Has this seemed like a long month to you? Did September '07 seem about 9,000 years long? It did to me and there's some very specific neuromechanical and neurophysical reasons for it. Any time someone makes a statement about some time span seeming to be longer than it really was, there's an obvious question to ask. And I'm laughing my head off because that's not what I want to post about right now. Remind me to get back to it if you're interested.
The topic du poste maintenant is The Cost of a Question, a not quite case study of how some businesses are spending money they don't need to spend because they're not taking the time to understand the questions they want answered.
Experience has taught me that companies are often misguided when it comes to problem solving, especially when it comes to working with consultants. Many years back I was hired by Merrill-Lynch's High-Yield Division (remember them? aka "Junk Bonds") to solve a networking problem. They had received quotes anywhere from US$12-20k. I knew one of the women who worked in the Boston office, Joni, a truly beautiful woman with a good heart and mind, and she mentioned Merrill-Lynch's challenge to me one evening over dinner.
"You're kidding. That problem can be solved in about 3 hours time."
"No, it can't."
"Oh, yes, it can." and the gauntlet thrown, the job was on. The real problem took me about 20 minutes to diagnose, a solution about one hour to develop and the rest of the time was spent installing and debugging.
The solution lasted longer than the Junk Bonds Division did, but that's another story.
The point is that problems are often not what they seem. As in medical and psychiatric diagnosis, so in business operations management; designated problems are often merely symptoms, they are the way the real problem is getting our attention. Therefore figure out what's really causing the symptom and cure that. Sometimes, yes, it's a more expensive solution. It's always a longer lasting solution, however, and 99% of the time solving the real problem costs much less than you might think.
The Cost of a Question on AllBusiness.com outlines some steps that'll save most operations money.
Enjoy!
Please contact NextStage for information regarding presentations and trainings on this and other topics. Upcoming Trainings:
Upcoming Conferences:- DC Emetrics Summit on 14-17 Oct '07
- Society for New Communications Research Annual Research Symposium & Awards Gala on 5-6 Dec 07 in Boston.
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