Let's do something - I really don't want to drown

So here’s the thing.   Given that it is now widely believed that:-

1.       Due to our own love of consumer goods and some wanton mismanagement, not only the UK economy but the European and world economies are pretty darned wrecked for the time being and will continue to be for some time to come (even Barack says so)

2.       Economic growth over the next few years in the UK is going to be as rare as a convincing England footy performance

3.       Unemployment is a scary fact of life for all of us – those without jobs and money and those with jobs and money who are scared witless by the thought of yet more looting hoodies

Wouldn’t it be a good idea to do something?   More specifically wouldn’t it be a good idea to do something different?  You’ve all heard the old adage that “continuing to do what you’ve always done expecting to get a different result is madness.”    Well to my jaundiced eye and opinion most of UK industry is now certifiable.

We are in a major, major crisis.  We are on the Titanic, it’s struck the ice-berg and we are going down.  The thing that is amazing me is the response of the leaders of our UK industries.  They are behaving like those terribly nice musicians on the Titanic who understand that they are in big trouble so start playing their instruments to keep up the spirits of those who are doomed.

I am now thoroughly fed up of hearing execs speak of the need to innovate (almost wringing their hands as they do) and then fail to actually put in place anything that would pass as a major innovation programme.

So here’s my plea – please, please, ladies and gentlemen of British industry, can we stop being so terribly reticent about taking radical action as this crisis hits us.  Let us take some radical action (and no I don’t just mean make a few people redundant), let us take some action that glories in the technological capability of the UK, our inherent inventiveness and let’s put in place some radical programmes that might just get us clear of the listing and holed vessel as it heads for the depths seeking to pull the passive and inactive under the water with it.

Rant over.

Guest Blog

I would like to present myself. My name is Laure, I am a French university student studying at the university of Lyon in France. I am studying Banking, Finance, Management and Economics and I am doing an internship at Capgemini Consulting in UK.

I am writing this article in order to share my experiences at Capgemini Consulting as a French intern.

This is the first time I have done an internship, let alone one abroad.

I am a university student and at the end of this academic year we were required to do an internship abroad. The goal of this was for us to practice and improve our English.

But why choose Capgemini Consulting?

Firstly because, in pursuing my studies and my life, I have decided I would like to consult and audit. Secondly, Capgemini Consulting is one of the biggest consulting companies and it is very famous (well known).  I could not miss the opportunity to spend several weeks working in this firm.

I will try to tell you my experience through the four main goals that I set myself for my time here: observe, listen and understand, practice and progress.

• Observe: As I have an ambition to do this type of work in the future, I had to try to understand what type of work people do here. But this is not always an easy task and even less so for a foreigner as much of the work is out of the office working with clients.

•  Listen and understand: this task is particularly difficult to achieve when it has to be done in a language that is not my own.  It takes a lot of concentration. The first few days and the first meetings were really difficult. Indeed, it takes a lot of concentration to stay focused when you do not understand much of what is being said, which is not very easy. So there I had to force myself a bit at first. I am not saying that I understand everything now, far from it, I think I am beginning to gain a little more concentration, which allows me to follow a meeting or conversation for longer. At the beginning, listening to a phone conversation was also very hard for me, but I think it is good for the ear.

• Apply: After observing, listening and trying to understand, I had to put this into practice right from the first day. During my first day I had to summarize and collect information from a number of CVs. The most complicated part of this was to summarize the pages. Initially, I had to ask some help. I confess that when this first day was finished, it was a little confused because it was all still new to me. But after more than two weeks behind the desk, everything seems clearer, almost simple.

• Progress: This is not something that is done in a snap of the fingers, it takes time and a lot of practice. As for my English, I think being integrated for six weeks in a company in England will do nothing but benefit me.  I probably improve a little every day even if I do not give any account.  Since the first week, I have been working with someone else.  At first, I asked for a lot of help, or had to repeat myself several times. Now, after three weeks spent in the company, I can get better by myself. It is true that from time to time, I ask for help or that I repeat myself but I feel that it is less often than before. As a result, they have to seen or felt that I am more at ease and suddenly I have been given more and more things to do. For example, I have been charged with translating articles from a blog which will then be posted online.

In my time here, I had an especially big project. Indeed, there were two of us working on the project. We were required to set up a PowerPoint on banking and insurance in the USA. I did not think that this project would take much time but in fact we spent two weeks to the day on it. The first task I had was to find a map of New York, find the addresses of each company and place them on a map. This was the shortest thing to do, that is to say, it took me one or two days. Then came the heaviest work, the part that took the longest: find all sorts of information on these banks and insurance companies. This research for information took both of us to complete it faster. For this project, it was not me who took care to do PowerPoint, but I could see, it took a lot of time. When it was finished, I was asked to check if everything looked good and was perfectly aligned etc. I enjoyed participating in this project because I like the subject. Indeed, it follows on from what I have learned in University.

Finally, I am happy to do my internship in this company. This allows me to see what kind of tasks are done in a consulting firm. Before I knew that I would do my internship here, I had thought to specialize during my years of study, in audit and management control. These weeks at Capgemini Consulting have helped me to confirm my choice.

I would like to say a special thanks to the FS team. Thanks for welcoming me like this in the team, for all your help and for your patience when you had to explain something to me.

Guest Blog

Over the next few weeks my blog spot is open to two very special guests who have helped make my life a whole lot easier working with me as my interns over the summer.  Given the early summer interest in the concept of internships from Mr Cameron and Mr Clegg I’ve asked both of them to blog their thoughts on what it’s like to do an internship at Capgemini and I think you’ll find their thoughts interesting.  First up is Tasha Williams

Hello all, I am Tasha. I am a university student at UCL, studying Economics, Statistics and Spanish. I’m looking to go into consulting and have just completed an 8 week internship at Capgemini UK.

I’ve read many articles over the year about a Masters becoming the new undergraduate degree, debates about the return on investment of further education (especially in light of the fee increases), or on the increasing relevance of PHDs, and the decreasing importance of MBAs. However from what I can see, formal qualifications seem to matter less in comparison to an appropriate internship. In fact I’ve been told by recruiters that if I cannot demonstrate a required level of transferable skills, any further education (beyond the necessary undergraduate degree) will not have any impact on a recruiter’s decision. So in my experience, an internship is of paramount importance. For those looking to work in a competitive industry, as they all seem to be now, an internship seems to be a prerequisite that separates successful candidates from the masses.

With that in mind, I have spent my second year at university almost as focused on gaining an internship as on doing well academically. I hoped to have an internship in consulting, which proved rather tricky, with the aim of gaining a real understanding of what a full time job in the industry would be like. Beyond the obvious CV enhancing transferable skills, I wanted to know if consulting would be the right career choice for me, if I could excel at it and while there was still time, learn what I could be doing over the final year of university, beyond achieving impressive results, that would help me to become more successful and ultimately get more out of my career.

The good news is that I managed to secure an internship with Capgemini and I hoped over the 8 week contract that I would gain a real insight into how not only a consulting firm functions, but what Capgemini does to make itself stand out. My ultimate aim was to be able to leave and say that I had contributed – that my time had been worthwhile, that the team would be glad I had been here. I wanted to impress, and I hoped to do that by demonstrating I had the required skills (or at least the ability to develop them swiftly), the right attitude and the ability to adapt and learn quickly.

There is of course the danger of giving up precious time for an internship in which all you end up doing is photocopying and coffee runs, with a minimal amount of learning or contributing. As it has turned out, I’ve done no photocopying but my own, and no coffee runs at all. Instead I’ve worked on a bid for a major client, collaborated on two research projects, been responsible for social media outlets and research, produced monthly reports and reviews, helped with a knowledge management project and written a review of a paper on the effects of the 2008 financial crisis. I was assigned a ‘buddy’ who has made sure that for the duration of my time here I have been fully integrated with my peers, have attended all informative/networking events, and have met all the key people  who could help me understand more about the company and the graduate scheme to which I am now planning to apply. When I first joined, I attended a ‘New Joiners’ course which meant I was treated and felt like an employee from day 1, rather than a university student squeezed in where there was space for me. I’ve worked on the Financial Services desk, which is where I asked to be in my interview, have worked on active projects, and in my humble opinion, made a real, if perhaps small, contribution to the team effort. In my time here I feel I have gained a real understanding of the consulting industry, the challenges it faces, and of Capgemini’s place within it and their key drivers. I have learnt about the company processes, the people, and the working environment, all of which I have gained a deep appreciation for. Through the research projects I’ve worked on I’ve learnt more than I could imagine, and on a very personal level, I’ve learnt more about my own abilities and where perhaps I could improve.

 I was thrown in at the deep end from my very first day and it’s been absolutely exhilarating. I have had a wonderfully tailored, personal and incredibly rewarding experience, in which I feel I have achieved what I aimed to. It has been challenging and stimulating, a little daunting at times, but on the whole amazing and I would effusively recommend Capgemini to anyone.  Although it sounds somewhat clichéd for a consulting firm, truly the best part of my experience here has been the people. Everyone, without exception, has had time to talk to me, to explain anything to me, to discuss everything. Everyone has been wonderfully friendly, helpful and supportive, so my thanks to everyone, it is you who have made this such a wonderful experience.

Special thanks to Rick Freeman, Ian Watts, Tim Dulley, Sarah Moore, Amy Ratcliff, Laure Urrea and the wonderful FS team.

Retail Banks: Dealers or Rehab Agents?

My last blog explored the concept of the “drug of affluence” and its impact on behaviour – this blog follows that on by looking at the role of banks in our addiction – so let me start with this cheery quote from Thomas Jefferson to set the scene.

 “I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies. If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around the banks will deprive the people of all property until their children wake-up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered.”

Thomas Jefferson, Letter to the Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin, 1802

At the risk of joining the masses who condemn ‘The Banks’ I feel a discussion about our increasing levels of debt (and decreasing levels of buying power) is obsolete without a discussion of the main players. So, following the crisis what role are the banks playing with the affluence addicted- are they still the bad guy pushers or are they reformed rehab workers, helping us put our addiction to affluence aside by prudent financial planning and debt management? Ask the affluence addicts and the vast majority will have no problem answering that question.  The Bankers are still the bad guys - but interestingly not because they are overtly peddling affluence these days - rather they are now the bad guys for other reasons – firstly they’re bad because they’ve stopped dealing – they’ve removed our supply, they now won’t lend us money, we can’t afford to buy status symbols we don’t really need and secondly and really annoyingly they still look like affluence addicts themselves with their big salaries and corporate perks and thirdly and most gratingly of all they are using our tax dollars to feed their habit.  However, before all of us affluence addicts rise up and lynch a banker perhaps we should remember how we got hooked on affluence ourselves.

What is clear is that we, the consumers, the addicts, are not clear of all the blame and so if we decide, as many have, that the banks are our drug dealers, we must remember that when they offered us the initial hit we took it happily. And when they offered us another, in a deal that seemed too good to be true, again we said yes. We fed the fire that eventually burnt us.  So to some extent we have to shoulder responsibility – but knowing that doesn’t make us feel any warmer towards bankers.  So what do banks have to do to make us want them and respect them again for what they can do for us?

It is, of course, no surprise that reformed drug addicts can often end up as drug counsellors and rehab workers as they seek to find a way to make amends for the damage that they have done.  Is there a lesson here for the banks?  Absolutely – I think that it is not simply enough for the banks to have “stopped dealing” what us addicts really need now is to see the banks look sorry and provide us with useful help and support as we go cold turkey from affluence.  What I’d love to see are the banks investing more in providing community debt counselling, in providing free and effective financial and business advice to new businesses, in supporting local charities that are failing to secure funding and to find a way to measure whether or not they are raising the general standards of the community of which they are a part.  In other words like a drug worker with an addict, be a shoulder to cry on when our finances hurt, be our trusted counsellor when we need financial education, be a support to those around us when we’ve lost the plot and make the world us addicts live in just a bit better.

The drug of affluence

Whilst Karl Marx may have had some searing insights it appears that he was wrong when he confidently  declared that religion was the opiate of the (European) masses.  It is clearly affluence (and the dream of affluence) that has been the West’s narcotic of choice, not religion.  It is also clear too that our dependency on the affluence drug and it’s imminent withdrawal (see Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Portugal etc) is a major threat to our Western way of life and social structure.   If you want to appreciate how big a threat the drug is to our own Western civilisation one only has to look back in history to the demise of the other great civilisations (Grecian, Roman, Mayan, Egyptian etc) and chart their rise to greatness and their rapid decay.  Without doubt the collapse of these great civilisations is associated with an inability to continue to generate ever greater levels of affluence for a society that then simply implodes on itself.

So, at the risk of being called a Jeremiah (the Old Testament prophet who was renowned for his doom and gloom utterances), I will say again that UK plc has a big problem as we are deeply in love with the drug of affluence and to date this is a problem that we haven’t really faced up to.  Throughout history, wealth, sex, power and influence have always been the drivers of the ruling classes.  However, since the rise of capitalism, social mobility and the emergence of the aspiring masses, the drug of affluence has cascaded down to all levels of society and evolved into mass addiction.    In the UK we have the highest levels of personal debt within Europe – this is not good.

Affluence has powerful effects – it compels us to insist on our rights to health, wealth and happiness.  It creates a belief that we are entitled to the good life.  It strips us of our ability to think and act for the long term and instead creates a dependence on instant gratification and material things to validate us as human beings.  Moralising aside, in a Capitalist system, none of these are particularly bad things in themselves; however, affluence has side effects.   The side effects of affluence, including debt, a sense of entitlement and a general lack of responsibility, are relatively mild whilst we are all taking the drug and climbing the social ladder.  However, the problem comes when the supply of affluence dwindles and we are forced to withdraw from the drug and we experience a mass come-down on epic scales.

When affluence is no longer available, the consequences for a hooked population are dire, and misery, panic, selfishness and brutality ensue.  Like a child deprived of a favourite toy, the population of a nation deprived of affluence can quickly turn nasty, with some very unpleasant results.  It has of course been fascinating to watch the debates across the globe of whether it is better to go “cold turkey” like the UK intends to do under David Cameron’s coalition government or whether it is better to go for the “slow withdrawal” method favoured by Barack Obama in the US.  Either way the misery associated with facing up to drug addiction will be very real.  My hope is, that as we look for ways to cope without affluence, that we don’t get hooked on the equally potent cocktail of anger, recrimination  and blame – let’s hope that this time we can each take our personal responsibility to “do the right thing” seriously, even when it means that we personally will miss out.  To date the response of the Greeks and the public sector unions in the UK does not fill me with great hope.

Here endeth the lesson – sorry for being so moralistic but it probably needed saying.

The Future of Management Consulting

As consultants we all know (and enjoy trotting out to our clients) the old adages about the state of the taps in a plumber’s house and the state of the shoes on a cobbler’s child.  It allows us consultants to open up transformational conversations with our clients based on their nagging fear that they may be missing a trick and be falling behind the competition.  However, as part of a global industry that has enjoyed almost continual growth for the last 50 years and is now busy helping the world adapt to the new “digital realities” the irony that our own core business model has not changed for 50 years is seemingly lost on us.

Yes in some cases we’ve lengthened our “value chains”, moving away from advice and process reengineering to providing deep IT system integration skills and capabilities and in some cases provided outsourced capabilities to our clients too, and yes it is true that in the last 20 years we have had to source those capabilities globally, but, the actual consulting part of the value chain – advice and process change – has seemingly remained unchanged.  Or has it?  Surely our own consulting business models are virtually untouched by Web 2.0 and our businesses continue to survive and thrive?

My belief is that actually a quiet revolution is taking place in the world of management consultancy and the last people to realise it are, of course, the consultants themselves.  So what exactly is this revolution?

Imagine a typical challenge given to say an HRD from the CEO at any time over the last 50 years.  “We are not delivering on our promises to manage the performance of our people – fix the performance management system”.  20 years ago the HRD sets up a team to explore the challenge and may well have ended up buying support from a management consultancy to map and reengineer the performance management process.  Today the HRD’s first instinct is to look at what pre built software packages are available as either additions to their ERPs or as standalone web hosted solutions.  The role of the management consultant as process reengineer is gone.  The process is already optimally engineered based on global best practice – all that remains is to configure it to that client.  The consultant may provide some minimal procurement advice on which package to buy and maybe a bit of configuration support but that is all. 

So is HR typical – absolutely - all across the back office (HR, Finance, IT, Procurement) the process reengineering is now the domain of the software providers.  And now the really scary bit for consultants – now the back office has been “owned” by the software providers they are now looking to make in-roads into the middle and front offices – picking off process after process and offering it all to the client via a Web 2.0 solution.  This effectively removes the need for management consultancies as engineers of process.  So is the solution to head back to the heartland of “advice givers” – ironically if there is one thing we know that Web 2.0 can deliver it’s the experiences of others at speed – and we are now seeing new model consulting websites springing up to “crowd source” real solutions to very real business problems at a very interesting price point.

So why are the consultancies not collapsing faster when their heartlands are eroding – ostensibly two key reasons – firstly organisations are still undergoing huge amounts of organisational change and are still looking for large quantities of flexible and bright, capable resources to augment their own staff teams at a price point that only large quantities can render profitable and secondly the Web 2.0 capabilities are still not seen as honed enough by the baby boomer CEOs to replace sage experience and advice.  However, as the X’ers and Y’ers take over in the boardroom and Web 3.0 (the Semantic Web) takes hold then expect the cost of sage advice to plummet too.

So what is the future for management consulting – in my opinion – it is an industry that needs to have a serious look at its own taps or shoes and invent a new business model or very, very quickly it will be rendered obsolescent by the very same technological tsunami it seeks to advise its clients on.

Merlin strikes again... SME Digital Innovation

When will UK businesses start taking the SME business world seriously?

Note to large corporates - you're missing a massive opportunity 

In exciting recent news, UK Government experts announced the re-discovery of SME’s, long thought to be extinct by lenders and service providers alike.  Delighted by this ground breaking insight, Vince Cable has proclaimed that the Government will never forget about SME’s again and fight the good fight to support them; and rightly so.

Traditionally, businesses, lenders and service providers have been exemplary at licking the boots of big corporations and catering to their every whim.  However, whilst SME’s continue to amble towards the dangling carrots offered by lenders and service providers the reality is they still get poor antiquated service and the moment a big Corporation rocks up with blank cheque, SME’s are shown the door faster than Ken Clarke at a Women’s Rights convention. 

So why are the services provided for SME’s still so shockingly poor when there’s such an obvious gap in the market?  The SME market stands at an estimated 4.5 million organisations in the UK, producing half of the total UK private sector turnover.  Surely, providers are missing a trick?  The reality is the SME Market has been poorly served because it is notoriously diverse and demanding - having the tastes of a big corporate and the financial flexibility of a high street shopper.

However, in order to grow, service providers must start to realise that trying to force feed the same services suitable for big Corporations to the  SME’s is like trying to squeeze a pig into a spandex jumpsuit.  One size does not fit all.  Instead, they should capitalise on this gaping void in the market and gain competitive advantage by catering for the needs of SME’s and providing services that complement them. 

The way to do this is simple and is facilitated by the capabilities of the new digital technologies. Provide quality, provide flexibility and provide services that work for the customer, on mobile and online, 24:7.

That’s it.