consulting & thinking partner
Make your next initiative actually deliver results
Innovation | Strategy | Organisation Design | Teams & Engagement | Change
Consulting engagements are often long on activities and deliverables, but short on business results
Have you experienced consultants...
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...who know all the answers before they know you and your organisation?
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...keen on selling you “best practices”, tools and methods instead of solutions to your problems?
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...beating the drum of digital, AI, blockchain or [insert your favourite tech-buzzword here] and tell you about your imminent disruption unless you act now?
Are you...
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...stuck with analysis, reports and generic, high level recommendations?
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...struggling with internal resistance?
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...wondering why you and your team can’t do more such work on your own?
Can you afford...
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...another change program that really does not change anything of true importance?
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...another strategy that fails, presumably because of “execution” problems?
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...deploying technology without re-thinking your business model and value proposition?
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...reorgs that move around boxes and people without improving your organisation’s capabilities?
Teaming up as thinking partners on the way to results
Fully customised
We’ll make sure we really understand your specific challenge in your specific context. We’ll co-create a solution approach that fits your organisation. And we’ll define the specific set of results we want to achieve.
Fully independent
I can help you think through your challenge without any constraints. I’m not bound by a particular methodology or by a need to feed a big consulting machine. We can freely choose to apply the theories and tools we believe will work best in your context. And make the project as targeted and minimalist as possible.
True partnership
We’ll work together as one team, leveraging your internal resources as much as possible. We’ll learn from each other and, most importantly, measure our success not in terms of deliverables, but in terms of actual results achieved. Full fees only due when you're completely satisfied.
What makes consulting engagements successful?
Best fit, not “best practice”.
Every organisation is different. Have we really understood the problem and its root causes? What makes us confident that a proposed solution will work, given the idiosyncrasies of your organisation? Its systems, its people, its culture? A good consultant does not come with “best practice” answers. But with good questions to help understand what’s really going on in an organisation. When we answer them together, you get what you deserve: best fit.
Independent thinking.
A good consultant is not married to a particular methodology and is not compromised by conflicts of interest. Instead, a good consultant is committed to finding the truth. To that end he is able to rely on a wide range of sound theories and critical thinking to gain the best possible understanding of a particular client situation.
Teamwork and learning.
Working as true partners, co-creating solutions and learning from each other. A good consultant wants his clients to learn, not just to shop for answers or particular skills. Next time a client faces a similar problem, the consultant should no longer be needed.
Focus on results.
Successful consulting work is characterised by clarity, in particular with regards to what the desired results are. Clarity leads to a relentless focus on doing what’s necessary to achieve those results. Note that results are business results (eg, increasing market share or higher engagement), not deliverables (eg, reports) or activities (eg, workshops conducted). Think about the dynamic of a consulting engagement where the consultant is not interested in billing days or producing slides, but in making progress towards business objectives.
How we can work together
I'm a generalist, ie, my perspective always starts with general management (using the social technology of management to make organisations function).
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Yet I can also help you go deep on a number of topics, and in particular innovation, strategy, organisation design, teams & engagement and change. Both in terms of building organisational capabilities in these areas, as well as helping you run a dedicated project.
discovery
Semi-standard, one day workshop
Gain a deeper understanding of the problem to solve. Explore different ways of approaching it and assess your organisation’s readiness to do so. Discover what’s possible and develop initial hypotheses to attack the challenge. Gain confidence before committing to a larger initiative.
engagement
Custom
We work together as part of a larger project, with agreed upon objectives and business results to achieve. We co-create a fully customised approach, engaging your own team as much as possible.