Bruce L.’s Post

In my 17-year consulting career, I still encounter companies that do not take the time to step back and chart their future. Truly, the best way to predict the future is to create it, and the only way to create it is to have a plan. Any enterprise needs a plan to achieve some level of success. For big businesses and sharp-set medium-sized firms, the plan must be one that is carefully thought out, deliberated on, coherent, and clearly laid out for everyone in the organization, articulating the choices where limited resources will be spent - whether time, money or energy. In a nutshell, the plan has to be strategic.      It is with this philosophy that we developed Acumen’s Strategy Navigator™ service, which delivers the necessary framework and employs a collaborative approach to draw up a business roadmap that is aimed towards sustainable achievement of a company's ambitions.         It is grounded on the use of data as a foundation for decisions (I've seen far too many useless debates just using gut feel or personal judgement), focus on key business drivers that truly move the needle (pareto law), prioritization of initiatives, synergistic and broad participation, and an implementable course of action that everyone will be accountable for.   At every step of the planning process — from designing the exercise based on existing business and organizational data, to analysis, and the actual drawing up of the roadmap — we in Acumen closely collaborate with the client using clearly defined roles.      Acumen’s framework takes clients on a journey that will identify where the company wants to go, pin down the current reality, and map out the initiatives needed to achieve its purpose and ambitions.   We have helped several top 100 corporations in this journey.   Let’s talk about our Strategy Navigator™ and how we can help in transforming your business: https://lnkd.in/gQaEvKqu   #AcumenAdvantage #StrategyNavigator

Interesting article on the big consulting companies, and definitely backs up why I find businesses like working with me. As well as being half the cost, I have the same toolkit, but know how to really apply it based on decades of real world experience. The most common feedback when I ask my clients why they like to work with me - it's because I listen, and act on that feedback. Talk is cheap, rolling my sleeves up, and helping get stuff done, that's what makes a real difference. #managementconsulting #consulting #businesscoach

"Not owning the results, not owning the implementation, I think is a fraction of the value and a fraction of the opportunity to learn and get better." As you can tell, Steve Jobs wasn't particularly fond of consultants in 1992 and who could blame him? But I'd argue his problem wasn't with all consultants. His bigger issue was with the strategy-only business model. By providing advice and leaving, consultants were able to collect their fee while avoiding the "scar-tissue" that inevitably accompanied lengthy implementations. This left (and continues to leave) a bad taste in many mouths resulting in skepticism around hiring consultants. 32 years ago, Steve Jobs recognized that consulting should go deeper than just strategy. Firms considering hiring or currently working with consultants today should make sure they're getting more than the fancy slide-deck. The best consultants in the game have a responsible team with real industry experience and the skills/expertise to own their recommendations throughout implementation and beyond. #consulting #wealthtech #finserv https://lnkd.in/gME3Hh_C

This unexpectedly clickbaity-sounding piece from the Economist from a while back on what consultants bring to the table popped up 🤔 https://lnkd.in/d5R6hm4A The two main benefits of consultants across the board seem to be: 🔍 Outside opinion - thus helping difficult decisions seem like the best choice 🎓 Necessary expertise - making available specialist experitise that does not exit within that org at the time The recommendation for items such as formal industry-wide requirements and a code of conducts are reasonable as well. However, there's a skewed focus on big consulting firms like McKinsey, BCG & Bain, overlooking smaller players who bring diverse expertise and values. For these smaller players, the same issue of unclear impact applies. While some try to mimic the big players in offering, many are independent and want to offer something completely different. Small and mid-sized organizations would often get fresh MBAs with little first-hand experience for their complex realities from big players. Businesses, regardless of size, have options. If they want introduce new software, processes, aggressively expand markets they can choose big or small firms. If they want to establish or optimize purpose-driven activities, mutualistic outcomes, systems-level impact, the smaller independent consulting firms are their ticket. #management #consulting #purpose

For many people, it may seem unbelievable that companies can spend millions on consulting without keeping an accurate record of the total amount. But it's more common than you think. The culprits? Lack of oversight, scattered decision-making, and strategic misalignment. But fear not! The key to managing your consulting spend lies in understanding, maximizing value, and avoiding pitfalls. Dive into our guide for a strategic approach that ensures every dollar advances your goals. Drop a comment below with your biggest challenge in managing consulting spend – let's discuss and find solutions together! #ConsultingSpend #StrategicApproach #MaximizeValue

Send in the Consultants! but make sure they understand your business. This article in The Times suggests businesses are not always convinced of the delivered value of the big Consulting firms but are we sending generalists to do a specialists job? https://lnkd.in/eEMvfHhm

Dive into the future of consulting with our latest blog series! The blog explores transformative trends and strategies to thrive in today’s dynamic landscape. #BusinessInsights #StrategicAlignment #PurposeDriven #ClientEngagement #TheWhyConsulting

Overbilled and Underdelivered: The Nasty Little Secret of the Big Four and Consultancies You ever had the feeling you are simply paying top dollars for top consulting services only to end up with a junior profile just out of university? My customers did. And it's maddening. But here's the typical set-up: You engage a big-name consultancy, hiring those experienced experts to guide your company through complex challenges. What you'll end up with are juniors who are enthusiastic and intelligent, but they just don't have the experience to manage the depth and breadth of your needs. And guess what? You're still billed like you had the A-team on your case. Why is this happening? Cost Cutting at Your Expense: These companies assign less experienced staff to increase their profits but charge you as if working with senior consultants. It is a classic case of bait-and-switch. Training Grounds: Your company becomes a training ground for these juniors, whom you are effectively subsidizing. Meanwhile, your projects suffer from a lack of seasoned insight. Misleading promises: This is usually part of their grand pitch, with great talents that never stick around. You are sold expertise that never actually touches your project. Its not only unfair; its unethical. Companies deserve transparency and value for their money. So here is what to do: Make It Human: Demand Transparency Know who will work on your project. Meet them. Ensure their experience matches your needs. Set Clear Expectations: Define roles and responsibilities upfront. Make it clear you expect senior involvement. Hold them responsible. Review their work at least weekly. If the juniors are obviously out of their depth, escalate the problem immediately. Don't let these big firms play games with your business. Stand up for what you're paying for and ensure you get the expertise you deserve. Let's change the narrative. Your company deserves better. Let's just demand it. #Consultancy #BigFour #Transparency #ValueForMoney #BusinessEthics PS: Share your stories if you've faced this. Let's bring this issue into the open and demand better practices.

Too many consultants I work with worry about their rate/hr or how long they're going to be engaged for... they've got it all wrong. At one of my old firms, we sold a project for $40,000 that we knew was going to save the client just over $1M. Why? Well, because our consultants were billing at $200/hr and it was going to take about 5 weeks to deliver. ✅ Leadership was happy because utilization was positively impacted ✅ The consultant was happy because he was staffed, and ✅ The client was happy with the deliverable because it saved them loads of money. So why is this wrong? Because of the value that was left on the table. Imagine the same scenario, but the focus wasn't on billable hours and instead it was on value creation. The consulting firm could've charged 50% of the value created and the client would still be happy for having saved a half million dollars. Most consulting and advisory shops are too short sighted when it comes to value based activities. Their KPIs are too narrow minded and rarely consider the big picture. I wonder how many other consultancies are leaving money on the table just to chase metrics that can be counter productive...

Honored to participate in Deltek's  2024 "Consulting Industry Wrapped - (Part 1) How We Tackled 2024's Biggest Challenges."   The topics this year are (as expected), timely and BIG. AI, burnout, the uncertain political and economic landscape. My fellow consultants share their insights to help organizations and leaders navigate - and succeed!   “Great consultants help their clients see that turning inwards and waiting out uncertainty is not a winning strategy. It may intuitively seem like the safest bet, but it's a great way to miss opportunities and fall further behind.” #Resilience #RethinkingResilience #LeadershipTrends #NavigatingUncertainty