Ignite the Promise

HELP WANTED: Business Solution Designers!

The challenges of the new economy -- global impact, global downslides, plus international competition -- demands more from all of us.  In one scenario it is recommended that we need Information Technology (IT) professionals to become more business oriented to be able to go beyond a technology fix, i.e., to also provide business solutions within the context of their IT expertise.  This will be a challenge to some to shift their thought processes from fundamental IT to thinking the integration of people and technology to fulfill a business mission.

In the electronic newsletter CIO of 28 September 2011 (www.cio.com/article/print/690630), we read about this new hybrid professional called the Business Solution Designer (BSD).  The BSD would be capable of applying technology to solve business and operational problems, not just functional technology ones.  There are already IT professionals doing this but now they have a name, BSD!

I don't know if it is the sound of 'Business Solution Designer' or what, but the article caught my interest.  Maybe it's because I tend to be a systems person interested in the whole enterprise and this new 'person' reaches beyond their defined specialty to a broader perspective.  Becoming a BSD would certainly make one more valuable to influence business decisions and to be a better bridge across disciplines. I found this focused idea definitely a worthy direction for all professionals to consider, i.e., add business acumen to one's specialty. 

 © Baldwin H. Tom CMC
www.tbgroupconsultants.com

The U.S. Navy Seals Approach to Contract Management

The U.S. Navy Seals team that found and killed Osama Bin Laden was mission focused.  They planned, acted, and went home.  Except for the 'search and destroy' element, there is a nice parallel for management consultants with this approach – plan, act, depart – in working on projects.  Consultants do this in their normal approach to client work.  They do not linger and do not bill time not doing work.  The client pays for the work and not for ‘wait’ time.  We suggest this should be the norm in working on contracts with the federal government, or any entity that has broad needs. 

Since no one person or small group (company) can have all that is needed to address every issue that may arise within a large organization, a means to have available talent, experience, and resources to meet needs is key. Navy Seals teams are assembled to represent all the expertise needed for each engagement.

Traditionally, management consultants and their firms work on a range of projects and don't remain long with any single client.  Very large consulting firms tend to 'win' one project after another because of their size and breadth.  Effectively the clients buy needed services off of a ‘menu’ and when the service (meal) is complete, the consultant and client part company (except for large firms who have more than one 'menu').  This approach when applied to needs within a federal agency has the potential to be very efficient and cost effective.  Small firms and individual consultants can provide such needs by joining forces with each other.  

We suggest that one approach is to have a small business with access to a large cadre of talented consultants become that menu-driven provider of services, with the potential for adding new menu items as the situation dictates (like the Navy Seals adding another expert to their team).  The difference between this small team and the large firm approach is that the large firm has high overhead and personnel costs that they cannot ignore.  The small team approach does not have the same cost burden because each of the team members is an independent entity that manages their own costs.  Thus, the client gets the services needed without the additional expense of a large parent organization.  Importantly, the small team approach (because its members can be moved about) can continuously bring in best-in-class expertise that the large firms cannot, since their personnel are already set in place.  Just like the Navy Seals, the small team is flexible and agile.  It does not have the hierarchical structure that will slow decision making found in large firms.  The client benefits because decisions can be made on the spot.

So what is needed for a Navy Seals Team approach?

1. 'Flat' team (small hierarchical structure) with a large national footprint to access talent and resources
2. Easily accessible by the client
3. Proven administrative and financial ability to support multiple teams
4. Strong infrastructure for financial management, knowledge management, and project management
5. Electronically capable to support enhanced communications with clients and team members
6. Proven ability to successfully manage multiple projects with demonstrated flexibility and agility in support of client’s unexpected needs
7. Proven capacity to 'partner' and manage client expectations to client’s satisfaction
8. Defined processes to leverage collective knowledge – ‘think tank team’
9. Talented certified personnel to serve as project directors, managers, and project staff
10. Linkage to best practices, professional association, and other subject matter experts
11. Third-party awards and recognition that validate claims of excellence
12. Bound by a third-party independent Professional Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct

© Baldwin H. Tom CMC
www.tbgroupconsultants.com

Making Decisions Depletes Your Decision Making!

It's all about overdoing something.  Apparently, we can overdo our ability to make sound decisions by having made too many beforehand -- like decision fatigue!

In a The New York Times magazine article (To Choose is To Lose, August 21, 2011 - online version readable here), John Tierney presents compelling studies that show we compromise our ability to make sound decisions if we have exhausted our decision making 'currency' with prior decisions.

1. When decisions are made at different parts of the day, the decisions vary because of the energy level of the decision maker -- some of us are morning persons and others are night persons, etc. 
2. At certain parts of the day, we suffer decision fatigue when making the same types of decisions over and over again (repetitive types) – such as reviewing proposals, evaluating applications, and deciding on parole of inmates.  Before a meal (with energy lagging) can be a poor time for decision making.
3. Decision fatigue is an occupational hazard, such as for people working behind a customer counter (license bureaus, bank tellers).  The fatigue often results in irritability as well.
4. It can happen to football quarterbacks at the end of a stress-filled game, where poor decisions are made.
5. No matter how rational and high-minded you try to be, you cannot make decision after decision without paying a biological price.  This is different from physical fatigue because you are not consciously aware of being tired, but are low in mental energy.
6. When mentally fatigued, the brain looks for shortcuts, e.g., to do nothing or become reckless or act impulsively instead of thinking through the consequences. 

Experiments also demonstrate there is a finite store of mental energy for exerting self-control.  Consequently, willpower, a form of mental energy, could be exhausted. Decision fatigue can be episodic or chronic.  Here are some examples:

• In the case of the parole board, rather than consider the merits for parole, a tired board would rather not deliberate and does nothing and does not consider parole, to the dismay of the candidate.
• Living for the poor is a constant struggle against trade-offs.  They have to decide moment by moment what they must buy, what they must forego, and what they can afford.  This constant (chronic) need to make decisions creates fatigue.  It is suggested that this fatigue is a major factor in trapping people in poverty.  There is less will power to consider looking for a job, to get training, or to make other life decisions beyond surviving another day.

What is the cause of the decision fatigue?  Is it just the repetition -- psychological or physiological?

Numerous experiments have been performed to see what would restore willpower after depletion. Study in both humans and animals show that glucose is the ingredient that restores willpower!  This was strongly proven by brain activity scans with subjects depleted of energy and willpower and those not depleted.  The studies showed that when glucose was administered, the brain scans show renewed activity in the brain regions that coincided with renewed willpower.

This finding is challenging for those on diets.  When you deprive yourself of high sugar foods, your willpower drops and by late in the day your body craves sugar to replenish your fuel.  A nutritional catch-22.

Moral:  Do not be hungry before making a decision when glucose levels are reduced.  Have a snack or eat before making critical decisions, i.e, do not make those decisions just before lunch or before dinner!

© Baldwin H. Tom CMC
www.tbgroupconsultants.com

10 Most Depressing States in America

When I found this report, it got my attention because I have become sensitized to the needs of people under stress.  Madeline, a senior chaplain working in the critical incident stress area, regularly attends workshops and conferences dealing with counseling and supporting people with stress -- depression, pain, and post traumatic stress disorder (found in many returning war veterans).  In accompanying her to these sessions, I have grown to appreciate the needs.  Health.com, using data from federal agencies, identified 10 states with the highest rates of depression, psychological distress, and other indicators of poor mental health. The states in alphabetical order are AK, IN, KT, MI, MS, MO, NV, OK, TN, and WV.

While genetics will play some role here, the environment plays an important trigger for psychological and physical distress.  High unemployment, high joblessness leads to anxiety, depression and, often, substance abuse.  These stressors are complicated by obesity, and hypertension.  Most of the 10 states fit in this category: Kentucky, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Nevada, and Tennessee. 

Arkansas and Indiana are in a second group.  The bad economy has devastated community health center budgets, just as unemployment rises.  Many young adults are impacted.

The last two states, Oklahoma and West Virginia, have high poverty and low insurance coverage.  West Virginia ranked last or next to last on every mental health category evaluated.

Our nation's economy and health are given faces and names as the needs impact more and more people in negative ways.  We need to change this downward trajectory!

The report can be read at http://www.health.com/health/gallery/0,,20483493,00.html.

 © Baldwin H. Tom CMC
www.tbgroupconsultants.com