News Release John Deere Honors DISTek Integration, Inc. with 2022 Supplier Innovation Award CEDAR FALLS, Iowa – September 20, 2022 – DISTek Integration, Inc., an engineering services provider, was recognized …
What an exciting time to be a part of a flourishing organization like DISTek Integration! With all the growth that is occurring, we strive to create focus around Diversity, Equity, …
Since our Why Statement was rolled out, most of the focus has been placed on how it applies to us internally here at DISTek. However, recently the Sales Team got together to discuss how we can present it externally in a way that resonates with our clients, as well. This not only equips our team with the knowledge and background when we are talking with current, as well as potential clients, but it also allows us to share more about who we are here at DISTek and what we believe in so passionately.
Here at DISTek, we value collaboration, teambuilding, and delivering unmatched value. We provide our clients with dedicated engineering teams that provide unparalleled value by freeing our clients’ time up so they can focus on broader business challenges. Our proven approach is not only extremely beneficial to our clients but brings significant value and meaning to our employee-owners, as well.
DISTek U210: E2 Track is a new DISTek course offered internally to engineers wanting to learn and prepare themselves for the next engineering tier level. We use a classification of E1-E5 here at DISTek with E1 being entry level. Although, it is mostly geared towards E2s looking to set themselves up for success in becoming an E3 or senior engineer, the track also welcomes E1s wanting to learn about E2. In this class, we went over three books, had a panel discussion with senior engineers, and a mentorship project managed by the students in the class. This course also offered the benefit of networking and interacting with other DISTekians who we may not normally get the chance to work with.
In this two part series, we will talk about each of the books and the mentorship program, with the first two books being discussed by Gerardo Zamora and Chad Stapes here in Part 1, and a final book and mentorshiop being discussed by Michael Barnhardt in Part 2.
Today, as we battle the COVID-19 pandemic, for most of us, moving to a “new office” means relocating to our basement, appropriating the dining room table, or occupying an extra bedroom. But in late 2019, DISTek Integration’s excitement over our new digs referenced a traditional brick and mortar office building. Specifically, we eagerly relocated to Suite 420 at 3737 Woodland Ave. in West Des Moines.
Last month, the Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM) announced their newly elected board members. Among them was our very own Executive VP and COO, Jeremy Yoder. Jeremy will serve on the AEM AG Sector Board.
Recently, I took some time to sit down with Jeremy to talk about this exciting new venture……
Monday October 22 was a pretty exciting day, the day DISTek recognized the first set of graduates from DISTek U. These 7 graduates completed all the coursework required of the Potential Leads Track, which included reading and answering discussion questions for the books How to Win Friends & Influence People by Dale Carnegie, The Five Dysfunctions of a Team by Patrick Lencioni, and Smarter Faster Better by Charles Duhigg. They also attended 7 Habits of Highly Effective People leadership training, and gave a presentation to the class and management team on their key takeaways. The group also heard from four current DISTek leaders on their perspective of being a leader, which was a highlight of the class. Below are some of the thoughts and experiences on the training from some of the graduates.
It’s not all work and no play around DISTek. Last Friday, we were fortunate enough to take advantage of one of the last hurrahs of summer and get out over the lunch hour to enjoy the beautiful weather. Our on-site team organized a lunchtime picnic-style grill out and all DISTekians in the Waterloo/Cedar Falls area were invited to attend and partake in team-building camaraderie and delicious food.
In the past, DISTek faced long and challenging development cycles with single individuals assigned to complete projects in isolation. Projects were often plagued with schedule delays, cost overages, and quality problems. Guided by a SAFe champion and small team of coaches, DISTek successfully implemented the Scrum framework within SAFe 4.5.
The book Team of Teams, by Stanley McChrystal, covers a lot of topics that strongly relate to the direction that DISTek is heading. Some of these concepts, such as shared consciousness, cooperation across silos, localized decision-making, and information sharing, I hope to write about in future blog posts. In this blog, however, I will discuss how the structure of Team of Teams fits with DISTek and how we are setting up our organization to be adaptable to growth.
