Best practices do not create competitive advantage
Best practices produce only what your competition can achieve. They don’t create competitive advantage. It is only through the approach of a transformative practice do you truly create competitive distinctiveness.
2024-07-02
Executive Summary
There are very few examples of companies who redefine an industry. Yet there are numerous examples of companies that followed best practices to the demise of their competitiveness, and oftentimes, the company as a whole. Think WalMart vs KMart, Netflix vs Blockbuster, Apple vs Blackberry and Amazon vs Borders. It is only through the adoption of transformative practice that you redefine your business, and at times, the industry as a whole. Yet most organizations can only view their company, and their industry, through a myopic lens.
At Ollion, we espouse a transformative consultative approach to our client engagements. Transformative consultancy represents a shift from traditional consulting models, where consultants provide expert advice and solutions to specific problems or projects, toward a partnership-based approach that focuses on achieving broader business outcomes together with our clients. This goes beyond mere best practices, into what we at Ollion espouse as “Transformative Practices.”
6 Key Aspects of a Transformative Consultancy
The key aspects that distinguish transformative consultancy from a best practices approach include six critical components:
Shared Buisness outcomes
Unlike traditional models that focus on delivering specific services or projects, transformative consultancy aligns the consultancy’s objectives with the client’s broader business outcomes. Success is measured not by the completion of individual projects but by the achievement of shared goals, such as revenue growth, cost reduction, or digital transformation.
Partnership approach
Transformative consultancy involves working closely with the client’s organization as partners rather than as external advisors. This partnership is built on mutual trust, open communication, and a deep understanding of the client's business. It involves co-creating strategies & solutions that are tailored to the client's unique challenges & opportunities.
Holistic perspective
Transformative consultants look beyond immediate problems to understand the client's business ecosystem, including its culture, processes, technology and market environment. They consider how various elements interact and affect the organization's ability to achieve its goals.
Long-Term orientations
Instead of focusing on short-term projects, transformative consultancy takes a long-term perspective, aiming to drive sustainable change and create lasting value for the client. This might involve ongoing support, adaptation to changing market conditions, or continuous improvement initiatives. It’s important to note that long-term in today’s accelerated cloud environment is not a 3 - 5 year time horizon, but achievable in 12 - 18 months. The focus is on ensuring that you are meeting a business need, not just a technology need with this approach. Referencing Gartner’s Business and Operating Framework model below highlights that intersection of a “Business Model” perspective intersecting with client’s “Enterprise Operating Model” highlighting how business capabilities are the linchpin to connecting these two together.
Innovation and customization
Given the partnership nature and long-term focus, transformative consultancy often leads to more innovative and customized solutions. Consultants and clients work together to ideate, experiment, and iterate, leveraging the consultancy's expertise and the client's internal knowledge to develop unique solutions that provide competitive advantages.
Capability building
Beyond solving immediate challenges, transformative consultancy aims to build the client organization's capabilities, empowering it to sustain improvements and continue innovating after the consultancy's role diminishes. This might include training staff, implementing new technologies, or establishing “new” best practices.
Consult with Ollion
Explore broader cloud rewards with Ollion. Leverage our expertise to enhance applications, reduce risk, and liberate resources for revenue-focused projects. Experience integrated cloud services for your evolving journey.
Related Case studies
Innovation & Customization