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| 2010/07/19 22:06:07瀏覽3301｜回應0｜推薦0 | |
管理顧問(management consultant) 雖不像一位企業界友人的戲言, 說顧問是” 顧此失彼, 問東答西” , 但也指出其尷尬的地位, 因為職務上顧問主要是居於幕僚(staff)的地位, 而不是直接線上(line)職員, 所以大部份公司的顧問只有建議權, 較無決策(decision making)權, 通常在人力資源(Human Resources)上, 對管理顧問的工作說明(Job description) 可能是 “providing objective advice, expertise and specialist skills with the aim of creating value, maximizing growth or improving the business performance of their clients.” 所以, 需提出客觀的建議, 不僅要有專業素養, 更要有專業技能, 以創造公司價值為目標, 為企業客戶達成最高的績效。 麥肯錫顧問公司(McKinsey & Co.)是一家全球知名的成功策略顧問公司(the most successful strategic consulting firm), 我讀過兩本介紹他的好書, 而且都有中譯本：(1) The McKinsey Way, Using the Techniques of the World’s Top Strategic Consultants to Help You and Your Business, by Ethan M.Rasiel, 1999, McGraw-Hill(專業主義, 麥肯錫成功之道, 麥格羅. 希爾出版) ; (2) The McKinsey Mind, Understanding and Implementing the Problem-Solving Tools and Management Techniques of the World’s Top Strategic Consulting Firm by Ethan M.Rasiel and Paul N. Friga, 2002, McGraw-Hill(麥肯錫的專業思維, 麥格羅. 希爾出版) 其實兩本書均為同一作者 Ethan M.Rasiel , 只是第二本又加入另一位 Paul N. Friga 共襄盛舉。管理顧問的最重要工作就是解決問題(Problem solving), 面前則呈現一片 “事實” (facts) 的大海。在英文中, problem 與 question 是顯而不同的兩個字, 但是寫成定義(definition)卻又不易清楚區分, 譯成中文更糟, 都是問題啦, If you can’t answer your teacher’s question, then you’re going to have a problem. 就是清楚不過了, 記得我看過對 problem 解釋最清楚的, 應該是 Stephen P. Robbins 教授在他那本 Management 教科書中的界定, “ A discrepancy between an existing and desired state of affairs.” 一件事情預期與實際狀態之間的差距, 老師希望你答出問題 (question), 而你無法做到, 有了差距 (discrepancy; gap), 這就是問題 (problem) 呀！ 作者說 Facts are friendly, 指的是事實對我們的分析是有助益的, 他寫道 “ Facts are the bricks with which you will lay a path to your solution and build pillars to support it. Don’t fear the facts.” 這與我們常聽到的 “ 事實是殘酷的”, 完全是不同的用法。在麥肯錫他們用 engagement 而不用 project, 所以 SEM 就是專案經理(Senior Engagement Manager), 曾有一位離職的SEM觀察後所寫的： “ When you strip away a lot of the high-minded language with which Mckinsey dresses up its problem-solving process, it comes down to very careful, high-quality analysis of the components of the problem combined with an aggressive attitude toward fact gathering.” 就是採用積極收集資料的態度, 以高品質的分析方式, 巨細靡遺的處理資料, 因為 (1) Facts compensate for lack of gut instinct. 事實畢竟可以彌補經驗上的不足, 對於每位麥肯錫成員(MacKinsey-ite), 的確 They know a little about a lot of things, 算是通才(generalist), 虛懷若谷總是較妥當, (2) Facts bridge the credibility gap. 一般而言, 這些剛從學校畢業沒兩年的毛頭小子, 若不能寫出好的東西, 如何取得那些排行前五十大企業CEO(Chief Executive Officers)的青睞？ “--- to present her analysis to the CEO of the Fortune 50 company, who will not give much credence to want some newly minted, 27-year –old MBA has to say--- unless she has the overwhelming weight of facts to back her up.” MECE(讀成 me-see) 是麥肯錫解決問題絕不可缺的條件 MECE(Mutually Exclusive, Collectively Exhaustive, 互相獨立, 全無遺漏之意) is a sine qua non of the problem-solving process at McKinsey, “sine qua non” 的意思是 “absolutely indispensable or essential” 比如說 Reliability is a sine qua non for success. 這原則來自分類學, 分類不僅要周延, 彼此更需互斥, 如把人依器官構造分成男人與女人, 所謂彼此互斥, 表示不應有人落在中間灰色地帶, 否則便有人既是男人又是女人, 所謂周延, 是指男人加女人是否已含括所有的人類沒有遺漏。 麥肯錫 MECE就是同樣的觀念, 這原則也使他們掌握問題的全貌, 更能釐清個別關係, 產生合理的分析架構, 使問題水落石出。 作者在第二本書“McKinsey mind”中, 作者提出理論架構解決問題 ( theoretical framework), 該架構以 business need 開始, 找出 competitive, organizational, financial operational 各方面的 problem, 中間經由 analyzing, presenting 以及 managing 三步驟, 且有優秀的領導(leadership), 才完成執行（implementation), 也就是解決了問題。只是在理論架構核心, 也標示 intuition (直覺) 與 data(資料) 之間的複雜微妙關係, 因為問題解決並非無中生有(Problem solving doesn’t take place in a vacuum.) Most executives make business decisions based partly on facts and partly on intuition---gut instinct tempered by experiences. 這意味高階主管作決策也並非完全依據客觀事實, 個人的主觀依附仍難避免。 該書中提到, 能把企業問題用可被接受的事實基礎分析, 才是麥肯錫顧問的核心技能。(The ability to frame business problems to make them susceptible to rigorous fact-based analysis is one of the core skills of a McKinsey consultant.) 而麥肯錫問題解決過程, 首先使用結構性架構, 先收集資料加以分析, 建立以事實為基礎的假設, 再加以驗證。(The McKinsey problem-solving process begins with the use of structured frameworks to generate fact-based hypotheses followed by data gathering and analysis to prove or disprove the hypothesis followed by data gathering and analysis to prove or disprove the hypothesis.) 對公司而言, 短視(myopia)是常有之事, 經濟走下坡, 業務蕭條之際, 大部份公司會先看教育訓練預算, 因為教育訓練不具短期生產能力(雖有長期潛能), 往往會先被刪除; 管理顧問也因位居幕僚常不被重視(處於存亡的公司可能例外)。這兩本書不該失之交臂的原因, 除了主要在嚴肅教誨我們要暸解別人的極限(advocate understanding the limitations of others), 比如 clients, your organization, your team, 更提到對你自己的極限做一些暸解, In a modern organization, you can’t last very long as a one-man band. 個人當然孤掌難鳴, Nobody is an island, 所以, Make the most of your network. 好好運用你的人際網脈資源, You can’t do everything yourself, you have to develop a group of people you can rely on to help you shoulder the burden. 這兒 “shoulder” 是 “肩擔” 當動詞用, That group might be your official team or just your informal network you can call on for certain tasks. 永遠記得, Once you’ve found people whose ability you can trust, don’t let them go---they’re worth their weight in gold. 他們絕對值得你善待的, 而更值得我們注意的, 平衡工作與個人生活在人一生中相當重要, 並非人人均能處理此問題。(The ability to strike a balance between work and personal life becomes extremely important to one’s success. Not everyone manages it.)
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