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WILL IT MAKE THE
BOAT GO FASTER?

Our Technology Team | September 21st 2017
Will It Make the Boat Go Faster?
As a central part of the team offsite that was held
at the Welcome Centre, Coventry, on the 21st of
September, we took part in a collaborative team
event that drew some light-hearted parallels with
the challenges that are faced when designing and
rolling out new technology solutions.
Themed around Olympic Gold Medal rower Ben
Hunt-Davis’ book, Will It Make the Boat Go
Faster? the task given to each team was to plan,
build and run a wind-powered boat on wheels
(or in one particular case, not on wheels!)

The vehicles were constructed using a
range of recycled materials but before
we could put glue to coffee cup, or
wooden skewer to takeaway foil carton,
we had to work together on the design.
PLAN
strengthening our
customer facing
approach
bolstering the way we
manage our water and
wastewater production
and quality
strengthening
capital delivery
capability
making sure we
stay ahead of the
game as the
market evolves
to plan, build and run technology solutions which enable severn trent
to be the most trusted water company by 2020
PLAN
PLAN
to define and design technology solutions
that create a better experience for customers
and colleagues and protect our environment
Jointly focus on outcomes
Work together to agreed standards
Simplify the architecture
Work in partnership to select value
solutions
Support solutions from design, through
build to maintain
Collaborative working
Nurturing our talent
Agreeing clear priorities
Maintaining pace
Doing the right thing

Planning is one thing, but as people
threw themselves into the task,
refinements were added.
BUILD
strengthening our
customer facing
approach
bolstering the way we
manage our water and
wastewater production
and quality
strengthening
capital delivery
capability
making sure we
stay ahead of the
game as the
market evolves
to plan, build and run technology solutions which enable severn trent
to be the most trusted water company by 2020
PLAN
BUILD
To deliver quality technology solutions that
drive business value
Jointly focus on outcomes
Work together to agreed standards
Deliver the most valuable solutions
Focus on quality
Estimate costs and resource needs
accurately
Collaborative working
Nurturing our talent
Agreeing clear priorities
Maintaining pace
Doing the right thing

Problems were encountered and certain
elements were discreetly forgotten
about as we raced against the clock to
create the sleekest…
…fastest…
…most stable ship…
…ever to sail across carpet tiles.

But process has to be followed. Once the
vessels were completed, they had to be
paraded next to their designs, so that
the judges could check that we had built
what we planned, and it’s fair to say that
they did… some more than others!

Finally, after the plan, after the build,
came the final test. Would what we had
planned, and built, actually run? There
was only one way to find out.
RUN
Two heats and a final...
strengthening our
customer facing
approach
bolstering the way we
manage our water and
wastewater production
and quality
strengthening
capital delivery
capability
making sure we
stay ahead of the
game as the
market evolves
to plan, build and run technology solutions which enable severn trent
to be the most trusted water company by 2020
PLAN
RUN
To keep our business technology optimised,
performant and secure
Jointly focus on outcomes
Work together to agreed
standards
Seek visibility on longer term
initiatives
Simplify the technical landscape
Remind everyone that solutions
should run with ease
Collaborative working
Nurturing our talent
Agreeing clear priorities
Maintaining pace
Doing the right
thing

HEAT TWO
HEAT TWO

With one team coming out as a definite
clear winner. Feel free to take a look on
the intranet for the thrilling video finale.
WATCH HEAT ONE - HERE
FINAL RACE!
HEAT ONE

The exercise showed us at our best:
collaborating across the function; having
fun, supporting each other, being highly
competitive… and proving that we can
perform against the best.
FINAL
strengthening our
customer facing
approach
strengthening
capital delivery
capability
making sure we
stay ahead of the
game as the
market evolves
focus on outcomeswork
together, ensure
technology meets the
needs of the business
in a sustainable way
encourage everyone to
feel energised and
passionate about being
part of the Severn trent
technology community
Make sensible
sourcing decisionsremove
the mundane
and allow our people
to focus on the
exceptional
invest in technology
that has a robust
business case,
releasing value
incrementally
Exploit
opportunities to
take advantage
of digital and
analytics
to plan, build and run technology solutions which enable severn trent to be the most trusted water company by 2020
attract, retain
and invest in
talented
people
work to remove silos
we are technology!
focus on innovation
PLAN
to define and design technology solutions
that create a better experience for customers
and colleagues and protect our environment
BUILD
To deliver quality technology solutions that drive
business value
RUN
To keep our business technology optimised,
performant and secure