Chapter TwentyDeveloping New Ideas
for Your Clients—and
Convincing Them to Act
Andrew Sobel
“I’ve met several times with the CEO,” I told my colleagues, “and
his need is pretty clear: his company is faltering abroad, and he
wants to develop a new international strategy to help jump-start
growth outside the United States.” At the time, I was a senior part-
ner with a large international consulting firm. The occasion was an
account development session to brainstorm new ideas to propose
to a client of mine.
In the back of the room someone piped up: “This company
doesn’t just need an international strategy—it needs to completely
transform its business.”
“That may be,” I replied, “but I think right now the interna-
tional piece is what the CEO is focused on.” A chorus of voices
drowned me out, however, insisting that I had misread the situa-
tion and that what the client really needed was a wholesale
overhaul of its organization, including its operations, marketing,
and sales.
Even as I kept resisting, one of my colleagues told me that
the “company is a prime candidate for our business transformation
services.”
“We need to take a fresh look at the U.S. market as well,” said
another.
Frustrated, I ended the session and thanked everyone for
contributing. A few months later, I left the firm to start my own
independent consulting practice.
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