Inarticulate ramblings of a management consultant

the day to day experiences of a consultant operating in weird and wonderful client situations

Save the silver bullet

After about 3 years and over 140 hours of interviews, edits, moments of desperation, and some incredible stories, it’s almost there. I expect to publish my book on transformation “save the silver bullet…small steps are the secret to successful transformation” in the next month. Those of you who have contributed and supported me, heartfelt thanks. Is it perfect? No! Does it say everything I would want to say on the […]

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Everyone has a plan…

Afternoon all, please see the start of a very big and hairy project (forgive the gorilla reference). Attached is a link to an extract from the introduction to my ‘work in progress’, a book based on a 100 interviews with programme directors around the world on their experience of success and failure. I’m in the middle of writing mode and making good progress and thought I’d share the odd extract […]

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Cost synergies are worth more than revenue synergies…really?

The final chapter (for now!) in our series on the unwritten rules of post acquisition integration. We’ve explored programme structures, leadership teams and the approach to acquired leaders and the fable of the business case! This last one is focused on the old favourite. We at Agile Gorilla think that this is as much to do with external consultants being able to understand cost line items much more easily than […]

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The unchallenged Rules of post deal integration…part 3

All that is written cannot be changed…the tablets of stone of the business case! In what other walk of life can you imagine a situation where the thoughts, analysis and assumptions of one person (or perhaps a small team), drawn up before any access to the subject matter was granted and therefore based entirely on an ‘out to in’ perspective are entirely inviolate? …all because this was the rationale presented […]

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Perpetuating organisational silos…functional integration!

Functions continue to dominate organisation structures, whilst perpetuating silo based thinking. Nowhere is this more the case than in mergers and transactions where the function based due diligence process just continues in the post deal period. Attached a short article to illustrate the issue. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/functional-teams-should-lead-way-ben-de-haldevang/?published=t hashtag#theagilegorilla hashtag#postdealintegration hashtag#mergersandacquisitions Look forward to hearing from you. Any comments, critiques welcome as ever.

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M&A needs true commitment…a statement of the obvious or something more insightful?

A view from the Agile Gorilla on the challenges for acquirers who are looking at M&A as a strategic option. It turns out that those who are doing a ‘few’ have the most challenges, not necessarily those who are starting out in the world deals. As ever, I would appreciate your comments, thoughts and ideas. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/ma-needs-true-commitment-david-boyd/

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The Myopia of Modern Business

Morning all, thanks for all your encouragement and various messages from last week…I appreciate all of it enormously and I’m excited about the opportunities for our baby going forward. Here is a link to an article written by my colleague, David Boyd. He captures beautifully the inherent conflict between the behaviour which we’re expected to exhibit in our corporate lives and that which is critical for our daily survival….characterised by […]

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Inarticulate Ramblings is merging with an Agile Gorilla!

Good morning / afternoon friends, ex-colleagues, family members (!) and random folk who have an interest in the world of consulting and mergers & acquisitions in particular. I’ve been remarkably quiet for quite some time…this is not due to a lack of thought / interesting experiences etc but the development of the next stage in my M&A journey. My new venture,  The Agile Gorilla is the result of the above merger. Please […]

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Interviews with Asian Leaders – what did we find?

A first for iROAM (inarticulate Ramblings of a Management Consultant)! I have asked my co-inteviewer to give his perspective on the interviews we conducted. Abhay Pande made some comments below which I wanted to share with you. My friend Ben de Haldevang and I spent a fair bit of time over the spring and summer of 2016 talking to a number of Asian senior executives, across several sectors, about their […]

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East goes West – Interview with Martin Lau, Managing Partner, First State Stewart

East Goes West is a series of podcasts focused on the challenge of Asian businesses coming to Europe and the US. Abhay Pande and conducted a series of interview with senior Asian leaders to understand a little more of the cultural complexity that exists across the Asian landscape, recognise the key differences and start to think about what an Asian owner might expect of a European and American  business. The […]

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East goes West – interview with Han Meng Chan, ADL Capital

East Goes West is a series of podcasts focused on the challenge of Asian businesses coming to Europe and the US. Abhay Pande and conducted a series of interview with senior Asian leaders to understand a little more of the cultural complexity that exists across the Asian landscape, recognise the key differences and start to think about what an Asian owner might expect of a European and American  business. The […]

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East Goes West – interview with Clement Woon

East Goes West is a series of podcasts focused on the challenge of Asian businesses coming to Europe and the US. Abhay Pande and conducted a series of interview with senior Asian leaders to understand a little more of the cultural complexity that exists across the Asian landscape, recognise the key differences and start to think about what an Asian owner might expect of a European and American  business. The […]

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How does it look from over there? The perspective of Asian buyers / leaders on M&A in Europe and the USA

Over the next six weeks, I will be publishing a series of interviews which I and a friend of mine, Abhay Pande, conducted whilst based in Singapore. These interviews were born of a shared interest and desire to get beyond the myth and legend of Asian corporate culture and business practice and actually get some insights from Asian leaders that we have in our network. The facts are plain enough. […]

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