Quantum Physics and Consulting

Trust me, there is a connection. And if not, I'll create one..

Our local sheriff's department has come up with a new way to monitor speeding. (Yes we call them sheriffs here in Texas) They have this device (gadget? thingie?) that they place in the median. It's about five feet wide, 6 feet tall. There's a large display of the speed limit on top, and below that is an electronic display of your speed as you approach it. Probably solar powered, with a laser gun pointed at the traffic. No enforcement personnel that I could see. No tickets, no fines.

You know what, when I saw that my speed was over the limit, I slowed down. I bet many others did too. Now I will admit, we may have speeded up again a mile or two down the road, but for that brief moment, we were all law-abiding citizens.

Second data point: (You get two for the price of one this time) Attorney General Ashcroft had a major announcement a couple of weeks ago about how terrorists were planning to attack the U.S. again this summer. Big news, scary announcement. It came a few weeks after the special 9/11 committee hearings where every panel member was quizzing those testifying why they had not let the country know in the summer of 2001 about such warnings. On hindsight, some agreed that they should have made some warnings known. So is it a coincidence that in the summer of 2004, we get the AG making the announcement? I think not. They heard the message. They were being watched. So they adapted their actions.

Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle states that sub atomic particles could not be measured (in size, location or speed) because whatever you used to measure (like a ray containing particles) would move the particle being measured.

The corollary as it applies to our world is "The act of measuring actually changes what's being measured." That's why we have status reports. It's not only for clients or project managers to know how we are doing. It's to make sure we are doing what we said we would be doing. See, when we have to report progress, we make a (perhaps unconscious) effort to reach a higher level of completion than we would otherwise reach. It's an inducement to do more. Reporting a delay feels bad, so we try to avoid it (or we hide the delay but that's another matter). Measuring is good - for all parties.

Ashcroft also said "terrorists are 90 percent complete" in their preparations. Boy that made me laugh. It's a reminder of the "90 percent complete syndrome" that a lot of us have fallen for. But that's the subject of another item, in a few days.

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The Great Communicator

Leave your political opinions aside and let's talk about former President Ronal Reagan.

A lot of the commentary has been about how a former actor could get so much done in a complex political system. Comments about how he was perceived to have no "substance." Then we find out that he had his "substance" -- he had deep beliefs, he could set the direction and he would delegate. A great manager -- no, a great leader. Substance? You can get away without it if you have other qualities. Bill Clinton was a "policy wonk." Who accomplished more in 8 years? Clinton or Reagan? (this is a subtle reminder to those consultants who are too proud of their certifications and think that "substance" is the key - the only key - to success.)

Stories - he could tell stories. "He had the knack to put complex ideas in simple terms" they say. Simple statements are always more powerful than long, convoluted ones. Take it a step further - a presentation is stronger with fewer Powerpoint slides. 

Ronald Reagan was ready to negotiate even when he thought he was completely right. A strong man does not feel weakened by having to compromise. "He was ready to take half a loaf, if that was all that was available and work towards getting the other loaf later on."

Even his opponents had good things to say about him. Candidates who ran against him, senators who felt they had to go along with him, even Mikhail Gorbachev. They were impressed by his conviction, his optimistic attitude and the fact that he never said a bad word about anybody.

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"You're fired"

Have you learned anything from watching the Donald Trump / The Apprentice show? (You know, the NBC show where aspiring executives compete with each other and one person from the losing team gets fired on each episode.)

One of the shows registered with me most. The teams were asked to sell items at a flea market and the group with the highest profits would win. One team came back for the day and added up their earnings. And they couldn't find the cash. They had misplaced the cash! It's not that they lost money, they lost THE money. And one of their team members was fired. 

Losing THE money? Totally, unacceptably, fundamentally bad. I think that even what was found of the money had given them a profit, that team should have lost. There are some fundamentals in doing business that nobody  is exempt from. One is keeping the cash.

In our business, that translates into: Keeping your time and expense records impeccably correct, watching over expenses like a hawk (because it's your client's money), billing and collecting on time etc. There are no known excuses for not doing that.

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I'm back

Why a long silence, some have asked. Well, last fall and this winter were pretty bad -- health problems here with the family and the loss of my father. It took us a while to recover.

My father had a long and happy life. I got my work ethic from him. I'm not going to recount all of that here except for one sign that he made an impact. When his customers of the last 50 years heard of the news  they started calling us, the family, to tell us how much they appreciated him and gained from doing business with him. These are people we did not know. But they were moved enough to tell us. And that was very moving for us.

May he rest in peace and may your clients say good things about you after you're done (working with them, I mean)

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One spammer who got it right!

I never thought I could learn from a spammer but I've got to give it to this one who got past my "spam-wall" -- a term I made up to reject spam emails.

I thought I would have my email program take all messages that arrive from people I know, i.e. people on my address book and  move them to a folder I called "People I know". It's worked quite well, and anything that's not in that folder is a candidate to throw away.

Then how did these spam messages get in my "People I know " folder? I wondered if I had ever corresponded with these people and they ended up in my address book? Upon closer inspection, it turns out they modified the originating address to be my email address!  And, since I had built my filter by just copying all the names in my address book to the message filter, my own email address was designated a "person I know." Mystery solved.

But it made me think, what a great way to have someone believe in something: Make them believe it's their own product, their own message, their own idea. Do we do that with clients? Or do we try to cram _our_ ideas down their throats? It would help if we gave them enough facts which would let them be the first to think of the idea we just had.

Not foolproof, but worth trying?

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Bob Hope died 

I had heard of this story before but I think it's appropriate to remember Mr. Hope today with the following:

Don Freeman of the San Diego Union-Tribune wrote in April:

"Once, when doctors urged him to seek relaxation on a fishing vacation, he went off to Seattle and a cruise in Pacific waters. The vacation bored him, and he soon returned to Los Angeles. "Bob," a friend said, "you go off on a vacation, and you're back after one week. Why so soon?"

Bob shrugged. 'Fish don't applaud,' he said."

What a line. From a great professional. Remember that next time you're at your desk in your office, happy that you don't have to "face the client" that day: Desks don't pay.

Mr. Hope, we've applauded all your life and we're applauding today. And the fish would, too, if they could.

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Outback opens in New York City

Today's NYT reports about chain restaurants opening in Manhattan and how they have been well received: Applebees, Olive Garden, Outback steakhouse, etc. Now, I lived in Manhattan for 10 years and I know there's no shortage of restaurants, classy, cheap, expensive, ethnic, whichever way you look. Manhattan residents are known as savvy, trendy, focused, unorthodox, whatever you want to call them.

So what's attracting them to these homogenized, almost generic outlets? Consistency. Patrons know they will not be surprised when they go to one of those. They will feel familiar, even reminiscent of their days prior to NYC. A feeling of comfort, physical and emotional.

Think of that next time you spring your next out-of-the-box cutting edge idea on your clients. As much as we're expected to be creative and leading edge, there's a part of everyone who enjoys the old and trusted. Leverage that when you're pushing your breakthrough solutions.

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I built a flagpost bracket!

With Memorial Day coming, I thought it was time to display a flag. I could have bought a 3 by 5 flag with an aluminum pole and a metal bracket for 8.95 at Home Depot and attached it with 3 screws and be done with it. But no, left-brained engineer that I am, I had to use the flag we had so I needed only a pole and a bracket. I bought the pole - that was the easy part. Bracket: I thought the metal brackets looked cheap and they wouldn't fit the 1 inch diameter pole I had bought.

So I got a piece of 4 by 4 and drilled a 1 inch hole through it. But the hole had to be at an angle of about 30 to 45 degrees. Do you know how hard it is to do that? After a few tries, I had to find a better way. And I did. Using two pieces of 4 by 4. (Those interested can email me and I'll describe the solution)

So I drilled the wood, stained it, waterproofed it and attached it. The post went in it and the flag was displayed and we were happy.

It then occurred to me I could have spared all the trouble by spending $8.95 but I wouldn't have had the feeling of accomplishment! Same with our clients: regardless of what they say, they want to be involved. They want to be a part of the project, they want to be part of the solution.

So find something for them to do. Something that they don't have to pay you for. Or something that would let them avoid a cost item. Or one which they'd like to put their personal expertise in. And when they do it, let them take credit for it. Or give them credit, publicly.

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Consulting and silicon caulk

I installed a storm door / pet door combo with a friend last weekend. (The operative words are "with a friend", indicating that I didn't know what I was doing). The door works fine - I just needed to caulk the openings where the molding meets the exterior of the house. How difficult could that be? I went and bought a tube of silicon caulk and went at it.

It's not as easy as it looks. Silicon caulk is sticky, gooey and won't stay where you put it. So I ended up with a lot of goo on my hands and too much on the wood molding. I figured I could paint over the extra.

Not so fast. The caulk I bought is not paintable. (Upon further examination, "it says so" on the tube.)

How could I have been so stupid? Or to put it another way, why didn't they tell me? Who did I have in mind? Well, my buddy. But he had already left and we assumed I could handle the "easy stuff." The Home Depot staff? Well, I never asked anyone before I paid for it, and in case you haven't noticed, Home Depot reduces their staff by 2% every time their stock price falls by 1%. Which means there wasn't anyone to ask.

"How was I supposed to know" that some caulk is paintable and some are not? The tube said "for windows and doors." Short of hiring a caulk consultant or getting a degree in home repairs?

The point is: I couldn't have known. My degrees are in unrelated fields. And if I had found someone to ask, would I know to ask about the paintability? I don't think so. 

Think of your clients and their answers to your questions about what they want or need or require. They'll answer your questions but you have to know which questions to ask. They are not likely to tell you they need the caulk to be paintable because they assume that all caulk is the same. Let's say you ask them what color the wood molding is going to be, and they say "white." You'd suggest getting white colored caulk. But would you ask if they'd like to paint the spillover caulk? 

Oh, by the way, did I mention that it says "not paintable" on the tube? Except it's in 8 point size, and not in the instructions section but the specifications section. 

So next time you are tempted to blame your client for not noticing that "the system will not function properly unless the temperature is over 32 degrees" which you claim was "clearly stated in the requirements document" -- ask yourself whether it was visible and highlighted or whether it was buried in Appendix 8 of a 200 page document, in 8 point size. 

They're not the experts, you are. You think you're there to give them answers but you're really there to ask questions.

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"There's no excuse for not knowing your lines"

Simon Cowell, one of the three hosts of the talent search show "American idol" said it to the contestants last night. He directed it at the contestants who were eliminated because they did not memorize the lines in their songs or failed to remember them during their performance.

How true. There are some basic, fundamental attributes we need in our consulting business, too. They are what an important person called "hygiene factors," those that our client expects and takes for granted. No amount of expertise or show or schmoozing alleviates the absence of those factors: Begin with the hygienic: cleanliness, visible and olfactory. Then, the professionalism: patience, empathy, flexibility. And honesty, truthfulness and dependability. Such as arriving on time! You can't imagine how important all of these are. It doesn't matter how good you are at anything else. Without these, you're doomed.

A guru who has the best expertise in the universe who misses the hygiene factors? The client will listen to that person (once) and pay the bill. But he's not coming back!

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Another architectural reference - smart prototyping?

Amazon -- a model?

I ordered 6 books online on December 13th from Amazon.com. Nothing special, and NOT related to Christmas gift-giving. (this last part is important). Three of my selections said "Usually ships in 24 hrs." and the others were labeled "Usually ships in 3 days" or "5 days". I figured I was not in a hurry and I went for the cheapest (ground) shipping method. And as luck would have it, the books labeled "3 days" or "5 days" (which means they don't have them in stock and have to order them from the publishers) took as long as that or longer to arrive at Amazon's warehouses. I checked on their online tracking page. By the afternoon of Dec. 20th, they had not shipped the books to me. I wasn't alarmed because as I said, they were not Christmas gifts.

But Amazon was alarmed. They shipped the box on Dec. 20th, with a "complimentary shipping upgrade", 2nd-day air delivery. See, they figured ground shipping wouldn't cut it and they would spring for another $10 or so to make sure the order arrived "when expected." That's the power of great client service. They did not wait for me to tell them what to do, they did not call and apologize, they did not ask if they were Christmas items. They just did it. And I got the books today, Dec. 24. For their $10 extra expense, they bought tons of goodwill.

As a smart person once said: "If you don't know whether you're meeting your client's expectations, you are not."

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I'm back and I feel better

I fired my chiropractor. Well, shall we say, I "un-engaged" him. See, I had a small accident at home in September and hurt myself. (This is also an explanation about why this column has been quiet.)

It was not major enough to visit a hospital but bothered me enough a couple of weeks later that I decided to get x-rays taken to see if I had broken anything. I called and made an appointment with this chiropractor who came recommended.

I should have known when I stepped into his office. The first things the receptionist told me were: "Have you been here before ... then you'll have to fill out these forms." and: "Is this insurance or private pay?" No good morning, how're you feeling, how's the pain.

So I saw the doctor, got my x-rays taken. No broken bones. But he "recommended" some treatment that would ease the pain. (read: add-on services).

And I visited his office a few times, accumulating more fees but with very small reduction in pain. You should have seen the efficiency in that office. The doctor had 5 or 6 different examination or treatment rooms. Each with two doors opposite each other. he would walk in one, talk to you for no more than 15 seconds, not even registering the fact whether my pain had gone away or was the same and walk out the other door to his next room, where another "client" had been prepped for his treatment. Very efficient (for him) and not at all effective (for his patients.)

A few weeks later, I stopped. The pain went away in a few weeks, just as my sister had forecasted: "You will suffer as many days as how old you are."

Well, what did this teach me: The first impressions one forms with a professional service provider are usually right. I should have walked out when the receptionist greeted me with the insurance question. And the 15 second "conversations" with the doctor: The service provider's own efficiency means nothing if it does not provide benefits for the client.

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The Pentagon renovation 

They were interviewing the guy in charge of the rebuilding / renovation of the portions of the Pentagon damaged in the attacks of 9/11. He was asked what the biggest challenge had been and I expected him to say something about the budgeting or logistics or the time pressures etc. You see, they're planning to move back into the same spaces by the first anniversary of the attacks. None of what I thought he'd say was on top of his list. He said:

"Getting buy-in from the people whose offices were destroyed" (Or something to that effect.)

Imagine! You're working in a military establishment (almost). A department run by civilians but staffed by civil servants as well as military personnel. People accustomed to executing orders. And he's worrying about how to get them to move to their old offices?

What might they be concerned about? I started thinking. and came up with a few: It's too painful. What if we're attacked again? It's going to have that new building smell. I never liked that office anyway. But how can I complain when so many of my friends died and I survived? Who is this person telling me to move anyway?  Maybe I should just go along. But then I'd lose my individuality. Oh, it's all so complicated.

So what's one supposed to do? That's where change management (CM) professionals come in. The rational concerns can be mitigated by facts: It's going to be safe, it's going to be better than what you had. You will be allowed to personalize it, etc. The emotional concerns can NOT be handled by facts alone. Perhaps enlisting one or two individuals whose opinions are respected and have them move their offices first? (CM folks, chime in here!) 

Those of you who have implemented systems and struggled with buy-in from the user community will have found this a familiar issue. It's not just us, everyone suffers from it!

What I learned in the supermarket 

I was at our local supermarket the other day. You may know the ones -- large, wide, spaces with anything imaginable. Except nothing is easy to find. In their zeal to "manage" traffic paths, "retail consultants" for this market had designed the layout such that one would have to walk a half mile to the most remote corner of the store just to get milk. And walking through the aisles with the most profitable items, mind you. 

But you can't find coffee. Would it be with the milk? No. With the sugars? No. Being male and an engineer, I decided I would find it - no need to ask for directions! After about 2 miles of walking through every aisle, I gave up. I asked this person with a uniform who I guessed would know. "Between the snacks and the wine." 

Who would have guessed? Then he pointed out the "store directory" on the shopping cart and said I could have looked it up there. And walked away.

What did I learn? Retail consultants are no better than we are when it comes to designing with the customer in mind. Two: When a client asks for help, don't rub it in and make him feel stupid by reminding him to read the manual. And three: to make the client know you feel her frustration and not to just hand out ''facts."

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Features vs. benefits. Is user-friendliness a feature?

You know Expedia.com, the travel site. They're running what I think are ingenious commercials. Which tells me they know the differences between features and benefits.

See they're trying to tell us that the fact that one can pick flights by different criteria is an advantage. Sure. It's one thing to say show me flights by price. But they also allow you to display flights by shortest duration. If they stopped there, they would be selling a feature.

The suggested "benefit" is that this is user friendly. But we're flooded with user-friendliness. They have to make it into a real benefit.

So they have this mini-story about a woman going on a business trip and has these images of an obnoxious colleague sitting next to her. She wants to minimize the time spent with this person, so she clicks on "shortest flights' option.

Very smart of Expedia. See, even user-friendliness is not enough these days. You've got to show the WIIFM factor. ("Whats' In IT For Me"). What does ease of use to for ME. "It makes your trips with obnoxious colleagues shorter."

When we try to present an idea to a client, we have to think along the lines of benefits, i.e. what's in it for them. Features don't cut it. Talk benefits and you'll get their interest.

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The IBM way? Not implementable?

Have you seen the IBM commercials? The CEO asks his people "I have this brilliant strategy document from our consultants. Is this implementable with our current technology?"

They come back with a sad look on their faces: "No."

Then the ad displays "Implementable strategies by IBM."

Am I missing something here? Is IBM out of the technology sales business? Am I to understand that IBM is not interested in selling you more hardware / software / connectivity? Isn't strategy supposed to mean thinking out-of-the-box? What kind of strategy is it if it's constricted by "legacy" platforms?

OK, let's give them the benefit of the doubt. Perhaps they're actually apologizing for their past recommendations. Or giving their clients a false sense of comfort.

Let's remember, selling (particularly cross-selling) is built on honesty. And pandering to passing concerns will only get you temporary business. 

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Can one word make the difference? Managed expectations, again

Gen. Tommy Franks was asked in a press conference yesterday if the enemy was surrounded in the mountains. He replied he'd rather call it "contained." 

A few minutes later on CNN, when asked to comment on that, Gen. Wesley Clark said "We should be careful about not raising expectations. Contained is the right word, because any other words such as "pinned down, trapped, cornered" suggest that they have no way out at all when in fact they may have."

Generals have learnt to watch for expectation-setting words. We should, too.

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Things are not what they seem

No bragging, but our Managing Scope Creep article is on top of the charts! Try a search on Google for "scope creep" and our article is number 3. With no search engine optimization and no special effort. It must be great content and great meta tag design. Why else would it be in the top 3 articles in the world?

And what have I learnt from it?

First, that a lot of people are suffering from scope creep, and as they have been searching for the term and clicking on our article, Google has determined that it's a great resource to be displayed to its readers. Moral? You never know what your market (read: your clients) are looking for until they demonstrate it to you.

Second: Something is a little out of sorts, though: The #2 entry in Google is for a band called Scope Creep. So perhaps visitors were looking for the band and stumbled upon our site! Moral: Always question your conclusions.

Imagine a band called Scope Creep? Could they be disappointed I.T. project members? Possible.

So, don't give up and join a band, read the genuine article.

So how do I get my other (great) articles to be top-three? Maybe I should sprinkle references to Lady Gaga in them? Perhaps: "Consulting skills workshops with a special appearance by Britney"?

Free lunch

This is a long one. You need to promise to read it to the end.

We start with a quote from the NY Times Sunday Style section: (registration required)

One weekend the elegant Francis Carpenter (of Dupont fame) and her friend Shirley Maytag sailed into Sag Harbor. ''We must go to the Hedges,'' Francis said, (referring to the restaurant owned by the famous chef Henri Soule) and so they set out for East Hampton.

Arriving, Francis was stunned to see only a few cars. The dining room was all set up but empty. ''Tell Mr. Soule that Mrs. Carpenter is here for lunch,'' Francis said to a passing busboy.

Soon, Soule appeared in a bloody apron wiping his hands. Apologizing that he'd been butchering, he was charm itself, seating the ladies and asking what they'd like. ''Whatever you'd like us to have,'' responded the gracious Francis. To Mrs. Maytag, she whispered: ''Poor Henri. He has no customers.''

Soule served them a fine lunch accompanied by an excellent white Bordeaux. When Francis asked for the check. ''Oh, madam,'' Soule said, bowing. ''There is no check. For you see, there is no lunch at the Hedges!''

So, who says there's no free lunch?

Providing service clearly not within his "scope" and when he had other things to do? And for FREE? Whew!

So many emotions surfaced when I read that. Is it that "Rich people always get to enjoy life?" I think not . . . how about "good customers always get the best."

Did you think "It's easy for a successful restaurant owner to give away a free lunch"?  I would agree. It wasn't a big deal for him. OK, perhaps it was. But he handled it with total grace.

It was a big deal for his "clients", though -- not the free part but that he would even accept to serve lunch when he didn't have a lunch menu!

Do you think those same clients came back, again and again? You bet. Do you think they told their friends about their experience? No question about it. It's still being reported in the paper! And if you thought: "Yeah, I'll do that when I'm famous," let me suggest you give some thought to this: 

How do you think he became so famous?

Moral: Pick your own threshold of what and when you can give away for "free" (or ask your project manager or your spouse or your accountant). It could be an hour, two, a whole weekend. It could be within your specialty or not. Deliver with no questions asked. After the work is done, and if the opportunity arises, bring it up, WITH GRACE. If you can't find a graceful way, forget it.

Whichever way, the return on that "investment" is bound to be hundreds of percent. With the same client or with others (whom they will refer you to!)

Who won the 2000 presidential debates?

The candidate known for his debating skills or the one who was called grammatically challenged and an awkward speaker?

We don’t know. But what’s interesting is how Governor Bush’s campaign set the stage prior to the debates by letting us know that debating skills were not critical to being president and that their candidate would still try to communicate his vision to contrast with Al Gore’s. And therefore “Even if Mr. Bush ties with Mr. Gore, he wins” they said.

What happened? After the debates, “Bush aides said their man had fought Gore to a draw in the debate. And a draw, they said, means an overall victory for Bush.”

Fascinating how managing expectations works!