Matthew Haisten is what you’d call a “Renaissance Man.” He understood his technical calling from a very early age from his favorite childhood book (How Things Work), and he distinctly remembers every science project he worked on. On the creative side, he was in the Atlanta Boy’s choir, where he had an opportunity to travel all over the world. Today, not only is he VP of Project Delivery for Intellinet, but he also helps to run his wife Larissa’s women’s sportswear business.
What initially sparked your interest in information technology?
From a very early age, I’ve always been interested in how things work and the inner workings of some object, whether that was a TV or a toilet – it didn’t matter. One of my favorite books as a child was How Things Work. It was a three-inch thick book, and each page had a picture and description of the object. It was a fairly technical book, but not as visually appealing to children as the ones they make these days. However, I really enjoyed reading it as a child, and I really enjoyed taking things apart, putting them back together and making things. I am a very project focused person. I can actually think back to 3rd grade and remember every project I’ve ever done, every science fair I was ever in. One of my favorite science fairs was in 5th grade where I created a robotic arm from paper, cardboard and motors that I found. It was just something that fascinated me. I think it was maybe in 8th or 9th grade that I wanted to become a biomedical engineer. At that time, I had been reading a copy of Boston University’s Curriculum Guide and I thought biomedical engineering sounded like the most interesting thing.
Over time, I started to find the concept of industrial engineering most interesting to me. I realized that it was the building of systems that really pulled together both people and technology. I do actually remember an interesting movie, Cheaper by the Dozen. The movie tells the story of time and motion study, and featured efficiency experts Frank and Lillian Gilbreth and their twelve children. I thought it was really interesting to study something and determine how to make it better or more efficient.
Even though I had a bit of an engineering mind, I also had a creative side. As a child, I was involved in the Atlanta Boy’s Choir in Atlanta and traveled around the world singing with them. I continued that creative side in college. At Lehigh University, I was fortunate enough to be involved in their dual degree program. At Lehigh, I majored in industrial engineering and theater.
Talk about some highlights in your career.
From 1992 to 1994, I worked for Information Builders, which is based in New York City, and I had a career-changing event. I was working on database systems, but my billings were just not very high. There was another product they had called Level 5. It was an expert system tool and there were a couple of clients who needed to have someone provide Level 5 consulting. I just grabbed the books, got the software, found out who was the expert in that product, called them up and said I want to learn this program. Over the next month, I taught myself this product. Within a month, I was able to work on a number of projects that really invigorated me. Over that period of time, I really learned about how to educate myself about something and take charge.
Another career changing event was when I started with Intellinet. As my very first project, which was about 13 years ago, I was doing work with Frank Bell. We were doing some work for a client in Florida. I was trying to work hard and was not doing a very good job. At the end of the week, the client asked me to leave. They said, “Thank you very much. You’re a hard worker but you’re just not giving us what we want. In addition to that, we’re really not going to be paying for your time.” I said to myself that will never, ever, ever happen again to me. I made a personal commitment that I will do whatever needs to be done to become skilled at something and excel.
What technology trends have you seen over the past 5 years that have really made an impact on your business?
As a company, Intellinet focused on the world of email and we implemented Microsoft email systems. That started around 1993 when email was still in its infancy. It’s been fascinating for me to see that email is not only something that’s required, but a part of our lives. It’s to the point where sometimes when people can’t do their email, they feel they’re completely unproductive. I believe there are other technologies, like workflow technologies, portal solutions and search technologies, where we’ll experience very similar things.
What people and experiences have most impacted your leadership style?
I think one person who has impacted my management style is Frank Bell. He said, “You only have so much time in the day. There is only so much you physically can do. You have to learn how to get results through others.” As examples, he told me about his personal experiences and that has had a huge impact on me.
Another area that’s really impacted my leadership style is the power of building strong friendships and relationships with colleagues and people who are on my team. About a year ago, I had a team of one project manager. Now we have nine, and that’s relatively rapid growth for a company of our size. It’s been very exciting to bring those people on, work with them and see them really enjoy working together. I passionately want everybody on my team to be successful and it’s not always going to be easy because we have differing opinions, styles and ways we approach things. At the end of the day, I will do whatever I need to ensure they’re going to be happy and successful. If they fervently believe something needs to be done and I believe it too, we’ll get it done.
What strengths have you found within the Georgia technology industry?
I’ve certainly been involved in attending events like those TechLINKS puts on, but I have also made an additional commitment to start attending not only events that are important to me but also those events important to people on my team. An example is the AtlantaMDF (Atlanta Microsoft Database Forum) which focuses on the Microsoft database platform. We have a number of our employees that go to it. I attend it for various reasons. I want to be able to meet people, and there are certainly recruiting opportunities. Also, I want to actually learn about some of the technologies these people are interested in, and I want to demonstrate to them that what’s important to them is important to me. |
University/College Affiliations: Lehigh University
Professional Organization Affiliations: Creative Growth Group – Rainmaker Council, TAG
Community / Volunteer Involvement: North Avenue Presbyterian Church – Deacon, Usher
Most admired leader: Steve Ballmer, Chief Executive Officer of Microsoft Corporation
Best Advice to Those Starting Out in Technology: Focus. You can not be everything to everyone. Learn to say no.
Hometown: Atlanta
Favorite Book: Introduction to Decision Analysis by David C. Skinner
Favorite Quote: “People do not care about what you know until they know you care about people.”
Favorite Hobbies: Learning software programs.
Favorite Executive Gadget: My Blackberry |