In a former life, when working for McKinsey, we observed numerous times how valuable studies ended up collecting dust on a shelf as clients struggled to translate the recommendations into effective execution. More specific guidance would have been beneficial in those cases, primarily to get the “money in the bank” and to help the client become self-sufficient in delivery. Top tier firms are often not focused on such type of support, nor are they well equipped for it.

Another issue we witnessed is how smart strategies sometimes got stuck and missed their objectives, as operations were not set up to deliver on those strategies. Good operations – operational excellence – is key to be competitive, and professional guidance on getting there is lacking. The fact that there are so many operational improvement opportunities around that are not materialising, shows the difficulty is far underestimated.

In 2005, a client approached me to help them with this challenge. I stepped out of McKinsey and helped them implement a full operational transformation across 8 countries and create autonomous teams centrally and locally. When new clients started calling for similar support, Stephan- a former McKinsey colleague- joined. We decided to take the bull by the horns and set up our own firm in 2008, to offer both the design of operational change but also ensure the support in delivery … with top tier quality. CSI Business Consulting was born.

We initially focused on large-scale transformations. The more fundamental or broader the change, the more difficult it is to achieve. People in many different layers need to adapt their ways of working. Their trust needs to be earned to find the keys that make change possible. A broad skill set is required to navigate the emotional complexities of change. Besides being razor sharp on analytics, also being genuine, inspiring discipline, growing resilience, and showing patience are a few of the crucial traits our consultants need to bring to bear to succeed.

Besides the people and processes, also the organisation itself and the way it is managed, often needs adjustment. This change is not only for the frontline but often all the way to the C-suite. Here, alignment and engagement can be challenging to obtain and sustain. The more fundamental the change, the more leadership- and cultural issues play a role and need to be addressed.

Over time, all these aspects were integrated in our approach and offerings, ranging from Quick Diagnostics to the guidance of large IT projects. The many facets of effective operational change and the interlinkages between them makes our work both exciting and challenging.

Today, CSI BC can show success stories from our work across Europe, in a variety of industries. We keep growing in geography, and technology. Gathering like-minded highly skilled people, further professionalising, performing own research, and helping more clients achieving real operational impact are the fuel that drives us forward.