Long Way Around the Barn

You wouldn’t think a data scientist would tout vulnerability and storytelling as requirements for success, but that is exactly what Jacey Heuer has learned across multiple industries and projects that have failed and succeeded. In the first of this three-part series, Heuer shares that “what you think you know today should change tomorrow because you’re always discovering something more.”

Key Takeaways

Success in data science means:

• Acknowledging that 80% of projects never make it out of production, and not because of a failure of science but a failure in communication and being vulnerable. 
• Putting yourself out there by connecting with different people. 
• Acquiring and honing new skills and behaviors that support a deeper understanding of systems thinking and the dynamic variables within those systems.
• Always iterating and reinventing. The work is never done, and it’s never easy.

Three distinctions for roles and responsibilities:

• Data Analysts work with stakeholders in-depth to understand the problems, goals, and outcomes needed.
• Data Scientists focus on prototyping and exploring and twisting and turning data – looking for the algorithm.
• Machine Learning Engineers productionalize the output.

(Read the full transcript)

Guest Bio
With a history of project experience in the financial services industry and advanced degrees in business and data science, Heuer can step into many environments and discover the knowledge needed to deliver a well-polished final product. Having gained expertise from several industries, he’s learned each one often serves as a springboard into other ones and his skill sets have ranged from simple analytic and data modeling to advanced probability theories and machine learning techniques. Heuer is also a Pluralsight author focused on the use of R in data science for business.

Show Highlights

Matthew visit with Todd Dunsirn who founded True Process, a medical software engineering company known for building a platform that integrates biomedical devices and captures clinical data. He sold the company to Baxter Healthcare in 2018.

Key Takeaways

• Having a natural curiosity in other people opens you to new ideas and leads to life-changing opportunities. Those ideas can’t be forced and often arrive while doing something else.
• Reflecting on your actions (what you say and do) is important as it impacts everyone in the company. 
• Realizing everyone plays a vital role in a company. Listen to them, be humble, and empower them to do their thing (including making and learning from their mistakes).
• Reinvesting in the company if possible. If you believe there is something bigger and better on the horizon, this helps ensure you have the resources to make it happen.
• Understanding the financial state of your business at all times.
• Building a company takes a toll on you, so take care of your physical and mental health.

(Read the full transcript)

Show Highlights

In this episode, I visit with Damon Poole, who has provided Agile coaching to countless people at some very recognizable companies. He opened up about his journey in Agile, as well as what led up to publishing, “Professional Coaching for Agilists: Accelerating Agile Adoption,” with Gillian Lee (available at InformIT as well as other places you’d expect).

Key Takeaways

• Effective coaching helps people move forward when they are stuck. 
• Teams who are coached do move faster.
• Great coaches have qualities that make for great humans. No one embodies all of them, but you work on building better relationships on your teams and in your personal life.

If you are interested in applying both agile and coaching principles, consider reading the book. Preview sample content on InformIT.

(Read the full transcript)

In this episode, Matthew talks with Paul Clayson of Agile PQ, who as a young boy couldn’t wait to leave the Idaho cattle ranch to find easier work. Now, after 20 years in the startup world, he’s very fondly missing those days. Early in his career, he learned you only get one shot, so you better develop a winning strategy and stick to it. This knowledge came from his days of serving as Chief of Staff for two congressmen and worked for two presidents in Washington, D.C.

The shot he’s taking now is with AgilePQ. His startup has the solution for today’s computing power and tomorrow’s quantum one with lightweight end-to-end encryption. The majority of industries – from energy, transportation, manufacturing, and the ones building consumer devices – must leverage the power of connected things and that means protecting their number one asset – data. 

We were also lucky enough to hear his most valuable lesson from his father, who served as a medic on Omaha Beach on D-Day.

Key Takeaways

• There is an even greater explosion in IoT devices to come in the next five years.
• Everyone is in a race to get to market first in an industry that is not well regulated.
• Current encryption methods will be powerless when quantum computing is fully adopted.
• AgilePQ’s solution provides the only security and encryption that fits on all IoT devices, no matter how small.

(Read full transcript)

Jesse O’Neill-Oine is a multi-time tech entrepreneur and one of the original co-founders of SmartThings, a company purchased and now run by Samsung. In this episode, he discusses what he’s learned about himself on his journey in solving problems through technology and his most recent endeavor, One Tap Away – a next-generation platform aimed at bringing “contactless” access to amenities at multifamily properties.

Key Takeaways

• While O’Neill-Oine and his partners have always had overlapping and complementary skills, what matters most is working with great people – from his first business, Refactr, to SmartThings and now One Tap Away.
• Lean on other solutions when possible: In the build vs. buy debate, the answer is most often buy. A sweet spot is always a "glue company" where you are integrating existing things and pulling them together into a seamless package.
• When it comes to information security, treat your users as first-class citizens and choose good partners who have a security-first mentality, saving yourself from having to go back and solve security issues later.
• Not being afraid to ask questions is what helped O’Neill-Oine be a better technologist and solution provider, and while he has always loved technology, his focus has always been solving problems for people.
• There’s no shortcut for becoming more and mastering your craft. 

(Read full transcript)

In the sixth episode of this series, Andrew Guillemette and Mark Heston of In Motion Care join Matthew D. Edwards to discuss how their startup is tackling the surmounting challenges of 34 million additional baby boomers retiring in 2025 by streamlining the burden of data collection and securely sharing that information with caregivers, care facilities and the families.

Key Takeaways

• Caregivers and senior living communities face several existing challenges that will be insurmountable when even more seniors need care: Access to information, cognitive fatigue, effective and efficient delivery of care, staff stretched too thin, etc.
• In Motion Care has developed technology that provides real-time location of staff and equipment and collects data on when care is delivered that results in real-time availability of information and data – making the role of caregiver easier.
• The startup is seeing great results with its early adopter community as it addresses new regulations, policies, protocols, and benchmarking due to COVID-19.
• By leveraging IoT and geofencing technology, In Motion Care collects data that allows for better decision-making by those running the senior living community and more caregiving time for those working directly with the seniors.

(Read the full transcript)

About Our Guests

Andrew Guillemette is a Founder of In Motion Care and serves as technical lead. His strong technology background and entrepreneurial spirit have allowed him to successfully develop innovative solutions for multiple start-up tech companies. Over the past five years, he has consulted with tech start-ups in the unmanned aerial systems, agriculture, construction, and senior living industries. 

Mark Heston is a Founder of In Motion Care and brings 16+ years of leadership experience in the senior living industry to the organization.  His experience also includes founding and building a successful management consulting firm. Mark has a passion for serving seniors and is committed to leading IMC in developing solutions to improve resident care and increase efficiencies for senior care providers.

Show Highlights

In the fifth episode of this series, Matthew D Edwards and Brent Willett, President of the Iowa Health Care Association, discuss opportunities for humane technology to improve care and increase interaction with caregivers and family for patients in long-term care.

Key Takeaways

• How patient vitals collected in electronic charts can be mined for predictive diagnostic care and planning, and how COVID-19 has created urgency for this technology to improve care and the spread of infectious diseases.
• How wearables can protect patients from a security standpoint but also improve their quality of life and care by providing real-time insights on their vitals.
• Monitoring devices that educate, remind, and confirm health care programs can be a game-changer for long-term care patients to remain in their homes.
• Identify activities, such as sorting medication, to enable caregivers and nurses more 1:1 time with patients.
• Providing more dignity in the dying process by using technology to connect them to loved ones and reconnect them to their past.
• How the roles of chief information security officers and privacy officers are evolving in order for the organizations to remain compliant as new technology is adopted.

(Read the full transcript)

About Our Guest

Brent Willett is President & CEO of the Iowa Health Care Association (IHCA). IHCA’s more than 1,000 member organization spans the continuum of long term services and supports health care in Iowa. In his role, Willett is responsible to the IHCA Board of Directors for overseeing the strategic vision for IHCA and the Iowa Health Political Action Committee. 

IHCA and its affiliates and divisions, the Iowa Center for Assisted Living, Iowa Center for Home Care, Iowa Center for Post-Acute and Long-Term Care, Extended Care Services of Iowa, and the Iowa Health Care Foundation, serve the long-term services and supports the profession as a nonprofit trade association.

Show Highlights

In the fourth episode of this series, Matthew D Edwards and Mark Goetz, President of The HomeCare Advocacy Network, discuss how technology plays a role in empowering seniors to age in their homes.

Key Takeaways

• For successful outcomes overall, companies must include training and education for everyone involved – from the caregivers and families to the seniors themselves.
• The next big disruption or evolution is to establish more interconnections and connections to the actual care through a “virtual private network” for the family – from fall risk technology to a comprehensive communication suite.
• In recent years, home care technology has developed due to a competitive marketplace, and COVID-19 has sped up new purchasing by senior living providers missing communication links.
• Collecting data enables more opportunity and also increases responsibility, accountability, and liability 100 percent, so companies must have more in-depth organizational plans for data management and data privacy when adopting technology.
• Address the diminishing returns on the data collected and ensure only necessary data is collected and stored to serve the clients and improve decision-making.
• Letting the client and caregiver connection drive your mission forward when it comes to technology and how it can improve that connection.

(Read the full transcript)

About Our Guest

Mark Goetz, President of The HomeCare Advocacy Network, a premier provider of home care related benefits and services, ensures the organization delivers what people need to live their best life and enables local franchise owners to leverage the HCAN brand.

Show Highlights

How the traditional business model must adapt and evolve in the face of these three megatrends: 

1. The fastest-growing age segment is 85+ and its effect on every developed system. 
2. Healthcare delivery is moving from a fee-for-service and volume-based model to outcomes.
3. Digitalization of everything and this industry’s ability to adapt and succeed.

Other key takeaways include:

• Leading a cultural change of a large distributed network that needs autonomy and a certain amount of uniform systems and processes to unlock a digital future that meets business and security requirements.
• The foundational work required for a future where big data and artificial intelligence analytics truly play a very predictive and prescriptive role.
• Getting an organization and its people to leverage digital-enabled tools and think differently about how care is provided – while ensuring regulatory compliance.

(Read the full transcript)

About Our Guest

As Chief Executive Officer of Home Instead, the leading global provider of home care services for older adults, Jeff Huber leads the company and its franchises in their commitment to addressing the challenges of the aging global population by promoting consumer choice in care. In his four years as CEO, he has also increased the organization’s commitment to leadership development and training to empower professional and family caregivers and to advance the mission of Home Instead Senior Care: To enhance the lives of aging adults and their families.