Advance Consulting, Inc.

MAY 2006

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The Perfect Storm

QUOTE
“The empires of the future are the empires of the mind.”

Sir Winston Churchill
Do Your Employees Have the Competencies to Weather the Perfect Storm?
As we discussed in last month’s newsletter, three storms are brewing in today’s business environment: globalization, the shift to solutions, and traditional/obsolete organizational structures. Alone, each of these storms presents formidable business challenges. Together, they are interacting to create a storm much stronger than the sum of its parts – the Perfect Storm. This storm is creating intense pressure affecting our businesses and people.

Organizations that will flourish in these rough waters will be those that develop people with the competencies needed to support high-performing teams in dynamic and virtual work environments. High-performing teams demand high-performance skill sets among knowledge workers and leaders, yet most people who work within traditional organizational structures are not equipped with the necessary competencies.

For years consultants have been facing the kinds of challenges that most knowledge workers and leaders are now facing in the Perfect Storm: virtual team-based work, adaptive and creative/disruptive leadership, fast and continuous learning, dynamic work processes, and the need to work collaboratively to produce rapid and innovative results. By adapting competencies from the consulting world we can better prepare our people and teams to work effectively and survive the Perfect Storm.

But what exactly are those competencies? At Advance Consulting we have defined key behaviors within eight consultative competencies known to be practical and relevant attributes of high-performing consultants. To ensure both specificity and breadth, we defined key behaviors for the eight competencies at three proficiency levels: Practitioner (Knowledge Worker), Project Leader, and Strategic Business Leader. We have now entered the research phase of this work. In this phase we will further validate the competencies, develop assessment tools, and apply these tools within organizations to guide human capital development programs.

Advance Consulting is pleased to announce that we are conducting this research in partnership with the leading edge Enterprise of the Future (EoF) initiative. EoF is a research initiative within the George Washington University’s Institute of Knowledge and Innovation aimed at developing and applying organizational next practices for achieving sustainable high performance in a flat world.

In the Enterprise of the Future, starting today, an organization’s ability to innovate, adapt and develop new solutions, grow new business, work efficiently, and manage costs is dependent on the competencies of its people. These competencies earn companies “a seat at the table” in the global economy, differentiate them from their competitors, and help drive the radical change needed to sustain growth, profitability, and relevance in the turbulent marketplace.

To learn more about these competencies and how to develop your employees, or to get additional information on the EoF, please contact us at info@advanceconsulting.com or call 831-372-9444.

FIND OUT MORE
Advance Consulting is a professional development company that provides state-of-the-art consulting services, workshops, seminars, and speaking engagements throughout the U.S. and internationally. Find out more at www.advanceconsulting.com, send us an email at advanceinfo@advanceconsulting.com, or call us at (831) 372-9444 for more information.