1h 12 min
Episode 6 Innovation & Entrepreneurship - w/ Conrad Hollomon Government in Plain Language
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Thanks for joining us on another episode of Government in Plain Language with your host, MaBinti Yillah. This episode, we’re talking to Conrad Hollomon, Senior Technical PM at Unity Technologies, a leader in creating and operating 3D content in real-time.
Conrad’s journey to entrepreneurship took him through multiple potential pathways, including playing gigs as a musician, and the next morning standing in formation with the Army ROTC. In doing so, he positioned himself to hold two careers-one as an infantry officer and the other blending his passion for technology and music. The biggest challenge, Conrad notes, is the translation between different cultures. Having the agility to execute, partnered with the flexibility that comes with certain roles, makes for innovation at the highest degree.
Conrad works with the military from a tech perspective. At the junction of innovation and entrepreneurship, he was able to help solve challenges that the Dept. of Justice faces every day. That developed the two main pillars of success for teams he worked on: diversity of thought and psychological safety. Being able to incorporate different perspectives and backgrounds is key to innovation. The biggest part is the team’s ability to communicate effectively with everyone, the ability to see and respect the different perspectives, and value what everybody on that team provides.
Organizational transformation on a large scale can look two different ways. The first, Conrad illustrates, is when a team of innovators--the brightest of the bright in an organization, are given room to innovate. This is about the autonomy, purpose, and mastery of the work they do. It also requires the organization to follow suit in culture. If there are innovators at a non-innovative place, there will be clashes of interest. Transformation also happens quietly. Often the biggest shifts don’t come from a big splash, they come from a small, highly motivated group of innovators. There is always risk in giving a team a budget and letting them run with it, but the only way to invite success is by allowing them to work. The challenges here come with communicating the right thing at the right time in the right level of detail. Socializing new ideas is a difficult hurdle for innovation.
This change is often reactionary, not intentional. This has much to do with the size of the organization. The bigger the organization, the more specific the tasks. There has to be something chasing that organization to get full alignment on change. Urgency can get slowed at dozens of points, so getting the change to happen can be a hard mountain to move. Conrad understands the importance of seeing other perspectives. It’s about getting in line with the leadership, those who are looking to connect dots, and the execution, those who are focused on one dot.
When change is being looked at, the people aspect is often overlooked by large organizations. Success happens when leadership is looked at as its own skill. What makes a leader is people’s trust in you. This happens with training and investing in people first. Demonstrating through the organization’s actions that they are committed to their team’s personal success motivates those leaders. In government, we often have leaders who are mission driven competing with those who aren’t.
There is a massive technology gap between the government and private sectors. Catching the government up could mean building a team to grow alongside current processes to help introduce new steps. There are people who will view this as a threat. It falls on leadership to find a way to transition team members from one way to the next. It’s no wonder there is distrust of the government when we consider the generations raised understanding the government is either malicious, incompetent, or lazy. This is combated by electing members of the government who represent and lead the charge as civic servants.
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Send in a voice message: https:/
Thanks for joining us on another episode of Government in Plain Language with your host, MaBinti Yillah. This episode, we’re talking to Conrad Hollomon, Senior Technical PM at Unity Technologies, a leader in creating and operating 3D content in real-time.
Conrad’s journey to entrepreneurship took him through multiple potential pathways, including playing gigs as a musician, and the next morning standing in formation with the Army ROTC. In doing so, he positioned himself to hold two careers-one as an infantry officer and the other blending his passion for technology and music. The biggest challenge, Conrad notes, is the translation between different cultures. Having the agility to execute, partnered with the flexibility that comes with certain roles, makes for innovation at the highest degree.
Conrad works with the military from a tech perspective. At the junction of innovation and entrepreneurship, he was able to help solve challenges that the Dept. of Justice faces every day. That developed the two main pillars of success for teams he worked on: diversity of thought and psychological safety. Being able to incorporate different perspectives and backgrounds is key to innovation. The biggest part is the team’s ability to communicate effectively with everyone, the ability to see and respect the different perspectives, and value what everybody on that team provides.
Organizational transformation on a large scale can look two different ways. The first, Conrad illustrates, is when a team of innovators--the brightest of the bright in an organization, are given room to innovate. This is about the autonomy, purpose, and mastery of the work they do. It also requires the organization to follow suit in culture. If there are innovators at a non-innovative place, there will be clashes of interest. Transformation also happens quietly. Often the biggest shifts don’t come from a big splash, they come from a small, highly motivated group of innovators. There is always risk in giving a team a budget and letting them run with it, but the only way to invite success is by allowing them to work. The challenges here come with communicating the right thing at the right time in the right level of detail. Socializing new ideas is a difficult hurdle for innovation.
This change is often reactionary, not intentional. This has much to do with the size of the organization. The bigger the organization, the more specific the tasks. There has to be something chasing that organization to get full alignment on change. Urgency can get slowed at dozens of points, so getting the change to happen can be a hard mountain to move. Conrad understands the importance of seeing other perspectives. It’s about getting in line with the leadership, those who are looking to connect dots, and the execution, those who are focused on one dot.
When change is being looked at, the people aspect is often overlooked by large organizations. Success happens when leadership is looked at as its own skill. What makes a leader is people’s trust in you. This happens with training and investing in people first. Demonstrating through the organization’s actions that they are committed to their team’s personal success motivates those leaders. In government, we often have leaders who are mission driven competing with those who aren’t.
There is a massive technology gap between the government and private sectors. Catching the government up could mean building a team to grow alongside current processes to help introduce new steps. There are people who will view this as a threat. It falls on leadership to find a way to transition team members from one way to the next. It’s no wonder there is distrust of the government when we consider the generations raised understanding the government is either malicious, incompetent, or lazy. This is combated by electing members of the government who represent and lead the charge as civic servants.
---
Send in a voice message: https:/
1h 12 min