Our Perspective on Management Consulting

We are often asked, What does a management consultant do? Do you ever wonder? The short answer, is we fix corporate problems.

• Need a strategic perspective based off of a broader view? - we do that.
• Need a fresh set of eyes in terms of prioritization and analysis review? - we do that.
• Need a tailored learning & development program? - we do that.
• Need help deploying a new technical back office system from recoding data to redesigning processes to training your team to building your new team structure? - we do that.
• Need some really smart, multifaceted employees for a short, not long-term duration? - we do that.
• Need a specific skill to fill a temporary gap? - we do that.

But at Knox Management Consultant, we do not necessarily want to do that.

Huh?!?!?

Let me explain.

Our team if full of bright and intelligent people. The common threads amongst us are: experience, expertise and more importantly, intellectual curiosity. The last one really means that we are nerds - ?? - because we like to figure out how things work.

So with a Strategic Effects mindset, we are not coming into your business problem with a pre-defined answer. Instead we are coming in with questions. Our philosophy for doing this is that we cannot truly advise you -- help you prioritize and make tough decisions if we do not know the Why. Why things work. Why things are done the way they are done. Why certain decisions were made.

This mindset entails:

Observe. Orient. Build Decision Frameworks. Act. Repeat.

This leads us to another key point in our approach. Whereas most consulting firms focus on billable hours, we instead focus on impact or value add. To do this, we prefer to work on fixed price models with kickers tied to milestone deliverables. This means we have skin in the game. And, at the same time, it gives our clients control over the budget. Our analogy being that we are located in Texas, is we do not want to be I-35. (I-35 covers 500 miles right in the middle of Texas. And, it is always under construction.) In order words, some consulting projects are like the I-35 construction: Never Ending.

Not us.

If we are not in a position of implementing strategic effects (i.e., driving impactful results) for your company or the project, then we do not want the work. Which means we say No at times.

So back to our nerd side. While we love to learn about your business, we also enjoy the execution side. Execution is where theory meets reality. It is where the significance of discipline, coordination, and attention to detail come into play.

This mindset also sets our clients up for success after we've completed our work as this work translates to aligning teams, allocating resources efficiently, and closely monitoring progress. The goal is to achieve strategic effects through well-executed actions. Strategic Effects are not static; they require continuous assessment and adaptation. Business environments are constantly evolving. With Strategic Effects, we create a repeating set of tailored processes to account for the cycle for continuous improvement.

The power of Strategic Effects Consulting lies in building a learning organization—one that embraces feedback, conducts after-action reviews, and constantly seeks ways to improve. The ability to iterate, adapt and adjust is a hallmark of enduring success.

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