The Opsimath

BCM? What's a BCM...?

I recently facilitated a programme management workshop, during which we considered some of the key aspects and features of best practice programme management. And if it's best practice programme management our material just had to be based on the guidance known as 'Managing Successful Programmes (MSP).

One of the principles of MSP is that a programme must have a focus on the realisation of benefits, and one of the ways in which MSP helps us to do that is through the role of the Business Change Manager (BCM).

As is often the case on our MSP Practitioner courses, this topic generated a lot of debate. Let me summarise what is often said.

We start with, "Business Change Manager - what is a Business Change Manager", as in many organisations the concept of this role is missing.

Then we move on to discuss why the role is so vital on a programme if we really want to transform the business and deliver real benefits. Delegates in our workshops often get really animated at this point, as they recognise:

1. How essential the role is, because without business involvement we will not see success
2. How we often (wrongly) expect programme managers to carry out the role
3. How, by introducing this role to their programmes, we can take our programmes to a new level of effectiveness.

It is so rewarding to witness the light bulb moments occurring as individuals and teams begin to see what has been missing in their programme organisation structure. The clarity that this discussion often brings is regularly one of the key learning points of this type of workshop.

So, if you are involved in programmes in any way, take a look at your team. Do you have any BCMs?

If not, how's it going?

Knowledge transfer or Wisdom building?

One of the aims of many people working in the field of management consultancy is 'knowledge transfer'. This is the admirable goal of being able to pass on valuable knowledge to the client, so that they are left with added value at the end of an assignment.

Knowledge transfer is an interesting concept, as knowledge can take us one of two ways. With knowledge we can go down the route of arrogance or humility. The collection of knowledge alone can easily lead to arrogance as it can centre on me simply accumulating a number of things that I know - the more I know, the better I am.

The greater route to take is that towards humility. Greater, but not necessarily easier. So how can we take that route?

Wisdom

Wisdom always leads us to humility, because it is born out of real living; real experiences; real pain and real joy. Wisdom comes from the realisation that my knowledge is oh-so-small when put in the context of, and compared to, the knowledge and the wisdom of the whole of humanity.

So I believe that we have to take our knowledge and marry it with real living. The result will be our first step on the road to wisdom building.

And maybe that will become our aim as consultants - to help our clients build wisdom.

I leave you with one of my favourite quotes: Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit; wisdom is knowing not to put it in a fruit salad.