Pick our brains as a Service

Some of our customers are already using this retainer-on-demand consulting format but most companies still contact us too early or too late to work on innovation projects.

Too late, when they have thought through many points already and have engaged resources, they contact us to legitimize their approach or they hire us on a too narrow scope.

Too early, when the initiator doesn’t have the power to put into action, doesn’t have the resources or the back up. So it becomes a very short mission/discussion to help the client have the next steps clear to sell internally.

All in all if we decided to share about our on-demand format of consulting, is to ensure our clients (and potential ones) can use us to the best of our potential of value creation. Innovation is motion, so as co-pilots it is key that we are present at the right time to support and more often the case trigger the shift.

How does it work?

For an annual fee (payable in quarterly or monthly installments if necessary), you have access to our brains. It usually takes the form of regular « coaching » or consulting sessions, attending board meetings, sharing analysis of certain markets or trends, challenging new projects to fine tune them or giving a short keynote to a team.

We agree on the pace and reasonable use of our time. More involved and time consuming projects (designing and delivering a training or mentoring programme, writing a specific new white paper on a key topic) that may arise are invoiced separately.

You will have a preferred consultant as your main point of contact myself (people related transformation and issues) or Philippe (on innovation and strategy). And you also have access to the other one depending on what you are going through at the moment. This flexibility allows you to address the issue quickly and coherently.

Why would on-demand consulting work for you?

Well it might not work for everyone that’s for sure, but you may recognize yourself in some of these cases:

• You have understood that although the quick win innovation project seems attractive it may not bring the deep and meaningful transformation you are seeking for your organisation. You want to take a holistic approach, be supported by external points of view and engage in sustainable evolution of your company culture (processes, behaviors, values) and business model. Innovation copilots challenge you to consider both business and culture in synergy, bring extra years of experience and wide vision to inform your decision-making, and are accessible “on-demand” so can intervene when time is critical or even ahead.
• You are a pioneer in your company, and as such you feel the pain: loneliness, weight of processes and pressure of results. Fortunately you have managed to convince top management it is worth it so you have some time and some budget, whilst feeling the pressure to deliver “something”. Innovation copilots act as your sounding board and extra brainpower, help you engage better with your ecosystem, and stir you in the most innovative directions.
• You have recently engaged in new ways of working, using new methods or tools, it all seems to be on track. However, your wiser self knows not to rest on your laurels, and with rapidly changing environments, technologies and markets you need to stay on the ball. You do not necessarily want to engage in yet another transformation using a big army consulting firm. Yet you wish to ensure that you will be ready and help your organisation get ready when time comes to adapt again. Innovation copilots challenge you to stay alert, help you consider a wide variety of scenarios and give you this extra edge – avoiding the late realization brought on by Gartner that your industry has shifted.

Why not recruit us?

Please do not recruit us as employees. We would lose our sharpness. We need to be external, be open to other industries, have the time to reflect on far-fetched scenarios, and have the right distance to internal politics – involved as strategic partners who know this game (but have no stake in it). We want to be close enough to you so we can have these honest and sometimes challenging conversations and yet be far enough so we bring something new and different.

This “pick our brains on-demand” service has tickled your interest? Then drop us a line we’d be happy to discuss over a (no engagement) coffee ;o)