For standard contact methods:Your vist to this page implies you are a potential client and have initially evaluated ODDSCO Consulting Services as within your planned approach to goals fulfillment. Before getting down to business, however, you may be interested in details of the ODDSCO consulting philosophy and comparison with traditional approaches:
Traditional consultants remain alert for proprietary solutions to industry
specific problems that can be offered to competitors on future assignments for
building their reputation for industry knowledge. (When the source is not cited
and the recipient organization treats it as its own proprietary solution, it is
not likely to cause litigation for a non-disclosure agreement violation.)
An unique solution may be promised (and arguably delivered, because everything
is unique at some detail level of examination). Uniqueness is not the aspect of
value, unless a specially tailored version of a proven standard can be called
unique. (The oldest hindsight performance metric applies here: Did the benefits
outweigh the cost of their provision?)
Because top level executives must authorize the huge expenditures to hire them,
traditional consultants ignore or downplay managerial limitations and reinforce
the implication that management is completely responsible for organizational
success and should accept all the credit and any rewards.
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In retrospect, many consultant recommendations will seem obvious as things to
do. Sometimes, it is the consultant seconding the motions of workers that
stamps the ideas as sufficiently worthwhile to be noticed and acted upon. Also,
the obvious things tend to be overlooked in most organizations because everyone
assumes that corrective action automatically will be taken by those responsible.
The workers in modern, lean organizations are kept overworked sufficiently that
only the most glaring deficiencies will be noticed and addressed. Seldom will a
company allow funding for someone to accomplish the necessary research and
address system engineering the foundation processes into an integrated synergy.
Still, approval to fund the approach must be obtained at a level high enough to
drive probable process improvement implementations that follow the easy fixes.
Executives and middle management can design an impressive edifice of mission,
vision, reorganized structure, and extensive planning with goals extending to
the lowest levels of management (and even to professional and technical staff
employees). Nevertheless, it all rests upon the capability of the foundation
processes employed to execute those plans. Is that good enough for matching the
competition today, tomorrow, and next year?
Traditional management training would suggest it is, assuming that development
of well-integrated foundation processes is virtually automatic when management
planning is thorough. The evidence in favor is even somewhat compelling for
many companies. After all, many planned accomplishmens have come to fruition
via the existing processes. So, if it is not broken, why fix it?
Ultimately, both long and short term strategies to gain and retain market share
are implemented by the workers. If the foundation processes are dependent upon
specific individuals to function smoothly, then vacations, promotions, or
terminations lead to disorganization. If the foundation processes are well
documented, will they withstand the stress of a continuously higher volume of
work such that heroic efforts will no longer save the day? Have they been
examined for hidden rework or application of tasks that add no value for goal
accomplishment? Is their optimization more global (organization wide) than
local?
When lacking full systemic integration, the foundation processes will resemble
quicksand more than concrete when stressed and much of the extensive management
planning will be for naught. Deficiencies will tend to appear in droves.
Often, the problems are manifested as too lengthy product development cycles,
despite management driven continuous improvement efforts.
The typical root cause of the observed deficiencies is lack of systemic
integration of the foundation processes, which must happen at the bottom of
the organization. These changes in how the interrelated jobs should be done
require trusting the workers to understand and implement the process components
that support organizational goals. Instead of being blamed as part of the
problem that management must solve, the workers must become part of the team in
comprehension of purpose as well as in name. The empowerment frequently must
extend to the lowest non-managerial levels.
This will disturb some middle managers because they imagine that sharing power
with anyone lower on the organization charts is equivalent to a personal loss
of authority. Fortunately, power is not really a zero-sum game, but more akin
to wealth in that it can be invested via its voluntary sharing and may return
substantial "dividends" in the form of organizational success.
Why not try "baffling with baloney?" Disregarding the fact that experienced
workers are unlikely to unquestioningly accept even a plausible sounding
assertion, think of knowledge and ignorance as being closely related, as in a
sphere made up of concentric layers. The inner ball is each person's knowledge
(the "known knowns"), with a surrounding layer that is always 1 unit thick
representing his or her ignorance (the "known unknowns"). (The outermost layer,
the "unknown unknowns", essentially is infinite in size.) Consider the effect
of expansion of the inner sphere due to an increase in the volume of knowledge.
The volume of known unknowns must expand by pi to maintain its unit thickness,
or over 3.14 times. In other words, each time we learn something, we learn more
about what we do not yet know. While this model probably is not true for
everyone, every time, it nevertheless ilustrates why the wisest scientists
are reluctant to express conclusions with certainty (and why "ignorance is bliss"
to those who aren't equipped to even guess about how little they really know).
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Primarily, ODDSCO Consulting is on-the-job training of client employees in
reengineering the infrastructure of foundation processes to obtain optimized
accomplishment of the organization's mission and goals.
Foundation processes are the essential processes that occur to conduct the
company business at the lower levels, regardless of its structure at higher
levels. When subjected to reengineering with a classical system engineering
approach (see the tutorial), they can become an integrated whole that fully
supports the organization goals.
The ODDSCO approach is to team with client organization experts in each process
domain and examine the existing foundation processes for extent they support
the organization goals. The objective is to discover and define the problems as
deficiencies from the support that would be provided by an ideal process set.
A decision model, based on the ideal process set, is then developed to evaluate
and to rank the existing and proposed processes.
When a standard approach is known to be applicable, feasible solutions will be
proposed by the ODDSCO representative. Any dismantling of existing processes
awaits the plan for a clearly superior reconstruction that will support the
strategic goals. Such plans are not unilaterally imposed by ODDSCO, but must be
agreed to by the affected employees as well as by their management.
\For example, to reduce cycle time for new product developments, the installed
improvements may include methods for documentation development and management
that are proven to minimize the design specialist's administrative work while
fulfilling internal and external customer needs (including any regulatory
requirements).
With many goals that are opposite those of big-name consulting firms, the
ODDSCO approach is to quickly develop the client's in-house talent pool into
virtual consultants; into people capable of not only solving its prioritized
proprietary problems, but of teaching others throughout the organization how to
select or develop and install foundation processes with proven components. When
a critical mass of the client management and staff is ready to assume the
burden of continuance without further dependence on external help, ODDSCO moves
on with a job well done.
The client brings ODDSCO in with well defined goals related to simultaneously
developing key personnel and tightly tailored solutions to problems. One goal
is to decrease and finally remove any need for further consulting beyond a
quick tuneup when key staff members have moved on. Recognition is explicit that
decision making with full responsiblity for the consequences is much more
difficult than merely giving advice. Accordingly, because no consultant will
have all the necessary answers at the start of the job, improving client
organization capability to rationally make difficult decisions at all levels
must be a major goal. Unless the primary goals also include minimal disruption
and working itself out of a job because the organization has become adequately
capable of facing the competition, an ODDSCO consultancy is not fully
appropriate.
ODDSCO monitors the never-ending stream of management consulting fads to
discover their essential features and functions, then extract any good ideas
therein. Before applying any such idea to a proposed new approach, it will be
researched and examined for environmental or use constraints and potential
unintended consequences. Nothing is free of that potential, so only proven
tools with known side effects will be offered for critical areas. Similar
services are offered to every client, to consistently implement the better,
less perishable ideas. Any special or unique treatment is provided by the
client during adaptation and tailoring of simple, standardized processes. The
client is not told what the conclusions are but shown how to obtain and
organize the information such that accurate conclusions may be drawn. In brief,
the client implements the client selected solution.
When the ODDSCO representative's knowledge of a process domain has been
exhausted, the client will be told and asked if some specific preliminary
investigative avenues should be researched. Ignorance about specific items will
be admitted early. (We don't "wing it" except when asked to help "brainstorm" a
new approach.) The promise is for the equivalent of a temporary partnership,
during which neither the client nor ODDSCO will deliberately acquire or divulge
any proprietary information. Situation descriptions and knowledge transfers are
kept generic by the rules of engagement, so the promise of confidentiality is
backed by the lack of need for such information. In other words, later hiring
of an ODDSCO representative by direct competitors will be extremely ineffective
as a means to engage in industrial espionage.
Because the organization's employees are crucial to all developments for future
success and because people who have paid their dues by working with and
improving foundation processes can better facilitate the knowledge transer,
ODDSCO is well equipped to assist building on those existing client strengths.
ODDSCO never recommends reducing the immediate bottom line cost by encouraging
reduction in staff beyond normal attrition. (Sending corporate knowledge to
competitors or other industries seldom is the best way to grow profits.) When
ODDSCO has met the goals, the client organization will have the predictable and
systematic tools to confidently make whatever hard decisions are deemed
necessary.
If you have any further questions on this subject, please contact the author
(listed below). A response will occur and a FAQs section may result.
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For standard contact methods:
E-mail:
Consulting: consult@optants.com