2023 Women Leaders in Technology: Diana Flotten

As a director in West Monroe's Product Experience & Engineering Lab, Diana has a deep understanding of clients' needs, industries and organizations – as well as the issues that keep them up at night. She has a track record for turning challenges into successful partnerships that optimize revenue and customer growth.

Having begun her career as a civil engineer, Diana has been solving problems for more than 20 years. Whether it's an infrastructure or digital challenge, her bottom-line approach is always the same: understand user needs first and then design a solution that meets them.

Diana joined West Monroe in its acquisition of GoKart Labs, a digital product studio. She earned a bachelor's degree in civil engineering from Washington University in St. Louis and an MBA from the University of Minnesota – Carlson School of Management.

She is on the board of the Carlson School of Management's Ventures Enterprise, where she advises students as well as the strategic direction of the program. She is also an advisor and mentor for the Women in Leadership Certificate Program at Minnesota State University, Mankato. Within West Monroe, she is the executive sponsor of the Minneapolis office's Women's Leadership Network.

What has been the biggest factor in your success so far?

The biggest factor in my success so far is taking ownership of both my career as a whole as well as different projects – all with incredibly high standards. Being committed is critical to building trust and ultimately getting things done and getting them done well. This doesn't mean being a perfectionist for every client deliverable but delivering the right quality of work for the client's needs and truly understanding that is key to success.

What do you enjoy most about your career in the consulting industry?

I really enjoy working with incredibly talented people. Every day, I get to learn from not only my co-workers of all skills and levels but also my clients. We address a huge variety of issues and problems; collaborating across different expertise to address these issues is critical in consulting. I enjoy the collaborative environment – we can't succeed without drawing on the skillsets of everyone involved; it's so inspiring to work with people whose skills are complementary and learn from them. I love the "we're in this together" environment.

What is your proudest achievement to date?

Throughout my career, I've designed and built physical and digital products that improve the end user's lives and also see these products in use. In both my current role at West Monroe and in my previous position as a civil engineer, I've used human-centered design to create physical products, then later digital products, for people to use and improve their lives. Now, I get to design apps to enhance the quality of health care, and before I built bridges and other critical infrastructure that will outlive me. I am proud that my work makes a tangible impact.

What's the best advice you've ever been given?

The best advice I have received is don't live your life comparing yourself to others; do what you value and what matters to you. I've kept this advice in mind when making major decisions throughout my career. There are some career choices I've made that were right for me that other people on the outside may have questioned. There can be an assumption that most people want to keep climbing the ranks and have the highest title possible. If that's what you want, great. But it's important to understand your own values and make choices that align with them because you really feel it when you ignore that voice and make choices that don't align. I've made career decisions that were better for my family or gave me more satisfaction or aligned closer with what I valued at that time. My choices didn't always make sense to somebody else who has different priorities – and that is okay.

What does this recognition mean to you?

I am not a mentor for external recognition or validation. I mentor not only because I hope I'm adding value to another person's career, but also because it adds a great deal of fulfillment to mine.

I am incredibly lucky to work for a company that values and encourages mentoring at the senior leadership level and allows me to organize my days how I choose, which includes at least a few hours a week connecting with junior colleagues. At West Monroe, our mission is to develop the next generation of leaders, and one way we do this is by passing along wisdom – it's part of the cultural norms here. My time spent mentoring is never questioned.