I recently read about organizations and businesses in the future. Some of what I have read is written by a management consulting firm, McKinsey & Company. They do a lot of research and are considered thought leaders in business. As I read some of that information, it allowed me to reflect on Interstates. There are three main things I think are critical for our business in the years ahead. Those three things are ability, stability, and agility.
Ability
As we think about the company all of us have helped create; it is pretty amazing. Take 900+ Interstates team members at the enterprise level, and more specifically, the 200+ controls systems team members and scatter them throughout the US and worldwide. Then think about the services and offerings that we provide our clients; we have affected many lives and businesses.
When I started at Interstates, automation was a division, and our main focus was on panel building and traditional automation with an emphasis on plant floor automation. The abilities that we have added since that time include:
- Application Development
- Operational Technology Infrastructure and Security
- Analytics Products including I-Control, I-Trak, etc.
- R&D
- And I know there are many others!
You get a very powerful combination when you take all that ability, along with turnkey electrical solutions, including electrical construction, power engineering, and instrumentation.
Stability
Stability in any organization offers a great foundation. It allows companies to ride through some tougher times and offers things such as:
- Discipline
- Systems
- Repeat-ability
- Development of people
- Efficiency
Interstates has experienced growth by implementing good systems and development opportunities. We have continued our traditional automation but diversified into other areas offering us stability. Operational Technology Infrastructure & Security, Analytics, etc., are all areas that have given us diversity and stability. Our construction and engineering groups give us the potential to work with different clients, industries, and geographies that also add to our stability.
Agility
Agile companies need to be both dynamic and stable. Agility allows companies to be nimble and quick to respond to new opportunities within the systems that stable companies offer. The trick is to find the balance between stability and agility. The world keeps changing, and we need to adapt to it. What was once leading edge is no longer that special, and we need to keep finding those things which allow us to stay an industry leader. We need to be agile and quick and yet, not get ahead of our skis when making important decisions that will shape our future.
I believe there are some things we have done well that show that we can be agile. Much of that has been started by living our vision of Understanding Needs > Delivering Results. We have listened to our clients and have responded. Some recent offerings that we have developed or are developing include network asset management (NAM), cybersecurity, IIOT data collection systems, asset inventories, new features in our products, and an international presence with more to come. We are also doing some things internally, which show our ability to be agile: things like our long-term growth pipeline, our agile system for managing projects, and organizational changes with new divisions. All these things are exciting and good and have helped us become who we are today.
I challenge you to maintain a balance - the stable part of who we are today with that agile part we need to be in the future. Agility won't happen without some pain and mistakes. We will need to continue to think differently, and we will need to accept and embrace changes. Go out and use your ability, our company's stability, and the process of agility to continue pursuing a better way, making a difference with our clients, and providing opportunities for our people.
Jack Woelber, Interstates Control Systems, Inc. President
