Putting passion into professional service and consulting firms

Roger Hamilton has been busy banging the drum about the 10 key trends that will impact on businesses over the next decade. 

He is set to explain these in detail at the ‘Your Life, Your Legacy‘ seminar which is currently ongoing in London, however, one key trend he has alluded to in recent talks is the “most significant transfer of wealth from the West to the East” which is happening right now. 

He goes on to explain that the rise of the West over the last 150 years as a result of the industrial revolution will be no more than a blip in history as the East rises once again as the dominant power.

Roger poses the challenge - if you’re not already positioning your business to take advantage of the rise of China, India and the Asia Pacific region then not only are you potentially set to miss out on one of the greatest opportunities of our generation but your business may also be left servicing an economy on its last legs…..

So what is your professional services firm doing to ride this wave?

I would be interested in hearing.  I also look forward to hearing from PSFs in the Asia Pacific Region who see oportunities in working with PSFs in the West.

Either leave a comment or you can drop me a line on info[at]passionatepractice[dot]com.

P.S.  The teleconference calls on the Your Life Your Legacy link above are worth a listen (under Audio tab).  Disappointed I couldn’t make it to the event! 

An interesting post from Services Safari including the following quote:

“Today, I’d say they are service providers that provide a narrowly defined, mostly irrelevant and low-value solution. I would not classify it as a profession anymore. Professionals put public interests first. Professionals have a code of conduct that makes them divorce themselves of unethical clients or illegal or unethical practices. They do not compromise on materials of professional integrity. I cannot see how an auditor can sign off on financial statements when the presence of SPEs makes it impossible to assess the true business and financial risks a client really faces.

This is an industry in trouble. It needs strong leadership, innovation and change. Will it happen in time?”

If you read this - all about Deloitte’s commitment to innovation (which let’s face it, all the other Big firms are up to too) - and then this, you start to wonder what’s in the best interests of clients and the professional services industry as a whole?

“Thinking outside the box, implies you are still in one.”

- Ryan Swigert, Founder of Dreamblind, LLC.

An interesting excerpt from Stephen Shapiro’s blog:

6 Ways Innovation Can Recession-Proof Your Business

“Sometimes you only want temporary measures to help you ride out tough times. I worked at Accenture, the large international management consulting firm, for 15 years. During my time there we went through three recessions. Each time the pattern was the same: the economy tanks, customers reduce spending on consulting, Accenture lays off employees, the economy picks up, Accenture scrambles to hire talent. During the 2001 dot-com bubble burst, they used a different approach. Instead of handing out pink slips, they offered a leave of absence for a period of time. The employee on sabbatical would get 20% of their salary (plus benefits) and would be assured a job upon their return. This helped match supply with demand, while keeping morale relatively high. Sometimes a creative solution can help you smooth the ups and downs of the economy.”

 

 

Ideally, any staff who do (want to) come back will return armed with new ideas, insights and experiences - as well as an added respect for your firm’s creative and longer-term perspective.