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# Innovating at lunch: Employees learn about DLA Tech Accelerator Program

By Connie BraeschDLA Energy Public Affairs

                FORT BELVOIR, Va.   –              
Learning how to leverage innovation methodologies to drive change and desired outcomes was the focus of a Defense Logistics Agency Energy Lunch and Learn session Jan. 31.

More than 100 employees joined the conversation about DLA’s Tech Accelerator and Innovation Navigator Course.

“This session is about getting everyone excited about innovation and problem solving,” said Rachel Dunlap, director of DLA Energy’s Commander’s Action Group. “While innovation and technology go hand and hand, the course is about applying a strategic, goal-oriented process. We can all come up with new ways to do things, but we need to eliminate the roadblocks that prevent us from executing them.”

DLA’s Tech Accelerator Team is part of DLA’s Research & Development Program. Their focus is on facilitating projects to build rapid prototypes that transition to stakeholders.

Miesha Spann, the program manager, said the team uses agile methods that mirror tech start-ups, focus on people, and scale down problems using interviews, data, and market research to drive actionable decisions and developments.

“I bring the right people to the table to solve a complex problem,” she said. “We drive our decision based on data, but we emphasize the value added by the people who will use the tools.”

The Tech Accelerator Team calls themselves “DLA’s innovation broker.” They said they are part of an “innovation ecosystem” working with countless other defense and federal organizations that can help solve problems.

“Innovation is hard. You won’t find many people that say, it’s easy to bring something totally new to the government,” she said. “As an agency, we should be seeking the tools to steer DLA to where it needs to go now and in the future.”

During the discussion, employees conducted an interactive exercise to better understand the process of taking an idea to fruition. They learned about writing effective problem statements that consider the beneficiary, pain points and desired outcome.

While the full Tech Accelerator and Innovation Navigator Course is almost four days, the lunch and learn was meant to get employees interested and excited about the process and opportunity to make a difference on how DLA executes its mission. 

“Have we peaked people’s curiosity?” asked DLA Energy’s Commander Navy Capt. Brian Anderson. “I challenge you to lean in and start thinking about your world – the environment you live in every day. How do you affect positive change?”

He reminded employees that they are the ultimate beneficiary. “This is us helping us,” he said.

“The lunch and learn was a great opportunity to learn about innovation activities occurring within DLA,” said Greg Coleman, DLA Energy Americas operations officer in Houston, Texas. “The presenters did a great job of sharing the information and providing examples that can be implemented today in our work areas.”

Army Capt. Riley Tidwell is an operations officer for the DLA Energy Logistics Operations Center.

“I think focusing on process improvement structures and applying a problem statement to get after that process improvement is absolutely critical,” he said.

DLA Energy Lunch and Learns are planned quarterly as part of a comprehensive mentoring program. The next Lunch and Learn is scheduled for April and the topic is Becoming a Successful Team Player with an Employee Assistance Program guest speaker.

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