THE EDGE APPROACH

Running a company is quite different from any other experience. Time is at a premium and busy executives driven by the 'tyranny of the urgent' have difficulty finding resources that can help them with the different problems and challenges that confront them. Worse still, many competent resources have never actually been a CEO and fail to appreciate how hard it can be to implement change.

Even when consultants are used, they seldom feature in the implementation of what they recommend and the very factors that prompted their use in the first place may, ironically, negate their value. Their conclusions are in report form and are often not discussed with the management team that will be responsible for implementing the changes that need to be made. There is no attempt to build consensus and the conclusions may not be wholeheartedly accepted.

Anything requiring detailed, time-consuming, attention is by its nature difficult to accomplish in the hurly-burly of business. However good the work, however valid the conclusions, overburdened executives often do not have the time to implement anything but the obvious, easy elements of the report - and the culture of growing companies often means that they are not forced to do so.

Edge Initiatives understands the challenges and time pressures associated with running a successful company and believes that the consulting process is only successful if the actions identified as being necessary during analysis are accepted and implemented. We have found that an external force can be very helpful in building consensus and securing buy in to action plans and that it is especially effective in quarterbacking implementation through regular action-oriented follow up meetings.

Edge Solutions have been designed to stress consensus and implementation above all else. They are striking for their clear timetable and scope of operation, and the implementation methodology they contain means that they are offered at a fixed cost and Edge is able to guarantee their success.