consulting « Able and How

2012: A year of change

MARYLEBONE — This year is a big year of change. In technology, in the world economy, the world of sport, even in the way all our countries are run. There are elections in America, France, India…

What is more significant in a country than a change of government?

And that’s what is promised in India, Malaysia, Taiwan, Serbia, Kuwait, El Salvador, The Gambia, Armenia, Algeria, Madagascar, Libya, Mongolia, Mexico, Cameroon, Kenya, Sierra Leone, Ghana, Belarus, Ukraine, Ghana, Angola, Bhutan, Guinea, Lesotho, Zimbabwe and Togo.

New presidents in Yemen, Senegal, Mali, Russia, Dominican Republic, Mexico, Albania, France, Kenya, Turkey, the United States of America, Venezuela, Sierra Leone, Egypt, Kosovo and Zimbabwe. Yes, Zimbabwe.

We know that the United States presidential election of 2012 is to be held on Tuesday, November 6, 2012. It will be the 57th presidential election. And it will get a lot of attention.

But how about the world’s largest democracy?

Yes. That’s India. How about that one?

Or the big red splotch above? Russia.

That’s important too.

There are other changes coming too. Some, we seem to know for sure:

Gold prices will keep going up. And hit $2,000 and ounce in 2012, they say.
The Internet is going to change. A new IP address protocol will mean that companies may start building two sites for a doubled up Internet — the old one, and the new one.
We’ll all be talking about faster, slimmer smart phones and The Cloud. If you don’t know about either, now is the time to do some research.
Plus many more things you may want to share?

This time next year things will be very different.

I promise.

Businesses will fail. Some will be dominant that you haven’t even heard of. Yours will merge, divest, make a 90 degree turn, or implement similar significant changes.

So, what are you doing about it?

Well it is a topic that is quite dear to our hearts at Able and How. We are launching our Able and How Change Index this year. And our change management work the world over continues at a pace.

We will be keeping an eye on business, political and social trends this year. And keeping you up to date with the Able and How Change List (look for it soon in our News section).

Change is good.

Get into it with us.

/df

P.S. And, by the way, NASA assures us that the world is not going to end. After many years of fielding wild calls, they were forced to put up this website.

Heart and Seoul: Why I want to work in Korea

LONDON — It’s been hard not to think about Korea this week. But I have different things on my mind. Not the loss of a dictator. Not the worry that still has South Korean’s practicing evacuations like WWII Britain and Cold War America.

I am thinking about Korea’s fertile business culture and the country’s uncanny ability to reinvent itself, rebuild and refocus just in time for tremendous success.

See if you can read this bit without stopping in your tracks:

in 1961 South Korea ranked 117th in the world for arable land per capita (behind Saudi Arabia and Somalia)
in the last 50 years Korea’s per-capita GDP has grown at 23,000 percent
today the tiny country (smaller than Iceland) has the world’s 12th largest economy by purchasing power
unemployment is 3.2 percent
one of the world’s lowest rates of public debt
80% of the 49 million people live in urban areas
Koreans are four times as likely to have high-speed internet access as Americans and they pay very little for it

A series of seemingly prescient government decisions have constantly shoved the economy in the right direction. Even through the tough economic times in the late 90s and mid 2000s the countries has seemed to make the right choices.

Today they are pushing — against their own traditions — for more entrepreneurship. And I wouldn’t bet against them.

In fact, I’d like to be there now. If the chaebols’ would give us a call? Samsung, LG, SK… we’d like a word.

/df

M & A away… Change will bring more merger activity

LONDON — I talked to an M&A banker on the weekend. Made me think of my time at high school dances. Always standing on the wall, trying to look cool. But never out on the actual dance floor.

The merger and acquisition market is a bit quiet at the moment. And amen to that. We’re busy enough without it. Businesses are — rightly — taking advantage of the quiet and their own peaceful progress, to transform their operations.

We’re working on big “transformation” programmes on several continents and in a diversity of sectors. Change management is in high demand. And that’s good.

But M&A will be back. My friend should be up frugging, ‘cutting some rug’ and doing The Hustle by Q2 at the latest.

Transformation is the powder room before the ball.

That’s my prediction.

Watch this space.

/df

When communicators attack

EARL’S COURT — Not sure how I missed this one. But The Independent has been running a investigative series on lobbyists. And they’ve chosen one of the biggest and most respected firms to ‘expose’.

In summary, some journalists pretended to be wealthy potential clients from a large foreign country and they recorded the communications professionals bragging about things they shouldn’t [...]

Christmas Jumper Day

It was Christmas Jumpers Day today at Able and How. Few looked like they were new. Clearly the back of the closet is not as far away as it would appear.

Earlier this week, festive elves hung socks around our staircase with every employees’ names on them. So far no surprises.

Happy holiday season.

/df

Business transformations: Same, same, different

DOHA, QATAR — We’re working on four different ‘transformation programmes’ at the moment. Combined they are on three continents, in over 30 countries.

You would think that would provide some shocking contrasts. But it does something quite different. It shows startling similarities.

Everything has superficial differences: language, geography, industry, structure…

Yes, those can seem superficial.

The issues in big business transformation generally fall into [...]

How to buy consulting: costs, fees, expenses…

AT HOME — I’ve been trying to figure out how I ended up with a four-digit dentist’s bill this month, without ever discussing even the procedure, let alone the fees.

And I can’t really make sense of it.

Similarly we have been working with a mid-level legal firm a few years and we keep getting bills through the door with what seems [...]

The cascade is broken

SOUTH WEST LONDON — They say it’s broken. But I am not convinced it ever really worked. The company cascade is like the Lost City of Atlantis… or the missing Beach Boys album. Many people think it’s out there, but disappointment is the most likely outcome.

Here’s how the theory goes:
• You start at the top with a message.
• You give [...]

Transformation and change management: How to…

WEST LONDON — There’s a hording around the big, refurbished church at Hammersmith flyover that says TRANSFORMATIONSPACE. The hordings in the photo above are at the base of the new Shard of Glass building at London Bridge.

What are they on about?

The words ‘change’ and ‘transformation’ are starting to gain some currency in business circles these days. Many, many large companies [...]

Drawing attention to yourself: The consulting challenge

GREAT PORTLAND STREET - Not far from our offices is the Chinese Embassy in the UK. Across the street there’s a booth set up and someone practising Falun Gong 24 hours a day. Falun Gong (which just looks like aerobics to you and me) is illegal in China.

It’s undoubted that they are annoying the Embassy by doing this. [...]

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