THE RIGHT COMPANY FOR
THE RIGHT JOB
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Frederick Taylor is often cited as the founder of Scientific Management. One of its guiding principles is: "The right person for the right job." That sentiment is echoed in the quotes above - from Jack Welch and Henry Ford.
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When confronted with an unknown mountain range, would you hire a surfer, clown, magician, professor, scientist or Sherpa? That is not a trick question. Obviously, engaging anyone other than the Sherpa dooms the objective to failure.
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A surfer is highly skilled and athletic, but lacks the knowledge of mountain climbing and most important - the mountain - which ridge hides more mountains, and which ridge hides the promised land. So if you are planning an expedition to climb a mountain - and equally important to find the hidden valley - it is unlikely you would hire a surfer to lead and protect you notwithstanding his particular skills and attributes.
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Clowns, magicians, professors and scientists all have their own niche, but each lacks the skill set and the knowledge requisite to conquer the mountain - to lead the expedition to Shangri-La. They can try. And you bear the cost and the risk.
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Similarly, there are CPA firms, tax firms and other consultants who have skills and knowledge that, when applied against the right objectives, are the right persons for the right jobs and will provide value to a client. But none of those have the skills and knowledge requisite to create, develop and capture significant discretionary benefits that are the hallmark of US Consults. They can try. But you will fail to optimize what could have been gained.
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Failing to engage the right firm for the right job also self-imposes a barrier to success - as ignorance of what is possible is a truly formidable mountain of a barrier.
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“And if any man think that he knoweth any thing, he knoweth nothing yet as he ought to know.”
1 Corinthians 8:2
"A little learning is a dangerous thing"
An Essay on Criticism
Alexander Pope 1709
Alexander Pope's famous quote is often restated as "A little knowledge is a dangerous thing." The reality is that no one knows everything about anything. One simply has to think of the absolute facts of the universe - as considered facts through time. From a flat Earth at the center of the universe (the geocentric view still embraced through the mid 1700's), through maps by those who had explored showing California as an island (up through at least 1748 - Anson's sea chart), history is littered with confirmations that whatever we think we know - we don't.
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The wisdom in Corinthians remains unchanged as the absolute, positively known and established "facts" during the same ensuing years have been proved untrue.
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In short, just as much as total ignorance is a significant barrier to achieving the "impossible", so, too is the attitude that one knows everything about something.
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Therein lies another mountain of a barrier to maximizing potential: self-anointed omniscience. Recognizing that no one knows everything about anything is the key to resolving virtually every problem - every challenge - including the ones we resolve for our clients. Time has proved to us that the greatest obstacle we must overcome to resolve a client's challenges is the belief by a prospective client that "someone" knows everything about something - and that particular someone is an employee of the prospective client or a favored consultant.
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Our area of expertise is unique and highly specialized. We know of no other firm that has our capabilities and embraces our approach and philosophy based in research and analysis, and expressed and explained through Raison D'état and Raison D'être. But even we know that we don't know everything about anything - and are always open and inviting, always seeking new information and new perspectives.
