Frequently Asked Questions

How do you 'fix' businesses?

Using innovative, improvisational and collaborative solutions that are grounded in common sense and practical application and implementation.

‘Fix’ seems to imply ‘broke’ – what does that look like?

Most companies have developed very complex processes – too many people involved (ownership, territorial, political issues) in creating processes that frustrate the folks who are trying to do a good job.  Also, as companies grow, layers of management and process overlaps are created that bog down the business.  This often results in organizational stagnation or paralysis.

How can that ever change?

Well, first someone (owner, manager) has to want it to change.  Believe it or not, the solutions are often staring them in the face but they’ve just lost perspective because they’re living IN that world and they actually can’t see the forest for the trees.

We’ve been through this before – BPM (Business Process Management) companies come in and take up a lot of our time and nothing ever changes.  We don’t want to go through that again – how are you different?

We’ve been through that too (as part of large corporations) and so have no patience with another unproductive effort that results in a boxed set of classic oldies collecting dust on a shelf.  We have a different approach – we’re not looking at this as a process reengineering project.  We look at it through your eyes – yours and your management’s.  What are the organization’s goals – and what will help you achieve those goals in the most effective, efficient, common sense, and practical manner?

Isn’t that just going to give us a bunch of new rules and books and quality processes and vision statements?

This is a collaborative effort – we like to call it radical collaboration – where we engage each of you who do the actual work to create the best ways (processes) that make your job work.  If your job works, your company works, and if your company works, you are all successful.  Radical collaboration means we work with you to define those best practices, and at the same time, we’re engaging the associated stakeholders and gaining their buy-in.  Innovative, successful processes have a domino effect – impacting associated groups in a positive and inspiring manner.  There’s a resonating sense of rhythm when radical collaboration is at work in your organization.

Some people aren’t going to like this – they’ll never give up control.

We understand that.  People often have an emotional investment (their worth is literally tied to the power they can exert) in owning part or all of a process.  This is a relatively common issue.  We incorporate a philosophy that acknowledges the need to ‘put a face on’, or empathize with, an individual’s wants, needs and behaviors; without this, it’s difficult to sever that emotional tie.

But we’re too busy to try to make any changes now.

Then this is absolutely the best time to make changes.  When people are incredibly busy they respond in one of two ways: reactive (fear based) or they start thinking innovatively on how to accomplish everything that’s on their plate.  You do the same thing at home – you’ve got a dozen things pulling you in different directions.  You either ‘react’ and try to accomplish everything and burn yourself out or you start thinking creatively and you improvise: What are the essentials?  What do I think I have to do but actually is just a time waster or obstacle in my path to accomplish my goals?  Who (outside the home or inside) can I call upon to support this effort?  This is where you step back (and that’s where we come in) to support you in seeing opportunities all around you and turning them into solutions. You find your rhythm. Within every crisis lies the seeds of opportunity – most people only become aware of that opportunity when their backs are against the wall.  Fear is actually a great motivator – you must creatively adapt to survive.  You’d say that to your family, why not to your work? 

What about the people who say ‘we can’t do it that way’ or ‘it’s not my job’?

This is entrenchment (a defensive position) or resistance and this, again, is where radical collaboration comes in.  Our goal is to assist your company in creating a culture that sees the value and strength in differences.  By empowering everyone on the team, resistance is neutralized, the emotional charges are eliminated and you’ll often surprisingly find that the most resistant have some of the best ideas.  Often that resistance developed to protect them from the disappointment of not being valued.

But some people really just refuse to change.

That’s true and that’s when management has to make a decision if those people fit in their company. 

But my boss says we have to do it this way and then her boss sends a variation on those rules then HR says we can’t do that and in the midst of it all, while we’re trying to figure out all these things, the big boss says we all have to attend mandatory training that conflicts with all of these other rules.  I can’t possibly get my job done like this.

We start our work by first securing a commitment for change – top-down – bottom-up – that acknowledges the need to prioritize to effect innovative change.  When you start looking at those above you, beside you and below you as customers you start to have shared expectations.  Those shared expectations lead to a shared view of the desired outcome.  And the essential commitment is to effective communication - to eliminate contradictory directives and messages.  We act as a facilitator in negotiating that commitment to effective communication. And, it doesn’t stop when we leave; if it does, we want you to call us back.