Analyze This
You might recall seeing a television advertisement a number of years back that involved a few folks talking about a business problem and how they were going to solve it because they had hired a consulting firm who was going to conduct an assessment. The scene was very satirical and when they spoke the word assessment there was an exaggeration in the inflection that made it appear that the word itself was evil incarnate. We were intended to deduce from this 30 second spot that any company that would pay for a consulting firm to conduct an assessment were fools and that any consulting firms that would perform this pathetic service were incompetent.
Perhaps the more subtle, if not lost message in this nicely produced piece of marketing was that problems can only be solved with action and that endless investigation would just delay a resolution. The branding was intending to show that this firm was one of action.
Action is good. It is a fully necessary component of business problem resolution. Working with service providers who enact results is also a smart decision and one that I fully encourage. But, I would like to go on record as stating that assessments are not a bad thing as this commercial would imply. Another necessary component of business problem resolution is problem definition. Before you implement a solution, you really want to make sure you’re directing it toward the right problem. We can call this activity by an abundance of different titles but they are all assessment-like in nature.
We have found that our current market encourages services that move quickly into solutions. The rapid implementation of fixes is a growing portion of the services industry and very tied to the software-as-a-service explosion. Low cost solutions require short cuts. Guess what the popular thing to cut is today? Bingo – we see the lowly assessment process commonly omitted. Customers want to move straight to the answer, assuming they have a completely sufficient handle on the question. This is a good thing and a bad thing. It is bad because businesses are implementing things that don’t solve their problems, albeit they are doing it quickly and cheaply. The problems remain and they still have to take action and expend resources to solve them.
That is where the good thing comes in, because it gives the more comprehensive (and maybe more upright) service providers a great pipeline of new business. But this does not have to be the case. Adequately defining the problem prior to action is essential and even a modest exercise to correctly position the solution development can avoid wasted efforts from challenged projects. Assessments are actually a really good idea it turns out.
I know for a fact that the company who utilized the advertising campaign described above does actually conduct assessments. You can bet a large sum that they refer to these with a euphemistic title, but believe me; they assess needs and issues prior to delivering recommendations. Yet, the assessment process does have an evil side. There can be firms who only perform this kind of service. They will tell you what your problems are, but they don’t actually solve them. This can be problematic when the expertise of the firm is restricted to problem identification. The risk is that their recommendations are forged without any experience with solution execution. This gives the whole assessment thing a very bad name and was the genesis of the advertisement’s message.
Going back to the business problem solving process and examining the three major stages of the process can shed some light on an answer to this whole assessment thing. The three basic components are: problem definition, solution development, and solution execution. An assessment will include the first, and it often will include the second. As a business, you might choose to break up the steps. It is not uncommon to conduct an exercise just to define the problem. This can help the organization determine whether it is to be a priority for the set of initiatives to be tackled in the next period such as fiscal year. This enables you to scope the situation prior to committing to any action.
Performing the first two steps, problem definition and solution development, enables the organization to also budget for the execution stage, which might require significant steps just to secure funding. So, there can be delays between conducting the assessment and the execution of the recommendations. The challenge is to keep the three stages connected. Otherwise, you will tend to repeat steps and delay the achievement of the intended outcomes. Performing actions that are not sufficiently connected to a well aligned solution just leads to disaster. To keep these stages sufficiently connected you need to have one or both of the following conditions met. First, you need to have an internal owner of the process drive the three stages with continuity, even if there are gaps in time. Second, you might choose to utilize a service provider to manage the three stages to ensure this continuity. Ideally both are best, but you must have one or the other in place to have a chance at success.
I cannot count the number of times I have entered into a client organization during the middle of this sequence. Work has been performed previously to reach conclusions for action and we are expected to execute on that. However, the findings from the problem definition and the recommendations from the solution development have been handed from group to group, owner to owner. An external firm has long been dismissed and internal responsibilities have been switched around. I ask questions about the previous findings and recommendations and nobody has answers. Ultimately we have to back track and perform steps over losing time and requiring the expenditure of redundant resources. Coming into this process mid-stage with no solid connection between the stages sub-optimizes everything.
So, I guess it all boils down to continuity. The assessment is not the problem, it is the disconnected nature of this sequence of business problem solving stages that leads to the loss of effectiveness and that ultimately tarnishes the image of this maligned consulting service. This puts the burden of effective business problem solving squarely on the individual or team chartered to oversee it – even if using external services. Assuring this continuity is the key to success, either through internal continuity of oversight or the utilization of a single vendor for the entire process. If you don’t have the ability to manage this continuity, you have to set your expectations that some of the steps will have to be repeated to ensure effectiveness.
Good luck with your next assessment and keep your head held high; it is a worthy and noble exercise.
