February 1, 2023 • 30 mins
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This episode of Expert Insights Series, hosted by Jon Thompson, features Tracy Hockenberry Senior Program Manager at Eaton (85,000 employees worldwide) and former Director of Enterprise PMO at New Story Schools, an Audax portfolio company that worked with Blue Margin to focus the team on the critical value creation metrics. She offers perspective on the vital role that project management plays in BI development, and by extension, financial transformation.
Blue Margin helps private equity owned and mid-market companies organize their data into dashboards to execute on strategy and create a culture of accountability. We call it The Dashboard Effect, the title of our book and podcast.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Jon Thompson (00:04):
Welcome to our Blue Margin Expert Insights
Series. We're glad you joinedus. This series is for private
equity and mid market executiveswho want to use data and
dashboards as the short path fordriving growth. Today we have
the pleasure of hosting TracyHockenberry. We worked with
Tracy when she was Director ofBusiness Systems at Salisbury,
(00:24):
now New Story Schools, a companybacked by Audax Group that
provides alternative educationand pediatric mental health for
students with seriousbehavioral/academic challenges.
So a mission minded business tobe sure. Tracy is now Senior
Program Manager at Eaton, apublic power management company
(00:45):
with 100 years of history and85,000 global employees.
Welcome, Tracy.
Tracy Hockenberry (00:51):
Thank you.
Happy to be here.
Jon Thompson (00:53):
Yeah. So first of all, I'm sure that all of our
listeners are wondering, to makea jump from a mid market PE
backed company to a company thatis in 175 countries. What
enticed you to make that jump?
And what were you thinking?
Tracy Hockenberry (01:11):
That's a difficult question. You know,
I'm always up for challenge. AndI think one of the things that I
enjoyed the most when I workedat New Story was the ability to
move into different positions,and always be doing something
new, a lot of times paving thepathway for something brand new
at the organization. So, I'm sograteful for my experiences
(01:31):
there. And it was a lot of fun.
But I had been there for almost20 years, and, you know, it was
just time for a change. Andswitching industries was a
little bit of a risk, slightlyscary, but I was also really
looking forward to expanding myskill set and just expanding the
industries in which I had workedin because I had really only
worked in behavioral health carefor such a long time. So when I
(01:52):
got connected with Eaton, itfelt like a really good fit,
because I work with the humancentered design team there. So,
putting the customer first orthe client first and looking at
how you can improve experience,whether it be in training,
coaching, facilitation, design,they're really making a big
impact. So I was really excitedto be a part of that and join
(02:13):
the team.
Jon Thompson (02:16):
Nice. Okay, we might dig into other differences
between multiple orders ofmagnitude from the company you
went from to the company rightnow. But you and I originally
met in 2020, when your team atNew Story enlisted Blue Margin
to help organize your data andbuild dashboards to expose key
metrics, things around growth,and so on. I'm curious at what
(02:40):
point BI became a priority. And,you know, while you were there,
you held positions as Directorof Operations, Director of IT
and Business Systems, Directorof PMO. So you have broad
experience running thesemachines and data that enables
them. So we'll dig into sort ofthe "how to," but I am curious
at what data and visibility intoit became a necessity and a
(03:06):
priority.
Tracy Hockenberry (03:08):
You know, we started going through a digital
transformation around 2017officially. But we had, I would
say, paved the way a few yearsprior to that. But whenever we
started to really sit and take alook at our systems, where we
were at, where we wanted to goin terms of growth and strategy
of a company, it became veryapparent that we needed to do
(03:30):
some things differently, makesome changes, and bring on some
new tools, some new resources,and so forth. And so, at that
time, the New Story hired itsfirst CIO, and I was able to
work directly with him,co-leading a lot of our efforts
in the formal digitaltransformation of the
organization. So it was reallyclear how important our data and
our architecture were, as wewere doing that, and we had a
(03:53):
lot of cleanup to do, and a lotof work to do, which I think is
common for many organizationswhen you actually take a step
back to look at your currentstate and your data that maybe
you haven't evaluated over 20years. So it really became
important when we started thatinitiative and we brought on new
stakeholders and team membersthat we're helping to lead that
effort to help grow and scalethe company. We couldn't grow in
(04:17):
scale without looking at ourdata and starting to look at our
data strategy, our metrics andso forth. So that was around the
time.
Jon Thompson (04:25):
Yeah, interesting.
I'd love to dig into that. Iguess I'm curious about how you
approached that. So everycompany finds themselves with
gaps and inconsistencies andproblems in their data. And one
approach is to say, "We're gonnaget that perfected," which of
course can take into infinity.
Or you can start buildingdashboards and there's the risk
of unreliability and peopledon't trust them and then don't
(04:47):
adopt. Do you remember how youguys sort of split that
difference and how you gotgoing?
Tracy Hockenberry (04:53):
Yeah, I do.
We jumped right in. You know, wesat down and just really looked
at where we were going and whatwas needed. And we started
working right away. And I thinkthere were positives and
benefits to that, right. So, Ithink we gained a lot, and we
learned a lot super quickly. Andit's almost like fail fast or
(05:13):
fail forward. We got a very goodeye opening into the work that
we needed to do to clean ourdata and to fix some of the
internal workings of ourbusiness, as we started to dive
in, maybe a little too quicklyin some areas. But, you know,
you learn as you go. And Ithink, now, if I were to redo
(05:33):
that strategy somewhere else, Iwould do it a little differently
in terms of looking at the datafirst and doing some internal
work first, but it was a lot offun and a lot of work. Very eye
opening.
Jon Thompson (05:46):
Yeah. So you might slide a little towards the end
of the spectrum of, "Get yourdata a little cleaner before you
start putting it out there." Butyou made fast progress falling
forward, it sounds like. Therisk always being that people
look at the dashboards and say,"These aren't trustworthy," and
then it's tough to get themback. But you powered through
that somehow, we'll touch onthat a little bit more as we go.
I'd like to ask you about yourperspective, having been a
(06:09):
leader and a program leader, andand the person that drove a
significant data initiative,what do you see as the role of
business intelligence, iedashboards, data, analytics,
etc., in business, and what's atthe core of this trend that puts
it seemingly at the forefront ofa lot, if not most, business
leaders minds?
Tracy Hockenberry (06:30):
Yeah, that's a great question. You know, I
think to lead any businessinitiative, you have to start
with your data, like you need tolook at your data, your business
processes, and is what you'redoing appropriate for your
current state. What I mean bythat is, a lot of businesses
start, I think, as smallerbusinesses are mom and pop
businesses, and they haveprocesses and things in place
(06:52):
that work for them then, and asthey grow in scale, a lot of
times you don't take the time tosit and reevaluate those things
you just keep piling on or keepbuilding on. There's a
workaround here, work aroundthere, and it works for you.
Until one day you step back andyou realize, "Oh, my goodness,
like what happened? Like this isa really complex process." So, I
(07:12):
think, for me, data intelligenceis key to drive business
decision making and strategy,right? When you're looking at
where you're going as anorganization or company and
you're setting your mission andyour vision and your goals to
support that. Data will thenhelp to drive those important
decisions on, "Are you going inthe right direction? Are you
(07:33):
solving the right problem? Areyou putting in place the right
products or services? Do youhave the right resources?" So it
really is at the very core ofdriving actionable and impactful
decisions for a business andmaking sure that you are
aligning with the overallstrategy of your company.
Jon Thompson (07:50):
I see that as the bigger value. There's also just
overcoming the inefficiency ofthose legacy systems, typically
Excel. I mean, we run into midmarket companies that run their
CRM in a spreadsheet. And, I'msure at New Story, like with
every company, there were Excelspreadsheets and manual ways of
getting at the insights. Was itmore about overcoming those
(08:11):
inefficiencies, or more aboutgaining actual better insights
that would inform in a morestrategic way?
Tracy Hockenberry (08:19):
I think it was a little of both. Our team
was definitely looking forinsights to inform. That was a
big driver. So we did take astep back and start to make
changes. We started to address,"How can we provide our
stakeholders with data that theytrust." You commented before on
multiple versions of data nothaving a single source of the
(08:40):
truth. And so we started there.
We corrected some of theinefficiencies so that we could
start to produce reliable data.
And that took a while toconvince stakeholders that,
"This is accurate." You know,"We have this one version of the
truth." Because they did want tohave that ability to use data,
analyze it, looking back at whatthey just collected to make
forward decisions, right. So,"How can we pivot? Is what we're
(09:03):
doing helping to bring studentsin the door? Are we making
meaningful outcomes and theeducation we're providing or the
social services that we'reproviding?" Things like that.
So, I think it was a little ofboth. And we did both along the
way in terms of correctingthings that we would identify as
they crept up and looking at ourinternal workflows, and how we
were collecting data,architecture, things like that,
(09:24):
along with setting up the BIdashboards, and looking at what
was the most impactful data thatwe could put on there that, if
people were going to look at itfor 30 seconds, that we could
tell them the story that theyneeded to know and that they
could get exactly what theyneeded super quickly to make the
decisions that they were lookingto make.
Jon Thompson (09:43):
Yeah, that's great. And you mentioned that it
took some time to bring folksaround to what needed to be done
to get the data right, changeprocesses, convince them of the
importance of it. You know,arguably one of the most
difficult elements of any BIproject is aligning stakeholders
from getting buy in from yourexecutive team, aligning the
(10:04):
project requirements with theorganization's goals, getting
the data so it's functionalenough, etc. From your
experience, how would yourecommend folks get a data
strategy, data project off to asmooth start?
Tracy Hockenberry (10:19):
Yeah, that's a that's a loaded question,
because there's a lot to answerthere. So, having stakeholder
alignment is critical to begin,right. But how do you get there?
And how do you even begin thatconversation? So, I would start
with saying, "Do we even know,at the executive level of any
organization, what our goalsare?" That sounds like a silly
question, but a lot of times theteams, like the leaders of an
(10:43):
organization, don't actuallyhave clearly articulated or
clearly documented strategicgoals that they have published
or could publish out with all oftheir business units and their
employees. You know, I'm one tosay, "Let's take a step back and
start where we need to start, atthe beginning. So what are we
trying to accomplish? So we'remaking sure that we're solving
the right problem, like what'sour mission, what is our
(11:04):
strategy, what do we need toaccomplish? And then how do we
get there?" So starting yourstrategy there, I think is
really important and havingthose conversations. But I
think, secondary to that interms of a specific strategy,
and actually spinning it up andgetting it started, is making
sure that you have buy in andsign off and alignment from the
right stakeholders and yourexecutive board or executive
(11:25):
team. So, if you do run anEnterprise Project Management
Office, or you manage yourprojects in some other fashion,
whoever those team members arethat need to be communicated
with, have inputs, sign off,give deliverables, give
requirements, making sure thatyou include the right people at
the table from day one, so thatyou don't miss anybody or miss
(11:46):
some critical steps andrequirements needed in your
strategy. That buy in from thevery beginning and that official
sign off make a big difference,in my experience, and what I
have seen. So, I think that'sprobably the second piece that I
would comment on. And then thirdis, when you start with the
strategy, and you define yourgoals, and your publishing them
(12:07):
out, it's change management.
When you're working across yourlarger organizations and
business units, organizationalchange requires individual
change. But why should anindividual in the organization
be motivated to change? Like,why should they be motivated to
fill out an extra form orcollect data differently, or
login to the portal and view thedashboard, like what's in it for
them? So I think, making surethat you have change management
(12:29):
as a part of your overallstrategy, which covers the
awareness and communication,building that desire and having
those messages tailored to theright audiences, along with all
the other formal things that gowith change management. But I
think a lot of people miss thoseupfront steps of awareness and
desire building, right. Andagain, if you want
organizational change, it'scollectively a lot of individual
(12:52):
change. So, those are the thingsthat I would comment on.
Jon Thompson (12:57):
A couple points in their awareness and desire, is
it about evoking from them theirfrustrations around lack of
visibility into the numbers? Oris it about teaching them the
philosophy of, "If you can beoriented to the performance
metrics, then that will help tofocus and show you if you're
winning or not, and how you canwin?" How do you go about that?
Tracy Hockenberry (13:21):
I would say both, but I would start with the
first. So I think if you want tobuild a relationship with a
stakeholder, I would start withbuilding that relationship and
sitting down and listening.
Asking questions and listeningto what they have to say, so
that they feel heard. So thevoice of the customer becomes
super important, so that theycan voice openly and trust that
they can have that type oftransparency and honest
(13:42):
conversation with you about whatthey're experiencing, their
biggest pain points, theirbiggest frustrations about the
current state of theenvironment, of what's happening
in the company, whether it'ssoftware, resources, operations,
whatever it might be. But ifthey can vocalize that, and you
actually listen and receive it,and you build that rapport right
there, then you can figure outhow can you support that person
through this change? And how canyou spark that motivation and
(14:05):
that desire that they're goingto want to be a part of it
because they're gonna see howyou're bridging the gap for
them. So your solution, ofcourse, is going to solve that,
right? Like, it's going to dosomething for them that brings
an organizational benefit. So,that's where I would move into
the latter part of theconversation and say, "Okay,
I've heard you, I've documentedthese things. I'm sharing them
(14:25):
with our larger team. And let menow start to share with you how
we believe this solution isgoing to have a positive impact,
it's going to drive insights,it's going to bridge this gap
for you." It's not going to beperfect, but we need to be able
to show them value and impactthat they're gonna get out of it
so that we can get themmotivated to support it.
Jon Thompson (14:43):
Is it important to get their feedback and input on
the design of ultimately the thedeliverable to them the
dashboards?
Tracy Hockenberry (14:52):
You want to have the key stakeholders
involved in giving input onsomething like that, but you
don't want to have too manycooks in the kitchen, right.
Because if you have too manypeople involved in giving
opinions, you can't reachalignment, and you're just going
to have meeting after meetingwhere everyone's sharing
perspectives, and you're neverreally getting to the goal,
right. And then when you'reworking with consultants and
(15:14):
vendors that can become costly,and not time efficient, and also
So the skill set is very simplysomeone who understands project
throw your project completelyoff schedule, let alone budget.
So, I think from the verybeginning of any strategy or
initiative, you know, havingownership and RACI define of
like, who's doing what, I'm abig fan of RACI, but knowing
upfront who are going to bethose key stakeholders, those
voices that are gonna make thefinal decisions, because they
(15:36):
can collaborate with their teammembers and receive all of the
information, but then we'regoing to trust that our leaders,
our management, whomever is apart of that conversation, we're
trusting them to collectivelysynthesize that information,
also look at organizationalstrategy, and give the best
input for the design of thedashboard. So, to me, I would
suggest a smaller group, andI've seen more success with a
(15:58):
smaller group when it comes tothe actual build and design. And
it also requires people whounderstand a little bit about
data and BI and dashboards, Ithink, because you don't want to
have it get too complex, toomessy, and so forth. You want to
keep it clean and tell the storythat you're trying to tell.
(16:19):
and program management, someonewho understands and knows how to
execute change management,someone who gets the strategy of
the business, someone whounderstands data. I mean, those
people are everywhere. What'sthe best role to execute a data
strategy? That's a tall order.
Yeah, like to be the pointperson or lead it, again, every
(16:44):
individual has different skillsets, and people call roles
different titles in differentorganizations. So you know, in
my experience, I think whetherit's like a business
applications director, like abusiness systems or business
applications director, orsolutions architect, IT
director, PMO director, usuallysomeone in that type of a seat
(17:08):
has a little bit ofunderstanding of all of those
things. And they're also workingclosely with someone who maybe
has some of the skills thatthey're lacking. So if they're
really strong, and eight out of10 areas, there's someone else
on their team or someone else onour project team who can fill in
those other areas. Butdefinitely someone who
understands data and sometechnology.
Jon Thompson (17:28):
Yeah, yeah. So it's more than one person but
not a pure technologist, not apure strategist, someone who
bridges that.
Tracy Hockenberry (17:37):
Yeah.
Jon Thompson (17:38):
Okay. I'm curious, beyond some of the things we've
touched on, if there were otherpitfalls for our listeners who
are looking at embarking on whatcan seem like the mountain to
climb in getting data toactually be integrated into
their business and develop adata driven culture. What are
the some of the things to lookout for?
Tracy Hockenberry (18:01):
Yeah, you know, I think that today data is
more of a conversation. It'smore of a focus across
organizations, because morepeople were building dashboards
or tracking metrics or building,you know, looking at their KPIs.
But in terms of the pitfallsthat that I've seen, and things
I could say to look out forwould be, not taking enough time
(18:23):
up front to plan your strategy,because there's a lot that goes
into a data strategy. And Icould go any direction with
this, but just thinking, ifyou're implementing a software
as a part of your data strategyin efforts to track data, get
your metrics and feed into adashboard, having those
conversations at the table about"Okay, so we're implementing
(18:44):
this, what's our workflow? Arewe gonna document that? What's
our Visio diagrams to map thisout? Who owns what? What about
our system owner? Do we havesomebody who can own this past
implementation? Who are theroles involved in managing the
software? Is that something inhouse? Is that something we're
going to contract out of housefor? Are we going to hire a new
person? When do we hire thatperson?" Ideally, they should be
(19:07):
a part of the initiative. Youknow, they should be a part of
the rollout of that software, sothat they can be a part of
decisions being made and set upin architecture. So, I think if
you don't, and I've seen ithappen, where you don't take
enough time upfront to plan thatout, and then you get so far in
and you're like, "Oh, man, wenow are scrambling to hire
people, or we don't know whatwe're doing so we'd have to
(19:29):
contract out for this, but thatreally wasn't ideal." Being able
to have that conversation andshow the value in it. And I
think one successful projectgoing well and delivering what
it was intended to to deliverand then having that adoption on
the other side and the propersupport structure is enough to
kind of pave the way for thefuture then to say, "Okay, let's
use this as our model of howwell this went. We did all these
(19:50):
things correctly."
Jon Thompson (19:52):
I agree with that.
And I think it's a point wellmade, because it's
counterintuitive to take moretime upfront. It seems like
you're stretching it out, in ourexperience, and we've done very
involved complex projects. Ifyou don't take that time to
really plan it out up front,you're going to extend that tail
end and create all kinds ofvectors that you've got to
(20:14):
correct as you go. You take thattime upfront, and it's a much
shorter path to the goal. And,that first project that delivers
real value is, you know, worth10x all the subsequent, so you
got to get that right. Iappreciate you bringing that out
as one of the key challenges.
(20:35):
And you mentioned in thatplanning, do we work with an
outside vendor? Do we not?
Obviously companies have theoption to do this internally.
What are your thoughts onwhether, or when you would want
to use an outside vendor? We hada good experience together, what
went well? What didn't? Whatadvice would you have for
counterparts?
Tracy Hockenberry (20:54):
Yeah, you know, I think there's a lot of
opportunity today to connectwith and work with external
vendors, more so than everbefore. I think, one, not
everyone, but the majority ofpeople now have opportunities to
work remotely, if they want to,in most roles. And so I think,
our world has changed a littlebit over the last few years, and
it's opened up manyopportunities for people. So
(21:17):
that's a positive thing. But,when you look internally at your
company, at your initiatives,and what you want to do, and
then your own skill sets, a lotof times people find they don't
have the right people in theright seats, or they don't have
the right skill sets at all. Anddepending on where you're at,
what's important to youfinancially, who you're owned
by, it might be moreadvantageous to bring in
(21:38):
contractors or external vendorsto support you versus bringing
on a full time employee andhaving that long term overhead.
I think, now, there's so manyniche markets out there to say,
I need a BI specialist, or Ineed this specialist, and they
have the skill set, that's whatthey do every day, all day. They
have 10 years or 20 years ofexperience doing it, let's go
(22:00):
work with that person, they'regonna give us the best results.
So, I do think there's a lot ofopportunity. And I think, when,
is when either you don't havethe staff, you don't have the
time to hire and train thestaff, or you don't want the
long term overhead, or you'relooking for that more niche
skill set for special projects.
And, I would just say, "Go hirethe vendor, bring them in,
(22:21):
because that's what they dobest." And, you know, in terms
of what worked well, or whatdidn't work well, because it did
work very well on our projectengagement, I think some of the
things that stand out to me arefrom the very beginning, we had
that open and honestcommunication. We knew who the
point person was on each side,we had regular standing check in
meetings so that there wasalways that touch point in
(22:44):
everyone's schedule to justbring forth like updates,
questions, concerns, risks, etc.
I mentioned earlier, I'm a hugefan of RACI's. So, I know,
together, we developed our RACIfor during our initiative. And
then afterwards we had somesupport needs, and we worked
through that as well with ourinternal staff, versus your team
(23:05):
members. So, I just think all ofthat was a really well thought
out communication effort. And wehad really detailed tracking in
terms of our project artifacts.
That was one thing I think thatwas also super helpful was the
rigor and the amount of detailthat you guys put into your
artifacts, your projectschedule, and documenting risks
and decisions and issues andthings like that. We always knew
(23:27):
where we were, we knew what thedependencies where the
predecessors were, to our tasks,and how, you know, one thing was
an impacted another, and it wasa very transparent, upfront
thing. It was never about fingerpointing, or blaming anyone. It
was just like, "Hey, here'swhere we're at, here's our
obstacle, how do we coursecorrect and work together?" So,
it's a partnership. I think aslong as you go into it with the
(23:49):
expectation of building apartnership with the person that
you're working with, it's a loteasier to be successful.
Jon Thompson (23:57):
I've long said that it comes down to adoption.
You can figure out what the mostimportant metrics are, get your
data dialed in tight, put outdashboards that really nail the
narrative. But if people don'tadopt, I mean, the whole goal is
to render data for a human toconsume, to touch nerves and
improve decision making andprioritization and focus and
(24:18):
motivation. Any thoughts on howto successfully affect adoption
of dashboards and data in anorganization beyond what we've
covered, which has been quite abit?
Tracy Hockenberry (24:29):
I know we talked about this already, but I
have to say again, changemanagement is a huge part of
that. That could be a wholeother discussion. But you know,
incorporating change managementinto your structures into your
strategy is really, reallyimportant. But I think, when you
have people who aren't used tologging in and looking at
dashboards, that aren't used tolooking at data to try and make
(24:50):
decisions. They're used totrusting their gut or this is
how they've done their job for20 years. They know how to do
their job. You have to explainto them and help them understand
why it's meaningful, this newthing that you're asking them to
do. Because oftentimes we'reworking with people who are
wearing 10 hats, right? Like,they're not just in one job
doing one set ofresponsibilities. They are in a
(25:11):
shared role, multiple hatsspread very thin, oftentimes.
And they care mostly about theirjob, meaning, if they're working
with children, or adults withdisabilities, or whatever the
case may be, making a product,they care about their work and
what they're responsible to do,and they want to make an impact.
So you have to help themunderstand why they need to take
(25:31):
10 minutes or 5 minutes and loginto this new tool and look at
this data and why that's goingto help them at the end of the
day, improve somebody's life, orimprove a product or service
that they're providing. I thinkthat comes from the beginning,
when you have the alignment,that your data strategy is
aligned with organizationstrategy and the right goals.
(25:52):
And then you keep your datasimple. We didn't get into
dashboards and the details ofit. But I think that when you
keep it very clear, like "Hereare the top two to three things
I need you to look at." It's alot easier than a really
complex, busy dashboard whensomeone logs in. And they're
like, "Wait, I don't know, whereshould I look, which piece of
this is important?" So verysimple and clear data with the
(26:14):
top things that you need someoneto look at and react from, or
make decisions from. So,communication and buy in are
important. And the last comment,I guess I would say on that is,
in my experience, when you havea team who has a strong leader,
and they have a really goodrelationship with a strong
leader, when that leader rollssomething out, the team already
(26:38):
has the buy in because they knowit's important to the leader,
they trust the leader, they knowthe leader has their best
interests in heart along withthe company's best interests in
heart. So I think that sort ofpaves the way and makes it a
really easy ask of your team ifyou're working in a situation
where you have people who havestrong leadership skills. T
(26:59):
hat's always been a reallypositive experience when that
happens.
Jon Thompson (27:04):
So if you have some leadership dysfunction in
your organization, that datamobilizer, which was you, you
really need to connect withwhat's the internal drive,
motivation and values of theindividual, and then connect
that to the solution. I had aboss, once who had a superpower
of that. He just instinctivelyalways connected to the person's
(27:24):
core drivers, whatever we weretrying to do, and by the time
you finished discussing, you'relike, "Let's do this." I think
that's what you're you'respeaking to.
Tracy Hockenberry (27:32):
It is, and I've had that personal
experience working in a teamwith one of the most amazing
leaders. And, you know, as Ireflect back and look on that,
that really shaped me and I grewa lot and learned a lot from
that time period. But, you know,we went through very difficult
times, we had to pivotconstantly, we were always
(27:52):
looking for creative solutionsto keep our business moving
forward, but to keep supportingthe mission, which was
ultimately, "Are we doing a goodjob for the children that we're
working with? Are we improvingtheir lives in some way through
these behavioral healthservices?" Whether that was, you
know, in their homes, what wewere doing in the schools and
the summer programs that we ran,and so forth. Our team
(28:12):
definitely went through somedifficult times and trying to
figure out "How do we pivot andstay ahead?" We always wanted to
stay two steps ahead of changingregulations. And we were very
fortunate to have an amazingleader. So, we all work
together, we were all superstrong. And as you said,
whenever something was said orexplained or suggested it was
like, "Alright, we're in thistogether, let's do it." And I
(28:33):
know not everyone has that. Andmy wish for everyone is that
they experienced that at somepoint in their career, because
it makes your job a lot easierand more enjoyable.
Jon Thompson (28:44):
Yeah. And just to point out, obviously, New Story
is very mission oriented becauseof the lives of young people
that are struggling. But everybusiness is looking to deliver
as much value to their client.
And that's always a good thing.
And that can be a centraldriving focus. So great points,
I appreciate it. You were one ofthe more exceptional folks we
(29:09):
worked with in terms of beingable to organize all the
different facets, all thedifferent people, the strategy,
the requirements, the data,technical stuff, and the
communication and so on. Just abroad set of talents. If folks
want to get in touch with youand talk further about your
experience, talk shop, what'sthe best way to do that?
Tracy Hockenberry (29:31):
Yeah, I mean, connecting with me on LinkedIn,
@TracyHockenberry is is a greatway and from there, feel free to
message and email and so forth.
I love connecting with people. Ilove building my network and
having exciting conversationsabout creative solutions. And
it's just always a pleasure toconnect with new people.
Jon Thompson (29:52):
Great. Well, thank you so much, Tracy. This is just
a very pleasant and informativeconversation. I appreciate you
always, and look forward to ournext one.
Tracy Hockenberry (30:01):
Thank you so much for having me this is a lot
of fun so I appreciate it,thanks.
Welcome to our Blue Margin Expert Insights
Series. We're glad you joinedus. This series is for private
equity and mid market executiveswho want to use data and
dashboards as the short path fordriving growth. Today we have
the pleasure of hosting TracyHockenberry. We worked with
Tracy when she was Director ofBusiness Systems at Salisbury,
(00:24):
now New Story Schools, a companybacked by Audax Group that
provides alternative educationand pediatric mental health for
students with seriousbehavioral/academic challenges.
So a mission minded business tobe sure. Tracy is now Senior
Program Manager at Eaton, apublic power management company
(00:45):
with 100 years of history and85,000 global employees.
Welcome, Tracy.
Tracy Hockenberry (00:51):
Thank you.
Happy to be here.
Jon Thompson (00:53):
Yeah. So first of all, I'm sure that all of our
listeners are wondering, to makea jump from a mid market PE
backed company to a company thatis in 175 countries. What
enticed you to make that jump?
And what were you thinking?
Tracy Hockenberry (01:11):
That's a difficult question. You know,
I'm always up for challenge. AndI think one of the things that I
enjoyed the most when I workedat New Story was the ability to
move into different positions,and always be doing something
new, a lot of times paving thepathway for something brand new
at the organization. So, I'm sograteful for my experiences
(01:31):
there. And it was a lot of fun.
But I had been there for almost20 years, and, you know, it was
just time for a change. Andswitching industries was a
little bit of a risk, slightlyscary, but I was also really
looking forward to expanding myskill set and just expanding the
industries in which I had workedin because I had really only
worked in behavioral health carefor such a long time. So when I
(01:52):
got connected with Eaton, itfelt like a really good fit,
because I work with the humancentered design team there. So,
putting the customer first orthe client first and looking at
how you can improve experience,whether it be in training,
coaching, facilitation, design,they're really making a big
impact. So I was really excitedto be a part of that and join
(02:13):
the team.
Jon Thompson (02:16):
Nice. Okay, we might dig into other differences
between multiple orders ofmagnitude from the company you
went from to the company rightnow. But you and I originally
met in 2020, when your team atNew Story enlisted Blue Margin
to help organize your data andbuild dashboards to expose key
metrics, things around growth,and so on. I'm curious at what
(02:40):
point BI became a priority. And,you know, while you were there,
you held positions as Directorof Operations, Director of IT
and Business Systems, Directorof PMO. So you have broad
experience running thesemachines and data that enables
them. So we'll dig into sort ofthe "how to," but I am curious
at what data and visibility intoit became a necessity and a
(03:06):
priority.
Tracy Hockenberry (03:08):
You know, we started going through a digital
transformation around 2017officially. But we had, I would
say, paved the way a few yearsprior to that. But whenever we
started to really sit and take alook at our systems, where we
were at, where we wanted to goin terms of growth and strategy
of a company, it became veryapparent that we needed to do
(03:30):
some things differently, makesome changes, and bring on some
new tools, some new resources,and so forth. And so, at that
time, the New Story hired itsfirst CIO, and I was able to
work directly with him,co-leading a lot of our efforts
in the formal digitaltransformation of the
organization. So it was reallyclear how important our data and
our architecture were, as wewere doing that, and we had a
(03:53):
lot of cleanup to do, and a lotof work to do, which I think is
common for many organizationswhen you actually take a step
back to look at your currentstate and your data that maybe
you haven't evaluated over 20years. So it really became
important when we started thatinitiative and we brought on new
stakeholders and team membersthat we're helping to lead that
effort to help grow and scalethe company. We couldn't grow in
(04:17):
scale without looking at ourdata and starting to look at our
data strategy, our metrics andso forth. So that was around the
time.
Jon Thompson (04:25):
Yeah, interesting.
I'd love to dig into that. Iguess I'm curious about how you
approached that. So everycompany finds themselves with
gaps and inconsistencies andproblems in their data. And one
approach is to say, "We're gonnaget that perfected," which of
course can take into infinity.
Or you can start buildingdashboards and there's the risk
of unreliability and peopledon't trust them and then don't
(04:47):
adopt. Do you remember how youguys sort of split that
difference and how you gotgoing?
Tracy Hockenberry (04:53):
Yeah, I do.
We jumped right in. You know, wesat down and just really looked
at where we were going and whatwas needed. And we started
working right away. And I thinkthere were positives and
benefits to that, right. So, Ithink we gained a lot, and we
learned a lot super quickly. Andit's almost like fail fast or
(05:13):
fail forward. We got a very goodeye opening into the work that
we needed to do to clean ourdata and to fix some of the
internal workings of ourbusiness, as we started to dive
in, maybe a little too quicklyin some areas. But, you know,
you learn as you go. And Ithink, now, if I were to redo
(05:33):
that strategy somewhere else, Iwould do it a little differently
in terms of looking at the datafirst and doing some internal
work first, but it was a lot offun and a lot of work. Very eye
opening.
Jon Thompson (05:46):
Yeah. So you might slide a little towards the end
of the spectrum of, "Get yourdata a little cleaner before you
start putting it out there." Butyou made fast progress falling
forward, it sounds like. Therisk always being that people
look at the dashboards and say,"These aren't trustworthy," and
then it's tough to get themback. But you powered through
that somehow, we'll touch onthat a little bit more as we go.
I'd like to ask you about yourperspective, having been a
(06:09):
leader and a program leader, andand the person that drove a
significant data initiative,what do you see as the role of
business intelligence, iedashboards, data, analytics,
etc., in business, and what's atthe core of this trend that puts
it seemingly at the forefront ofa lot, if not most, business
leaders minds?
Tracy Hockenberry (06:30):
Yeah, that's a great question. You know, I
think to lead any businessinitiative, you have to start
with your data, like you need tolook at your data, your business
processes, and is what you'redoing appropriate for your
current state. What I mean bythat is, a lot of businesses
start, I think, as smallerbusinesses are mom and pop
businesses, and they haveprocesses and things in place
(06:52):
that work for them then, and asthey grow in scale, a lot of
times you don't take the time tosit and reevaluate those things
you just keep piling on or keepbuilding on. There's a
workaround here, work aroundthere, and it works for you.
Until one day you step back andyou realize, "Oh, my goodness,
like what happened? Like this isa really complex process." So, I
(07:12):
think, for me, data intelligenceis key to drive business
decision making and strategy,right? When you're looking at
where you're going as anorganization or company and
you're setting your mission andyour vision and your goals to
support that. Data will thenhelp to drive those important
decisions on, "Are you going inthe right direction? Are you
(07:33):
solving the right problem? Areyou putting in place the right
products or services? Do youhave the right resources?" So it
really is at the very core ofdriving actionable and impactful
decisions for a business andmaking sure that you are
aligning with the overallstrategy of your company.
Jon Thompson (07:50):
I see that as the bigger value. There's also just
overcoming the inefficiency ofthose legacy systems, typically
Excel. I mean, we run into midmarket companies that run their
CRM in a spreadsheet. And, I'msure at New Story, like with
every company, there were Excelspreadsheets and manual ways of
getting at the insights. Was itmore about overcoming those
(08:11):
inefficiencies, or more aboutgaining actual better insights
that would inform in a morestrategic way?
Tracy Hockenberry (08:19):
I think it was a little of both. Our team
was definitely looking forinsights to inform. That was a
big driver. So we did take astep back and start to make
changes. We started to address,"How can we provide our
stakeholders with data that theytrust." You commented before on
multiple versions of data nothaving a single source of the
(08:40):
truth. And so we started there.
We corrected some of theinefficiencies so that we could
start to produce reliable data.
And that took a while toconvince stakeholders that,
"This is accurate." You know,"We have this one version of the
truth." Because they did want tohave that ability to use data,
analyze it, looking back at whatthey just collected to make
forward decisions, right. So,"How can we pivot? Is what we're
(09:03):
doing helping to bring studentsin the door? Are we making
meaningful outcomes and theeducation we're providing or the
social services that we'reproviding?" Things like that.
So, I think it was a little ofboth. And we did both along the
way in terms of correctingthings that we would identify as
they crept up and looking at ourinternal workflows, and how we
were collecting data,architecture, things like that,
(09:24):
along with setting up the BIdashboards, and looking at what
was the most impactful data thatwe could put on there that, if
people were going to look at itfor 30 seconds, that we could
tell them the story that theyneeded to know and that they
could get exactly what theyneeded super quickly to make the
decisions that they were lookingto make.
Jon Thompson (09:43):
Yeah, that's great. And you mentioned that it
took some time to bring folksaround to what needed to be done
to get the data right, changeprocesses, convince them of the
importance of it. You know,arguably one of the most
difficult elements of any BIproject is aligning stakeholders
from getting buy in from yourexecutive team, aligning the
(10:04):
project requirements with theorganization's goals, getting
the data so it's functionalenough, etc. From your
experience, how would yourecommend folks get a data
strategy, data project off to asmooth start?
Tracy Hockenberry (10:19):
Yeah, that's a that's a loaded question,
because there's a lot to answerthere. So, having stakeholder
alignment is critical to begin,right. But how do you get there?
And how do you even begin thatconversation? So, I would start
with saying, "Do we even know,at the executive level of any
organization, what our goalsare?" That sounds like a silly
question, but a lot of times theteams, like the leaders of an
(10:43):
organization, don't actuallyhave clearly articulated or
clearly documented strategicgoals that they have published
or could publish out with all oftheir business units and their
employees. You know, I'm one tosay, "Let's take a step back and
start where we need to start, atthe beginning. So what are we
trying to accomplish? So we'remaking sure that we're solving
the right problem, like what'sour mission, what is our
(11:04):
strategy, what do we need toaccomplish? And then how do we
get there?" So starting yourstrategy there, I think is
really important and havingthose conversations. But I
think, secondary to that interms of a specific strategy,
and actually spinning it up andgetting it started, is making
sure that you have buy in andsign off and alignment from the
right stakeholders and yourexecutive board or executive
(11:25):
team. So, if you do run anEnterprise Project Management
Office, or you manage yourprojects in some other fashion,
whoever those team members arethat need to be communicated
with, have inputs, sign off,give deliverables, give
requirements, making sure thatyou include the right people at
the table from day one, so thatyou don't miss anybody or miss
(11:46):
some critical steps andrequirements needed in your
strategy. That buy in from thevery beginning and that official
sign off make a big difference,in my experience, and what I
have seen. So, I think that'sprobably the second piece that I
would comment on. And then thirdis, when you start with the
strategy, and you define yourgoals, and your publishing them
(12:07):
out, it's change management.
When you're working across yourlarger organizations and
business units, organizationalchange requires individual
change. But why should anindividual in the organization
be motivated to change? Like,why should they be motivated to
fill out an extra form orcollect data differently, or
login to the portal and view thedashboard, like what's in it for
them? So I think, making surethat you have change management
(12:29):
as a part of your overallstrategy, which covers the
awareness and communication,building that desire and having
those messages tailored to theright audiences, along with all
the other formal things that gowith change management. But I
think a lot of people miss thoseupfront steps of awareness and
desire building, right. Andagain, if you want
organizational change, it'scollectively a lot of individual
(12:52):
change. So, those are the thingsthat I would comment on.
Jon Thompson (12:57):
A couple points in their awareness and desire, is
it about evoking from them theirfrustrations around lack of
visibility into the numbers? Oris it about teaching them the
philosophy of, "If you can beoriented to the performance
metrics, then that will help tofocus and show you if you're
winning or not, and how you canwin?" How do you go about that?
Tracy Hockenberry (13:21):
I would say both, but I would start with the
first. So I think if you want tobuild a relationship with a
stakeholder, I would start withbuilding that relationship and
sitting down and listening.
Asking questions and listeningto what they have to say, so
that they feel heard. So thevoice of the customer becomes
super important, so that theycan voice openly and trust that
they can have that type oftransparency and honest
(13:42):
conversation with you about whatthey're experiencing, their
biggest pain points, theirbiggest frustrations about the
current state of theenvironment, of what's happening
in the company, whether it'ssoftware, resources, operations,
whatever it might be. But ifthey can vocalize that, and you
actually listen and receive it,and you build that rapport right
there, then you can figure outhow can you support that person
through this change? And how canyou spark that motivation and
(14:05):
that desire that they're goingto want to be a part of it
because they're gonna see howyou're bridging the gap for
them. So your solution, ofcourse, is going to solve that,
right? Like, it's going to dosomething for them that brings
an organizational benefit. So,that's where I would move into
the latter part of theconversation and say, "Okay,
I've heard you, I've documentedthese things. I'm sharing them
(14:25):
with our larger team. And let menow start to share with you how
we believe this solution isgoing to have a positive impact,
it's going to drive insights,it's going to bridge this gap
for you." It's not going to beperfect, but we need to be able
to show them value and impactthat they're gonna get out of it
so that we can get themmotivated to support it.
Jon Thompson (14:43):
Is it important to get their feedback and input on
the design of ultimately the thedeliverable to them the
dashboards?
Tracy Hockenberry (14:52):
You want to have the key stakeholders
involved in giving input onsomething like that, but you
don't want to have too manycooks in the kitchen, right.
Because if you have too manypeople involved in giving
opinions, you can't reachalignment, and you're just going
to have meeting after meetingwhere everyone's sharing
perspectives, and you're neverreally getting to the goal,
right. And then when you'reworking with consultants and
(15:14):
vendors that can become costly,and not time efficient, and also
So the skill set is very simplysomeone who understands project
throw your project completelyoff schedule, let alone budget.
So, I think from the verybeginning of any strategy or
initiative, you know, havingownership and RACI define of
like, who's doing what, I'm abig fan of RACI, but knowing
upfront who are going to bethose key stakeholders, those
voices that are gonna make thefinal decisions, because they
(15:36):
can collaborate with their teammembers and receive all of the
information, but then we'regoing to trust that our leaders,
our management, whomever is apart of that conversation, we're
trusting them to collectivelysynthesize that information,
also look at organizationalstrategy, and give the best
input for the design of thedashboard. So, to me, I would
suggest a smaller group, andI've seen more success with a
(15:58):
smaller group when it comes tothe actual build and design. And
it also requires people whounderstand a little bit about
data and BI and dashboards, Ithink, because you don't want to
have it get too complex, toomessy, and so forth. You want to
keep it clean and tell the storythat you're trying to tell.
(16:19):
and program management, someonewho understands and knows how to
execute change management,someone who gets the strategy of
the business, someone whounderstands data. I mean, those
people are everywhere. What'sthe best role to execute a data
strategy? That's a tall order.
Yeah, like to be the pointperson or lead it, again, every
(16:44):
individual has different skillsets, and people call roles
different titles in differentorganizations. So you know, in
my experience, I think whetherit's like a business
applications director, like abusiness systems or business
applications director, orsolutions architect, IT
director, PMO director, usuallysomeone in that type of a seat
(17:08):
has a little bit ofunderstanding of all of those
things. And they're also workingclosely with someone who maybe
has some of the skills thatthey're lacking. So if they're
really strong, and eight out of10 areas, there's someone else
on their team or someone else onour project team who can fill in
those other areas. Butdefinitely someone who
understands data and sometechnology.
Jon Thompson (17:28):
Yeah, yeah. So it's more than one person but
not a pure technologist, not apure strategist, someone who
bridges that.
Tracy Hockenberry (17:37):
Yeah.
Jon Thompson (17:38):
Okay. I'm curious, beyond some of the things we've
touched on, if there were otherpitfalls for our listeners who
are looking at embarking on whatcan seem like the mountain to
climb in getting data toactually be integrated into
their business and develop adata driven culture. What are
the some of the things to lookout for?
Tracy Hockenberry (18:01):
Yeah, you know, I think that today data is
more of a conversation. It'smore of a focus across
organizations, because morepeople were building dashboards
or tracking metrics or building,you know, looking at their KPIs.
But in terms of the pitfallsthat that I've seen, and things
I could say to look out forwould be, not taking enough time
(18:23):
up front to plan your strategy,because there's a lot that goes
into a data strategy. And Icould go any direction with
this, but just thinking, ifyou're implementing a software
as a part of your data strategyin efforts to track data, get
your metrics and feed into adashboard, having those
conversations at the table about"Okay, so we're implementing
(18:44):
this, what's our workflow? Arewe gonna document that? What's
our Visio diagrams to map thisout? Who owns what? What about
our system owner? Do we havesomebody who can own this past
implementation? Who are theroles involved in managing the
software? Is that something inhouse? Is that something we're
going to contract out of housefor? Are we going to hire a new
person? When do we hire thatperson?" Ideally, they should be
(19:07):
a part of the initiative. Youknow, they should be a part of
the rollout of that software, sothat they can be a part of
decisions being made and set upin architecture. So, I think if
you don't, and I've seen ithappen, where you don't take
enough time upfront to plan thatout, and then you get so far in
and you're like, "Oh, man, wenow are scrambling to hire
people, or we don't know whatwe're doing so we'd have to
(19:29):
contract out for this, but thatreally wasn't ideal." Being able
to have that conversation andshow the value in it. And I
think one successful projectgoing well and delivering what
it was intended to to deliverand then having that adoption on
the other side and the propersupport structure is enough to
kind of pave the way for thefuture then to say, "Okay, let's
use this as our model of howwell this went. We did all these
(19:50):
things correctly."
Jon Thompson (19:52):
I agree with that.
And I think it's a point wellmade, because it's
counterintuitive to take moretime upfront. It seems like
you're stretching it out, in ourexperience, and we've done very
involved complex projects. Ifyou don't take that time to
really plan it out up front,you're going to extend that tail
end and create all kinds ofvectors that you've got to
(20:14):
correct as you go. You take thattime upfront, and it's a much
shorter path to the goal. And,that first project that delivers
real value is, you know, worth10x all the subsequent, so you
got to get that right. Iappreciate you bringing that out
as one of the key challenges.
(20:35):
And you mentioned in thatplanning, do we work with an
outside vendor? Do we not?
Obviously companies have theoption to do this internally.
What are your thoughts onwhether, or when you would want
to use an outside vendor? We hada good experience together, what
went well? What didn't? Whatadvice would you have for
counterparts?
Tracy Hockenberry (20:54):
Yeah, you know, I think there's a lot of
opportunity today to connectwith and work with external
vendors, more so than everbefore. I think, one, not
everyone, but the majority ofpeople now have opportunities to
work remotely, if they want to,in most roles. And so I think,
our world has changed a littlebit over the last few years, and
it's opened up manyopportunities for people. So
(21:17):
that's a positive thing. But,when you look internally at your
company, at your initiatives,and what you want to do, and
then your own skill sets, a lotof times people find they don't
have the right people in theright seats, or they don't have
the right skill sets at all. Anddepending on where you're at,
what's important to youfinancially, who you're owned
by, it might be moreadvantageous to bring in
(21:38):
contractors or external vendorsto support you versus bringing
on a full time employee andhaving that long term overhead.
I think, now, there's so manyniche markets out there to say,
I need a BI specialist, or Ineed this specialist, and they
have the skill set, that's whatthey do every day, all day. They
have 10 years or 20 years ofexperience doing it, let's go
(22:00):
work with that person, they'regonna give us the best results.
So, I do think there's a lot ofopportunity. And I think, when,
is when either you don't havethe staff, you don't have the
time to hire and train thestaff, or you don't want the
long term overhead, or you'relooking for that more niche
skill set for special projects.
And, I would just say, "Go hirethe vendor, bring them in,
(22:21):
because that's what they dobest." And, you know, in terms
of what worked well, or whatdidn't work well, because it did
work very well on our projectengagement, I think some of the
things that stand out to me arefrom the very beginning, we had
that open and honestcommunication. We knew who the
point person was on each side,we had regular standing check in
meetings so that there wasalways that touch point in
(22:44):
everyone's schedule to justbring forth like updates,
questions, concerns, risks, etc.
I mentioned earlier, I'm a hugefan of RACI's. So, I know,
together, we developed our RACIfor during our initiative. And
then afterwards we had somesupport needs, and we worked
through that as well with ourinternal staff, versus your team
(23:05):
members. So, I just think all ofthat was a really well thought
out communication effort. And wehad really detailed tracking in
terms of our project artifacts.
That was one thing I think thatwas also super helpful was the
rigor and the amount of detailthat you guys put into your
artifacts, your projectschedule, and documenting risks
and decisions and issues andthings like that. We always knew
(23:27):
where we were, we knew what thedependencies where the
predecessors were, to our tasks,and how, you know, one thing was
an impacted another, and it wasa very transparent, upfront
thing. It was never about fingerpointing, or blaming anyone. It
was just like, "Hey, here'swhere we're at, here's our
obstacle, how do we coursecorrect and work together?" So,
it's a partnership. I think aslong as you go into it with the
(23:49):
expectation of building apartnership with the person that
you're working with, it's a loteasier to be successful.
Jon Thompson (23:57):
I've long said that it comes down to adoption.
You can figure out what the mostimportant metrics are, get your
data dialed in tight, put outdashboards that really nail the
narrative. But if people don'tadopt, I mean, the whole goal is
to render data for a human toconsume, to touch nerves and
improve decision making andprioritization and focus and
(24:18):
motivation. Any thoughts on howto successfully affect adoption
of dashboards and data in anorganization beyond what we've
covered, which has been quite abit?
Tracy Hockenberry (24:29):
I know we talked about this already, but I
have to say again, changemanagement is a huge part of
that. That could be a wholeother discussion. But you know,
incorporating change managementinto your structures into your
strategy is really, reallyimportant. But I think, when you
have people who aren't used tologging in and looking at
dashboards, that aren't used tolooking at data to try and make
(24:50):
decisions. They're used totrusting their gut or this is
how they've done their job for20 years. They know how to do
their job. You have to explainto them and help them understand
why it's meaningful, this newthing that you're asking them to
do. Because oftentimes we'reworking with people who are
wearing 10 hats, right? Like,they're not just in one job
doing one set ofresponsibilities. They are in a
(25:11):
shared role, multiple hatsspread very thin, oftentimes.
And they care mostly about theirjob, meaning, if they're working
with children, or adults withdisabilities, or whatever the
case may be, making a product,they care about their work and
what they're responsible to do,and they want to make an impact.
So you have to help themunderstand why they need to take
(25:31):
10 minutes or 5 minutes and loginto this new tool and look at
this data and why that's goingto help them at the end of the
day, improve somebody's life, orimprove a product or service
that they're providing. I thinkthat comes from the beginning,
when you have the alignment,that your data strategy is
aligned with organizationstrategy and the right goals.
(25:52):
And then you keep your datasimple. We didn't get into
dashboards and the details ofit. But I think that when you
keep it very clear, like "Hereare the top two to three things
I need you to look at." It's alot easier than a really
complex, busy dashboard whensomeone logs in. And they're
like, "Wait, I don't know, whereshould I look, which piece of
this is important?" So verysimple and clear data with the
(26:14):
top things that you need someoneto look at and react from, or
make decisions from. So,communication and buy in are
important. And the last comment,I guess I would say on that is,
in my experience, when you havea team who has a strong leader,
and they have a really goodrelationship with a strong
leader, when that leader rollssomething out, the team already
(26:38):
has the buy in because they knowit's important to the leader,
they trust the leader, they knowthe leader has their best
interests in heart along withthe company's best interests in
heart. So I think that sort ofpaves the way and makes it a
really easy ask of your team ifyou're working in a situation
where you have people who havestrong leadership skills. T
(26:59):
hat's always been a reallypositive experience when that
happens.
Jon Thompson (27:04):
So if you have some leadership dysfunction in
your organization, that datamobilizer, which was you, you
really need to connect withwhat's the internal drive,
motivation and values of theindividual, and then connect
that to the solution. I had aboss, once who had a superpower
of that. He just instinctivelyalways connected to the person's
(27:24):
core drivers, whatever we weretrying to do, and by the time
you finished discussing, you'relike, "Let's do this." I think
that's what you're you'respeaking to.
Tracy Hockenberry (27:32):
It is, and I've had that personal
experience working in a teamwith one of the most amazing
leaders. And, you know, as Ireflect back and look on that,
that really shaped me and I grewa lot and learned a lot from
that time period. But, you know,we went through very difficult
times, we had to pivotconstantly, we were always
(27:52):
looking for creative solutionsto keep our business moving
forward, but to keep supportingthe mission, which was
ultimately, "Are we doing a goodjob for the children that we're
working with? Are we improvingtheir lives in some way through
these behavioral healthservices?" Whether that was, you
know, in their homes, what wewere doing in the schools and
the summer programs that we ran,and so forth. Our team
(28:12):
definitely went through somedifficult times and trying to
figure out "How do we pivot andstay ahead?" We always wanted to
stay two steps ahead of changingregulations. And we were very
fortunate to have an amazingleader. So, we all work
together, we were all superstrong. And as you said,
whenever something was said orexplained or suggested it was
like, "Alright, we're in thistogether, let's do it." And I
(28:33):
know not everyone has that. Andmy wish for everyone is that
they experienced that at somepoint in their career, because
it makes your job a lot easierand more enjoyable.
Jon Thompson (28:44):
Yeah. And just to point out, obviously, New Story
is very mission oriented becauseof the lives of young people
that are struggling. But everybusiness is looking to deliver
as much value to their client.
And that's always a good thing.
And that can be a centraldriving focus. So great points,
I appreciate it. You were one ofthe more exceptional folks we
(29:09):
worked with in terms of beingable to organize all the
different facets, all thedifferent people, the strategy,
the requirements, the data,technical stuff, and the
communication and so on. Just abroad set of talents. If folks
want to get in touch with youand talk further about your
experience, talk shop, what'sthe best way to do that?
Tracy Hockenberry (29:31):
Yeah, I mean, connecting with me on LinkedIn,
@TracyHockenberry is is a greatway and from there, feel free to
message and email and so forth.
I love connecting with people. Ilove building my network and
having exciting conversationsabout creative solutions. And
it's just always a pleasure toconnect with new people.
Jon Thompson (29:52):
Great. Well, thank you so much, Tracy. This is just
a very pleasant and informativeconversation. I appreciate you
always, and look forward to ournext one.
Tracy Hockenberry (30:01):
Thank you so much for having me this is a lot
of fun so I appreciate it,thanks.
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