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A few thoughts about Star Trek:
The First Officer of the Starship Enterprise is a man of logic.
When venturing into the unknown, making the most of what you do know is vital.
Spock is often the first to beam down to unknown planets.
Spock has the most sophisticated sensors.
Spock is often the last person Kirk speaks to before making a decision
Businesses are waking up to the possibility of using analytics as a competitive tool.
You don’t have to be an airline or a credit card company to make it work for you.
You will find a good explanation in ‘Competing on Analytics’ by Davenport and Harris.
Analytics should drive good decisions. Spock is always there to say “Illogical Captain!”
Why are you more likely to employ a person than use a consultant?
So you want to make a change: maybe you want to improve productivity, maybe you want to give better service, and maybe you are worried about the structure of your organisation.
What are your choices?
- You can read the latest business book, distil its essence and do it yourself.
Quite possibly the best option: you call the shots, you will be showing leadership, and you will be taking responsibility for the risks. How likely is this? If you are a large company, how will you look to your superiors? Aren’t you going to be taking a big personal risk? In a smaller company, this risk is less. However, the fact that you are looking for a solution indicates that you are probably fighting too many alligators. So will you find the time and resources to drain the swamp?.
- You can employ someone to do the job.
This is the ôconventionalö response. Employing people gives you control over them. You will convince yourself that it would be more effective, too, to have them inside the organisation rather than working from outside. But will it be so over time? Often it goes like this: they will get to know your business and become more efficient with time. They will be able to get on with the job leaving you to do what you are doing now. You will have hired someone with the technical skills necessary and at first everybody else will pay attention to them. They will talk about the programs that they know about and relate their past experiences to yours. They will talk to people, listen to them and build plans to do things. Some of this will happen and you will be pleased with progress. However, in some areas they will come up against a brick wall. Some things seem unchangeable. They may fight, but struggle with what seem like difficult odds. Their colleagues become disillusioned; they themselves retreat to rethink and in so doing disappear off the radar. They become absorbed into the mainstream and their moment passes. Now what? You’ve got a skilled, competent employee who is not very effective. You don’t let them go. Where are you?
- You can use an outsider.
How can you get the effect of a new employee without the long term burden? It sounds obvious that once you acknowledge what happens with regular employees brought in to make changes that you will only bring people in for a short while. Or perhaps you hesitated because there will always be more improvements to make. Such people are variously called consultants, contractors or interim managers. What don’t you jump at this? Well, there’s the cost. These people are expensive (you think). Why should I pay a consultant when I can ‘get the same’ by hiring an employee at 1/3 the daily cost? This is certainly the main reason for small companies. The answer is that you should not look at the daily rate but at the total expense. If you hire somebody, they are effective for a year (say). If they then stay for 6 years, you will have paid 6/3 = twice the amount you would have paid for a consultant for a year for the same result. Crude numbers, but they make the point. Of course, you are also thinking that it takes time for an outsider to come up to speed. So isn’t a short term hire going to take a lot of effort from you while you teach them your business? Any more than a new employee? What if they make it their business to come into strange environments, make themselves familiar, do what has to be done and then be gone? Or, at least, gone until you need them again. Next time you use them, you won’t have to wait for them to learn your business again.
- Do nothing.
If doing nothing is really an option, then seriously consider it! It will save you all the distraction and expense. Perhaps, the real business issue lies elsewhere. Maybe your problem is only a symptom of something else. You might need some short term help to figure this out!
by James La Trobe-Bateman, reMODEL Consultants International Ltd
