Process
Clear Thinking Before Action
Good consulting should reduce uncertainty, not add complexity.
The Holland Resource process is designed to create enough structure to examine an important issue carefully while remaining practical enough to fit the realities of a working organization.
The details will vary depending on the situation, but the underlying approach remains consistent.
The objective is not to impose a consulting methodology on the organization. It is to create a disciplined way to think through the situation and determine what should happen next.
The Five-Part Process
Listen and Frame
Understand the situation before trying to solve it.
Every engagement begins with listening.
- What is happening?
- Why is the issue important now?
- Who is affected?
- What has already been tried?
- What constraints exist?
- What decision ultimately needs to be made?
It is important to understand not only leadership’s description of the issue but also its history, context, stakeholders, and consequences. Sometimes the question presented at the beginning of an engagement is exactly the right question. Sometimes it is not. The first task is to frame the situation clearly enough that everyone understands what problem or decision is actually being addressed. That may require looking beyond the initial symptoms and asking a more fundamental question:
What are we really trying to solve?
Separate Facts From Assumptions
Determine what we know, what we believe, and what we still need to understand.
Organizations naturally develop assumptions. Some are accurate. Some were once accurate but are no longer true. Others are repeated so often that they gradually become accepted as fact. Before making consequential decisions, those distinctions matter.
We examine:
- What is known
- What is believed
- What evidence supports those beliefs
- What information is missing
- What conditions have changed
- Where different stakeholders are working from different assumptions
This is often where an apparently simple problem begins to look different. A visible cost increase may not be the real source of a financial problem. A customer-service problem may actually originate in workflow or communication. An execution problem may be caused by conflicting priorities rather than poor employee performance. A stalled strategy may reflect changed circumstances rather than a failure of the original plan. Separating facts from assumptions helps leadership avoid solving the wrong problem well.
Clarify Choices and Priorities
Identify the decisions that actually matter.
Strategy is ultimately about choices. Organizations often have more opportunities, problems, initiatives, and demands than they have time or resources to address. Trying to do everything usually creates activity without direction.
At this stage, the work shifts toward determining:
- What deserves leadership attention now?
- What can wait?
- What should stop?
- What should continue?
- Which alternatives are genuinely available?
- What tradeoffs are involved?
- What are we choosing not to do?
- Where must leadership reach alignment?
The objective is to reduce a complicated situation to a manageable number of meaningful choices. If everything remains a priority, the process has not gone far enough. Clarity requires deciding what matters most.
Translate Direction Into Action
Turn the decision into something the organization can actually execute.
A strategy that cannot be translated into action is only an idea. Once direction and priorities are clear, the next step is to establish what happens next.
Depending on the engagement, that may include:
- Clear ownership
- Near-term priorities
- Specific next actions
- Milestones
- Communication responsibilities
- Decision points
- Measures of progress
- Dependencies
- Risks requiring attention
The objective is not to create an elaborate implementation bureaucracy. It is to make sure that leadership’s decisions can survive contact with the daily operation of the organization. Someone has to know what happens Monday morning.
Monitor and Adjust
Stay committed to the objective without becoming trapped by the original plan.
A good plan provides direction. It does not eliminate uncertainty. Markets change. Customers respond differently than expected. Technology develops. Employees leave. New information becomes available. Assumptions prove wrong. Execution reveals things that could not have been known during planning. That does not automatically mean the strategy failed. It means leadership must continue paying attention.
The process should identify:
- Measures that indicate whether the plan is working
- Risks that deserve continued attention
- Important assumptions that should be monitored
- Decision points
- Warning signs
- Conditions that should trigger a review or adjustment
I think of this as laying the blocks while continuing to look ahead. You know the direction. You begin building. You watch the conditions. And when necessary, you adjust the next block without abandoning the objective simply because circumstances changed.
Good strategy provides direction. Good leadership continues to observe.
The Client’s Role
Consulting works best when it is collaborative. I bring an outside perspective, structured questioning, experience, and a disciplined problem-solving approach. The client brings something equally important: knowledge of the organization.
Leadership understands its history, people, customers, culture, constraints, and ambitions in ways an outside advisor cannot. Employees often understand the practical realities of a process better than anyone else. The strongest conclusions usually emerge when those perspectives are brought together.
For that reason, I expect candid conversation, access to relevant information, and a willingness to examine uncomfortable assumptions when necessary. The objective is not for the consultant to become the smartest person in the room. The objective is for the organization to make a better decision.
A Focused Engagement
Holland Resource engagements are intended to remain focused. Before beginning substantial work, we should be able to define:
- The situation
- The central question
- The people who need to be involved
- The expected outcome
- The boundaries of the engagement
Some situations may require a concentrated strategic-planning process. Others may need only a small number of focused conversations. The scope should fit the problem rather than forcing the problem to fit the consulting engagement.
What Happens First
Every engagement begins with a conversation. You do not need to diagnose the problem before contacting Holland Resource. In fact, determining the real problem may be part of the work. The first conversation is simply an opportunity to discuss what is happening, why it matters, what you have already considered, and what kind of decision or outcome you are trying to reach. From there, we can determine whether an engagement makes sense and what the appropriate scope should be.
Listen. Question. Clarify. Act. Adjust.