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INNOVATION, from page 5

The firm got off the ground years ago with an infusion of venture capital. That investment was used to leverage the firm into an award winning, 75-person outfit working with companies like AECOM , Arcadis , DPRA , and CDM Smith . But as the firm matured, and as it looked for new lines of business, it became evident the company would have to merge with a larger partner. Thus the deal with Cascade Drilling. “We looked for it,” Bierschenk said of the acquisition. “We know the market is much bigger than what our model was. We expect to accelerate.” Together, the two companies have about 850 people in 36 offices nationwide. On the horizon for TerraTherm is a push into China and Brazil, which, based on GDP, are the second and seventh largest economies in the world, respectively, as ranked by the International Monetary Fund. China, meanwhile, is the world’s largest polluter, and has major problems with soil and water contamination brought on by the country’s rapid urbanization over the last 30 years. In a 2015 interview with the Environmental Business Jour- nal , Bierschenk said international work could generate up to $76 million in revenue. “I think countries are placing a higher priority on dealing with contaminated sites,” he told the Journal . or your company. ❚ ❚ Bone up on tech. Study the 10 most important technological trends that will affect your industry over the next five years, and assess your firm’s capability in each area. Prepare a plan to develop competence in any area in which you have short- comings. ❚ ❚ Identify weaknesses. Do an assessment of top manage- ment’s innovation leadership in your organization, and iden- tify the top three weaknesses. Come up with a plan to over- come them, and implement it. ❚ ❚ Analyze risk. Study the risk profiles of the last 10 innova- tions your industry developed. Determine the degree of risk associated with each one to find out if you’re taking too much innovation risk, or too little. ❚ ❚ Look outside your industry. Identify a company that you admire that’s outside of your industry. Study that company in detail to learn why it’s so good, and figure out how to emulate its strengths in your own organization. Have each member of your team look at a different company, and compare your findings. ❚ ❚ Incorporate into strategy. Focus your next strategy meet- ing on innovation, and ask each person attending to propose three new ideas that have never been discussed before in such meetings. ❚ ❚ Review customer feedback. Set up or improve your systems to gather customer feedback. ❚ ❚ Create a space. Set aside a space at the crossroads of your office as an idea room. Invite everyone to prepare and post ideas, and structure it so that others can give feedback on any idea they find interesting.

improvements, and have the team prepare three initiatives to address the most important shortcomings. ❚ ❚ Start asking questions. Talk to five front-line people each day who you wouldn’t normally encounter, and from their point of view learn what’s working, what’s not working, and where your products or services are falling short. “Talk to five front-line people each day who you wouldn’t normally encounter, and from their point of view learn what’s working, what’s not working, and where your products or services are falling short.” ❚ ❚ Develop your organization’s idea vault. Put it to use and invite users to make suggestions to improve the database and its interface so that it is optimally useful. ❚ ❚ Create an innovation advisory board. Invite five outsiders who know your industry to give you their candid feedback about your firm and its innovation initiatives. ❚ ❚ Identify key themes. What do you think is important to your relationships with your future customers? Engage in detailed dialogue to learn more about customer attitudes, val- ues, beliefs, and motivations. ❚ ❚ Buy some magazines. Go to a magazine stand and buy five magazines that you’ve never looked at before and that are not specifically about your own field. See how many pieces of information you can find that are pertinent to your industry

TERRATHERM, from page 7

Current work includes the removal of Agent Orange from 95,000 cubic yards at the airport in Danang, Vietnam. The company is also removing jet fuel from 410,000 cubic yards at Williams Airforce Base in Mesa, Arizona – the largest re- mediation project in the world. On the horizon for TerraTherm is a push into China and Brazil, which, based on GDP, are the second and seventh largest economies in the world, respectively, as ranked by the International Monetary Fund. A big part of the company’s business model is to be a lead- er in education. Academic journals, peer review, soil stud- ies, an accounting of resources it took to complete a job – TerraTherm took the lead in telling the industry exactly what in situ thermal remediation is and what it does. “We’re educating the highly educated engineers and consul- tants,” Bierschenk says. The tack apparently worked, because in 2014, the firm re- corded $32 million in revenue, and a similar figure was ex- pected for 2015.

THE ZWEIG LETTER February 29, 2016, ISSUE 1141

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