I had lunch with a former colleague today. She’s a former consultant and we tracked onto the topic of what good consultants (vs. bad consultants) leave behind when the project is done.

When I look back at our best work, the most successful projects have a very important aspect in common. The deliverable build was oriented around a pre-planned process and included the construction of an infrastructure/architecture (some simple, some complex) that could be handed off to the client at the end of the project.

In many cases, it would be much easier to swoop in, generate the marketing, build the presentations, write the speeches and line up the next project. But, the more interesting approach includes the development of repeatable process and infrastructure components to which future client marketing projects can be tacked. A set of robust tools that can get you where you want to go over and over again (like our good bridge above).

We’ve certainly had clients that aren’t as focused on that aspect at first, but it’s our duty as professionals to put the option front and center. This is especially the case when our C-level clients have the fiduciary duty to public shareholders.

We’re focused on integrating business strategy and marketing operations in the practical work we deliver. Process and infrastructure are invaluable to making that succeed for our clients in the long-term.  

It’s truly astounding to me that our country went to the moon forty years ago. As I watched the news this morning, one thing that really made me sit up is that they made the journey in a craft with far less computing power than any mobile phone on the market today. Not much room for error there.

So how did they do it? Incredible, well-coordinated teamwork powered by three principles that can be applied to complex business and technical initiatives in your own executive sphere of influence.  

Map. Big vision set by the executive and laid out in stretch milestones. This is where the plan came together – a visual roadmap that everyone from the junior engineer to the senior manager could point to and process and say “I’m working on that piece right there and I see how I fit in the bigger scheme of things.” This is especially important to managing buy-in at all levels of the organization because it helps validate members contributions to a winning team.

Measure. Constant re-assessment of what is working and what is not working. You can’t manage what you don’t measure.

Communicate. Every team was on the same page at the same time. These guys were experts at building communication processes and systems. In the context of the moon landing, think about the relatively simple concept of a flight checklist. Everyone on the critical path is on the radio working the list. Now expand that relatively discrete moment of communication process Zen and expand it across the hardware and software development cycles that went into a 10-year effort that resulted in two-hours of surface time on that first landing.

Yeah.  WOW!!!

We’re thinking of selling those funny headsets to our clients.  

Now that you have the green light for your big initiative, it’s your job to make sure that mid-level team members do get it and that they have the tools to communicate and make decisions with their supporting resources and colleagues across the enterprise.

In our experience, most successful initiatives, especially complex, cross-divisional initiatives have one thing in common: A clear, visual articulation of the end state that you can bring into every team meeting.

What do we mean by this? You need to build a one-page depiction of what the initiative will look like on the last day of the implementation which also illustrates how you’re going to get there. Bonus points for calling out the critical path and potential roadblocks.

Why are you spending so much shareholder money? Here take a look – I will show you.

What teams are involved in this project? Here take a look – I will show you.

What is the critical path? Here take a look – I will show you.

How can my team help you? Here take a look – I will show you.

There’s a big difference between a 15-page memo or PowerPoint describing your initiative and synthesized one-page graphical representation that metaphorically jumps off the page (yeah, color really helps). Especially today, as various communication technologies (oh, Internet, thanks for the distraction) train us to think and make decisions in ever shorter cycles, you have have to be clear and concise to get the results you desire.

One of the best change management leaders I ever worked for developed an innovative critical path diagram that described a process and systems implementation for a multi-billion dollar financial restatement. To give you an idea of scop, the 1-page diagram described the multiple-billion dollars spent on software development, how 60+ workstreams were connected and interdependent, and the ever in-flux critical path to completion. This was for the most complext accounting in finance.

It fit legibly on a sheet of 11×14 paper.

The genius of the diagram was such that it became the go-to contextual reference for a team of thousands. The CEO down to the contract programmer referenced this document in every meeting. Every meeting for 18 months!

Because of smart visual design and display of critical information, everyone was on the same page of one of the most complex projects ever completed in the world of corporate finance (I know, H-O-T).