Intro -- Brooks Helmick LO1648

BHBoston@aol.com
Thu, 15 Jun 1995 12:57:14 -0400

My firm, The IML Boston Group, is a general management consulting firm.
We help our clients to better manage strategic change, and to do this by
gaining as much corporate-wide involvement as possible in both formulating
and implementing directional changes. Back in the 80=92s we became
convinced that for organizations to gain speed in responding to external
changes, strategic responsibility had to be moved beyond just senior
management. The central question we typically ask all of our clients to
organize themselves around, and ask themselves continuously, is - How do
we need to change the way we are doing business to compete more
effectively? This is a deceptively simple question that, without using
the term, gets at the root of strategy, and yet can be put to anyone in
any organization.

The two works that have influenced our practice the most have been The
Fifth Discipline and Flight of the Buffalo. The Fifth Discipline, of
course, has provided a sharper framework of the skills and attitudes
needed to bring about change. Flight of the Buffalo may be less familiar
to many on this list, although interestingly on another Internet mailing
list on leadership, in a recent poll of best management books, The Fifth
Discipline and Flight of the Buffalo tied for first place - our assessment
precisely.

For those who have not read the Buffalo - a quick summary. The thesis is
that in most organizations the staff behaves like a buffalo herd - i.e. if
the chief buffalo runs off the cliff so do they. If he lies down to
sleep, they follow. Now contrast that with the flight of the Canadian
geese - all in formation with a common sense of destination and trading
off the lead to get there. So there you have it. How do you make a
Buffalo fly? Less intellectual than the Fifth Discipline, but if you want
to have your staff look outward and take the lead, this is the best
practical book around.

Many of our clients have said it is the best management book they have
ever read - and contrary to most management books, you can hand this one
to anyone in the organization. Give it to cross-functional teams and you
may get a revolution.

I have been observing the outstanding contributions on this list now for
several weeks. However, unable to drop my consulting hat, I do have some
suggestions. But to keep this long intro from getting longer, I will
place these on a separate message. My interest with this list is more
along th= e lines of Pepe Espin92s recent intro - i.e. tying in
organizational learn= ing principles and practice with anything Hamel and
Prahalad have done. Their core competency building work is outstanding.
Their new work, Competing for the Future, is also excellent - i.e.
organizing to learn about, assess and respond to external forces shaping
your destiny. Helping our clients do it faster and better - that=92s our
game. Will dialogue here anytime.

Nice to be aboard with such a talented, thoughtful group of colleagues.

--
Brooks Helmick
Managing Director
The IML Boston Group
BHBoston@aol.com