and why is that and and there's this there's this Jesus that's the the least common denominator man I can I can impact somebody's eternity yeah that's that's awesome I mean that that is living with Mission and that's living with a purpose of I think in business is the ultimate definition for Success right is if if you can show The Gospel to other people and you can do great things and you can do that through Christ who strengthened us and yeah like man that's like the best yeah that's the kind of stuff I love about uh operating a company like we do I'm with you on that 100 awesome all right let's call it out a rap let's call it a rap there it is I just can't believe the impact this has had on me physically right now foreign foreign

2023-03-16 11:25

Other news