Earlier this year we ran our first ever Dragon’s Den-style Idea Challenge, asking our people to submit their ideas for how we could better live up to our brand promise of Uncompromising Performance. Up for grabs was $10,000 worth of time and resources to test the concept for validation and implementation.

One of our winners, Hailey Quiquero, has been working away on validating her idea in a 90-day pilot format. We asked her a few questions about her experience.

Hailey, congratulations on being one of the winners of the recent Innovation Challenge at Entuitive! What was it like, presenting your idea to the Board of Directors?

Hailey: Thank you, it’s very exciting! Presenting to the Board was a great opportunity to speak with many of the leaders I look up to, and to have their time and interest was such a pleasure. It was nerve wracking at first, but once I get talking about something I’m passionate about I can go on for hours! I could really feel the support in the room, even though it was a virtual one!

Can you share with us some of the ways you prepared for your live pitch session?

Hailey: Since we had several months to prepare for our pitches due to the initial delay of transitioning to working remotely, I took the opportunity to meet with and interview numerous colleagues in various positions and service groups, to get more of a well-rounded perspective on my pitch. I wanted to understand what the most important aspects of my pitch were in order to make the biggest impact on us and our clients. That, and I ran through my pitch slide deck many, many times!

What role do you think design thinking and innovation play at Entuitive?

Hailey: I find innovation to be at the heart of many aspects of work at Entuitive, whether it is solving technical problems on the unique projects we have the opportunity to work on, or constantly evolving our processes and services, always in pursuit of the most optimal performance of our employees and our structures. Having had the opportunity to learn about design thinking methodologies, and in fact being encouraged to do so with the backing of the company, I appreciate the real emphasis we put on pushing the envelope as a firm and that Entuitive provides the chance and training to do so effectively.We understand your winning idea has the potential to be a game changer for Entuitive…and is top secret for now. What can you tell us?

Hailey: My pitch to the Board was strongly rooted in principles of sustainability and collaboration that will allow us to push the needle even further on what Uncompromising Performance truly means. It really has been a combined effort of many colleagues who have allowed me to step inside their shoes at the company to understand how we as consultants can make the most positive impact on our built environment.

What has happened since you won?

Hailey: Since having won the challenge, I have had constant support in all directions to run a pilot of my proposal. With a dedicated group of colleagues and mentors we have dived quickly into stress testing my pitch, fine tuning it, and learning lessons along the way. Ultimately, this test period will allow me to deliver the best version of my ideas neatly packed into a toolset that will help us continue to build for a better world.

Exciting! Thank you, Hailey. We are staying tuned to learn more as you can share it.