Consulting
"Fake Work may sound like something from a Dilbert cartoon, but it’s what many well-intentioned people do every day. Fake Work masquerades as important but is not directly linked to strategic objectives. The Work Itself™ is a proven process for translating organizational priorities into daily tasks that really matter.”

Rodger Dean Duncan, author of ChangeSmarts: Engaging People’s Heads, Hearts, and Hopes CEO, The Duncan Company

We consult with clients to discover issues that need to be addressed to get “Real Work” done. Mostly, we work with you to determine where we can drive results. A sample of the hundreds of different engagements that we have been involved in are:

  • The Work Itself (Our Flagship) —a consulting and facilitation process for linking Strategy, Alignment, and Execution to drive Results. More...
  • Strategy Consulting
  • Alignment Services
  • Implementation and Development Work
  • Change Management
  • Assessment Services both onsite and online More...
  • Coaching

    Consulting Approach

    Our Consulting is About Closing the “Execution Gap” by doing The Work Itself

    Execution is not about work, not just any work, but about doing the right work that drives organizational strategies and gets desired results. Our efforts are focused on real and focused work. We bring over 22 years of experience working on these issues. Now, we want you to see results and engage in efforts that don’t promote fake work.

    The “Execution Gap” is the gulf between good intention and clear plans and the work that is actually being done. However, our research brought us to new approaches because, like many of our colleagues, we saw hard work and commitment and extraordinary efforts getting nowhere. We changed our focus. We changed our approach. We decided it was time to focus on work—on The Work itself.

    The Work Itself Process is the Centerpiece of our Consulting Efforts

    The Work Itself is a proven process for translating organizational priorities into daily tasks that drive strategies and get results. The process is designed to bring strategies to execution by closing the execution gap through alignment. For more about The Work Itself, click here.

    Solving Problems

    What are the Problems that Need Attention? And What Do We Do About it?

    Problem #1:  You have strategies, excellent strategies, with no clear impact on results. 
    Yes, you might have strategies that are not effective, but more often organizations see far too little real work directed toward those strategies.  However, that assumes that they looked to see what people were working on. And, we know that organizations aren’t looking and they don’t always know what to look for. Our efforts are concentrated on ensuring that strategies are clear, clearly communicated, and translated into real work.

    Problem #2:  Little or no effort is put into alignment—closing the “execution gap” by linking people to strategy.
    We saw organizations that gave extreme attention to business focus and strategic plans and nothing to see that work was directly aligned to the strategies.  So strategic planning became fake work.  The Work Itself process focuses special attention to this alignment process.

    Problem #3.  A workplace filled with 50% fake work—some people doing 100% fake work. 
    Fake work is work that isn’t aligned to the strategies and goals of the organization.  So, if you aren’t getting desired results, it may be because 50% of all the work that employees do is fake work.  And, too many employees are doing nothing but fake work—stuck in a job that they don’t know is fake work—work that the organization would stop if it actually paid attention. The workplace is filled with lost workers and morale problems, productivity issues and poor results because workers are not tuned in, and not happy about doing fake work.