Air Force Veteran and longtime business leader Rick Nelson joins this special supplementary episode of Davood for Thought. Rick has over 20 years of experience in process improvement, workflow methodology, and organizational management. He's spent the last 15 years of his career in the tech arena, leading the growth of two privately held firms to sustainable profitability. Rick's energetic and passionate leadership are the hallmarks of his professional career - this is an episode you won't want to miss!
00;00;00;00 - 00;00;23;10
Narrator
We're in an era of rapid change where resilience is vital. The Davood for Thought podcast dives into the most important topics in government and technology today. Our host, Davood Ghods, sits down with his vast network of colleagues to dish on the tech challenges that affect us all. Follow this podcast on your favorite platform and join the conversation by sharing it on LinkedIn, Twitter or Facebook.
00;00;23;13 - 00;00;51;07
Davood Ghods
Hello, everyone. Welcome to Direct Technologies, Davood for Thought podcast and I'm Davood Ghods and I will be your host today. The way I stay up with the pressing topics of tech and government of today is to tap into the panel of experts I've had the honor of connecting with over the years. Today we have a special guest, Rick Nelson, on the podcast.
00;00;51;10 - 00;01;26;17
Davood Ghods
Rick is a co-founder of TIA Group, the parent company for Direct Technology and is the current chairman of Launch Consulting Group, one of the Direct Technologies sister divisions. Rick has over 25 years of experience and process improvement, workflow methodology and organizational management. He's spent the last 20 years of his career in the technology arena, leading the growth of his privately held firms to sustainable profitability.
00;01;26;19 - 00;01;58;14
Davood Ghods
Rick's energetic and passionate leadership are the hallmarks of his professional career. He graduated from Sacramento State University, Go Hornets with a bachelor's degree and later earned a master's degree in organizational management all while working for United Parcel Service. Rick, without sharing any more of your background, I want to welcome you to this episode of our podcast and ask you to tell us about yourself. And for someone who doesn't know about you, please give us an overview, what you have done and what you're working on currently. Welcome, Rick.
00;01;58;17 - 00;02;22;23
Rick Nelson
Thank you, David. That was a very nice introduction and I appreciate it. Maybe just to add a little bit of flavor there, I'm a proud husband and father of two. My daughter works in technology.
00;02;22;24 - 00;02;52;05
Rick Nelson
She's a business analyst for a global consulting firm outside of our organization. And my son is serving in an airborne unit connected to an infantry division in Anchorage, Alaska. So very proud of those those two folks. What I'm working on right now is continuing to grow our business in the digital transformation area specifically and insurance and payor benefits side of the business.
00;02;52;05 - 00;03;15;26
Rick Nelson
I'm spending a lot of time with two of our larger customers in that segment. And one great thing about the consulting world is while you're teaching, you're also learning. And every day is a new adventure and there's lots of great things on the horizon and many, many, many challenges to overcome to get it right. But that's part of the fun. So that's a little bit about me and what I'm working on right now. Excellent. You know, I've always said I used to teach also in a business college that the best way to learn something is to teach.
00;03;15;26 - 00;03;42;26
Davood Ghods
That's right. Yeah. Next question, Rick, is what emerging trends are you seeing in the I.T. and business fields that we should all be paying more attention to?
00;03;42;29 - 00;04;10;00
Rick Nelson
Well, obviously, you can't give enough attention to cybersecurity right now. There's not a day that goes by that we're not seeing some breach or data leak. And every organization should be thinking about their infrastructure, should be thinking about their assets and how to protect them. More importantly, every individual should be thinking about their assets and how they protect those.
00;04;10;02 - 00;04;40;09
Rick Nelson
We've become pretty secure in the idea that we can transact in and do commerce over the Internet, but it's still not always the safest place to do business if you're not taking care of the basics. So I would encourage all individuals to know what the protocols for safe transactions looks like. There's lots of places to go find that information and make sure that their own personal information is is taken care of.
00;04;40;09 - 00;05;09;02
Rick Nelson
But on the organizational level, it's a daily fight. As you know the world. Every time you fix the fence, somebody breaks down a different piece and tries to come in a different part of the yard. So it requires daily activity. So that that would be the one thing that I think about most.
00;05;09;05 - 00;05;35;23
Davood Ghods
Thank you. Related to this, I think you would agree that adjusting to the pandemic was challenging for all of us. And now everyone is thinking of what the next major disruption like the pandemic is going to be and how can we better be prepared for it? So resiliency, which we offer a service around, is a big topic of conversation these days. What are some examples of resilience you've seen in the past year and what is the one thing organizations should be doing to improve resilience?
00;05;35;26 - 00;06;04;11
Rick Nelson
Well, well, I think the last year and a half is absolutely a picture perfect case of national resiliency. Organizational resiliency, and individual resiliency. When you think about it, month over month, week over week, day over day. Individuals and companies are having to figure out what's next and how do we do that. And that is takes an emotional toll, an intellectual toll and a physical toll on on persons that are involved in it.
00;06;04;11 - 00;06;30;09
Rick Nelson
And we were all working on it. What I see coming down the line is actually some resilience that's going to be required to spend back to a new normal. I'm not a big believer of the new normal being a static state. I believe there were a lot of things in place for organizations and individuals that were much, much, much, much healthier than they are now.
00;06;30;10 - 00;07;12;12
Rick Nelson
Schools would be a good example. But getting back to those things that were healthy that we need is actually going to require a lot of discipline from both individuals and companies. So the key for me and our organization is making sure that the company and the individuals are working together to get back to a place that that is the most healthy and still take advantage of some of the things we learn that are new and unique and the world, you know, working in the state of California, as long as you did, you we we could have done remote work 30 years ago and and nobody had the courage to not show up at the office.
00;07;12;19 - 00;07;48;02
Rick Nelson
Well, we've learned that we can work remotely and still get things done and trust one another. We've also learned that doing it full time has an impact as well on individuals. And the opportunity to collaborate and socialize are key pieces of our development as human beings. So finding that balance is going to require organizations and individuals to be talking to each other, sharing ideas and thoughts and trusting one another to get back to a place that's the healthiest possible place for for us.
00;07;48;05 - 00;08;15;02
Davood Ghods
Thank you. That perspective of national, organizational and individual is really important because there are disruptions that are going to happen that will force us to work in New ways. But it comes down to the individual and to the organization to help and make sure that we can go on the path that we have set forward. And I agree with you.
00;08;15;04 - 00;08;44;00
Davood Ghods
My next question is about motivation. As you know, director of technology and at launch, we always talk about how we are going to get a project done or something done. But we also ask why are we doing what we are doing? What is your why? What motivates you another in your work?
00;08;44;03 - 00;09;15;06
Rick Nelson
In other words, the number one motivation for me over the last 20 years has been people. The people I've had the opportunity to work with, work for and coach and mentor. That's my number one motivation. And one of the theories that we methodologies we practice is small units working together, small teams. And what that does, it allows more opportunities for leadership in the organization, more opportunities to challenge folks with responsibility that they might otherwise not have in a large firm.
00;09;15;08 - 00;09;48;16
Rick Nelson
And in my 16 years with T.A. Group and Launch and Drive Technology, I've had the pleasure of watching people grow, promote lead teams themselves, and even build their own business divisions and take them through liquid events. There's nothing more rewarding than that. So my way is the people. And one thing about business is if you're not selling and you're not offering your services to customers who pay for them, then the business doesn't grow and growth for individuals gets stagnant.
00;09;48;19 - 00;10;19;28
Rick Nelson
So I quit 100% of my focus on business development in our organizations and then training and mentoring. Those folks, I believe, have earned the opportunity to prove themselves in leadership positions. Well, I'm here to attest to all of that. And definitely there are opportunities for growth and for leadership in all the organizations that you mentioned that direct technology to grow at launch, etc..
00;10;20;00 - 00;10;48;24
Davood Ghods
Thank you for that response. But related to that, innovation is also important on teams. What inspires innovation on the teams that you've worked on and you are on?
00;10;48;26 - 00;11;16;21
Rick Nelson
I think the greatest inspiration comes from an outcome that provides a better life for the people we're serving, and we see this in pay or benefits all the time. I'll give you an example. You know, when you go to the doctor, I don't know how many emails you have to fill out or forms you have to finish so that your doctor can get paid for the services you were provided and how much you have to pay as a portion of that. And right now in the medical industry, the billing industry, roughly 80% of all claims are checked by a human being, which means the process is slow and arduous and terrible and painful.
00;11;16;23 - 00;11;50;11
Rick Nelson
And the work we're doing right now using AI and machine learning would take that 80% number down to 20 or 25% just by understanding who the patient is, what their history has been, and what claims are really no brainers. And when you get to work in that environment and you see that claims are starting to get paid a little faster, they're less painful, there's less negotiation between the patient and the insurance company and the doctor.
00;11;50;14 - 00;12;12;06
Rick Nelson
All of a sudden you see a little bit better world, a better transaction world, if you will. And that's that is inspiration to make it a little better, a little better and a little better. And I'm a big believer in incrementalism that the biggest dreams come true when you take a little bite at a time and you don't try and make that leap.
00;12;12;07 - 00;12;38;06
Rick Nelson
We didn't go, you know, our first space shot wasn't to Mars, it was to the moon. And so, you know, land on the moon. Then finally the outside planets and keep on going into the galaxies. So I think in our world, we have a chance to improve things for people, and that becomes the inspiration point.
00;12;38;06 - 00;13;07;21
Davood Ghods
That's right. I completely agree. And so does one of our previous guests on this podcast. The CIO of CalPERS outcome for the life of the retirees was his response. So exactly what you also mentioned. Thank you. Next, couple of questions. The last two questions are really a little personal and the human side of our record. Alright, what is something that would surprise people about your background or interest?
00;13;07;23 - 00;13;56;18
Rick Nelson
I don't know if it would surprise people, but one of the things that drives me is I've battled weight my entire life. And when you're a young person that can result in a lot of things from self esteem issues to lack of confidence, etc.. But what it taught me was the discipline required to overcome tough things. And I try and bring that to the business and to the folks I get to work with and hopefully to my family in that all things are doable, all challenges are overcome, evil, but it requires a discipline and a state of mind that that makes you get up every morning focused on the outcome you desire.
00;13;56;20 - 00;14;22;07
Rick Nelson
And it's not a perfect process. There's bad days and good days and you have to learn from both and then try to carry that forward. Maybe that's something that a lot of folks wouldn't know about me but is important to me. Yeah, very important. And the last question, where can people find you and keep tabs on what you're working on and how can people support your work?
00;14;22;09 - 00;14;41;22
Rick Nelson
Oh, thank you. LinkedIn is the easiest way to find me, and I try and put out a message every week or so on things that I'm thinking about or working on and ask for the participate issue and individuals that are interested that might be able to give a little back so that we can all learn from each other. But that's the place to find me.
00;14;41;23 - 00;15;22;04
Davood Ghods
Yes, You've written articles and they're posted and I read them regularly. Very motivational and inspirational also. Well, thank you so much for joining us today, Rick. Thank you to all the listeners out there for joining us as well. We will see you in the next episode of Davood for Thought, where we will shed more light on the human side of tech.