Hi Sreenivasan:
The business model is changing worldwide from a top-down business model to one where there is more participation from a variety of employees.
Oh, I know the comments--there will always be a "boss"--but the fastest moving, best- managed groups are the true "orchestration" groups--and that's the way we've built our Consultancy from the start. Only in this way can you address challenges with the best speed to offer the best results possible.
Look around--the top 5 Consultancies in the world are trying to do the same thing. The challenge, in an organization with 25000 Consultants is the lack of synergy that can be gained. With that many employees, it's just a big, slow, bureaucratic entity. To your point, there is corporate politics, and fear often supersedes the sharing of knowledge.
Another aspect of our Consultancy that is different is the compensation model--which is driven entirely by the projects on which each Consultant is involved. Compensation is tied directly to performance. In many cases, we take a percentage of the value-added we bring to the table. Negotiating a contract with a client for 2% of the cost savings realized from our actions is much easier than negotiating a contract for $30K per month...and often, much more rewarding to us.
I must tell you, long before the term "orchestration group" came into "vogue" we were running our Consultancy in this way. We have a variety of Consultants in different ventures around the world. Now, Consultants can come and Consultants can go, based upon the various objects with which we're working at any given time. Some Consultants work with us in the Seminar area, some in the Distribution Area, some in the Licensing Area. There may be overlap in some areas, but the Consultants in the Licensing Area may or may not even know the Consultants in the Seminar development/delivery area.
Let me share some examples with you.
I have brought together Consultants from all over the world for a reason; cultural differences and level of expertise in a specific discipline calls for specific opportunity and fulfillment levels.
I find that in part of our contracted Seminar Development--for the World Bank, for example--we manage a variety of Debt Seminars. What is presented within the Seminar is client-defined as to the understanding of the audience. I might have one set of partner-Consultants who present with me in Africa on Stochastic theory or on Sovereign debt, and another set of Consultants--focused on Debt resolution, possibly, who present with me in India. In India, we may cover the Monte Carlo Simulation in a Debt Seminar. In the USA, we may cover the Monte Carlo Simulation in a Restaurant Company Seminar.
All topics presented are not the same, world over. All topics offered are similar, and the Seminars may be named the same name, but a good Consultant gets to know his audience and what must be presented to represent good value for the audience, just as a good HR Manager knows the qualities and capabilities of his/her employees, in a business.
Knowledge Management, and the sharing of this knowledge, is key to success in every venture.
You cannot allow yourself to fear sharing too much knowledge. I have come to the conclusion over the past 30+ years in business that there is no such thing as sharing too much knowledge.
An example of this follows. Tomorrow morning at 9:30AM, I am addressing a group of retail employees . The objective of the meeting is to assess knowledge levels and begin a process of knowledge transfer.
This will utilize another set of Consultants, who aren't exceptionally good in Finance, but are experts in establishing retail licensing opportunities.
If it means that we're not connected to the client, Sreenivasan, I'm not sure how much "bigger" I want our Consultancy to grow. We currently have just over 100 Consultants who work with us across a variety of disciplines.
It's become extremely difficult for me to identify which set of core competencies I enjoy most, but that--in and of itself--has helped the Consultancy to grow and prosper.
As to working with you, contact me anytime--I'd embrace that opportunity. I'm currently in discussions with a potential Joint Venture partner to do a series of Seminars across India this fall on Entrepreneurship, so our paths may cross then. We've spoken about doing 20+ seminars over a period of two months. I've done road tours previously--and although financially, they are very rewarding--the friends that you make during the Seminars become more than friends--they often become opportunistic business partners and Consultants with my group!
Rest assured, Sreenivasan, I will continue to make contributions to the Forum where appropriate--where I think they may add value. I greatly appreciate your comments and thank you.
All the best.
Alan Guinn, Managing Director
The Guinn Consultancy Group, Inc.