A case for the need for Consultants from Donal Rumsfeld's famous quote
Here is the quote: "Reports that say that something hasn't happened are always interesting to me, because as we know, there are known knowns; there are things we know we know. We also know there are known unknowns; that is to say we know there are some things we do not know. But there are also unknown unknowns - the ones we don't know we don't know."
I am trying to apply this to companies: There are 3 combinations: known knowns: Since we know these things, we do not need outside help known unknowns: Since we know that we do not know these things, we take training or recruit people or acquire companies to solve this unknowns unknowns: These could hit you hard and this is where I hypothesise that we need Consultants - the McKinseys of the world!
Interesting isn't it?
Tailpiece: BTW if this framework where to come from McKinsey or BCG it would have 2 axes and 4 combinations. That made me curious what the fourth otion is: It is and here I am extending Rumsfeld, unknown knowns. Prey, what are these?
These are things we know, but do not know we know. For an individual this could be what is in the sub-conscious mind. For a company, this could be the knowledge residing in the company which others do not know exists. This is the problem that is solved by Knowledge Management Systems within a company!
Dames and Gents, Namaste! I am The American who sojourned all the way to Darjeeling, to take a bus and a rickshaw to the sleepy mountain kingdom of Sikkim, Gangtok that is, to The University, to meet the Lama and discuss becoming a monk…during the Persian Gulf War. I am told the monks still talk about me. And I remember seeing Kanjanjunga, every morning when I woke up, silhouetted perfectly in the window, changing every moment as the sun shifted in the sky, sometimes snow billowing from the summit from the wind. In my country presently, we are experiencing excruciating birth pangs, pained to be delivered. I wish to share with you some of my experiences, as you, India, have shared yours with me, in the hopes that we may preserve that which truly makes us Civilized. In times unprecedented and tinged with despair, it is appropriate to reflect on the founding of my great nation. It was not with George Washington, but with Brutus, and not the one who killed Caeser. There was another who rebelled against the tyrant monarchy of Rome, The Tarquins. He wrote the Roman Constitution that would stand for 500 years. His sons sided with the monarchy. The monarchy lost. So to punish his sons and found a perfect union, he immolated his own sons. Machiavelli speaks fluently and voluminoulsy and voiciferously on this subject, in ‘The Discourses’, and yet is proved wrong on several counts by the miracle of America. He says that a nation founded in servitude, as America was a colony, will never win its freedom. He also says that a nation founded on fertile soil that is easily defended, will in time loose all of its freedoms because it will become, eventually, inevitably, sloth and sated, and will forget to protect them. As regards 'The DC Madam', I am personally involved. You can view my involvement at http://www.maytheygetwhattheydeserve.com/KAT.html Sometimes a mouse will lead you to a kat, and a kat can lead you to a rat and a rat, ironically, can lead you to the truth. And the truth, as they say, and as it is written, will set you free.
May all those who sincerely and patiently wait for freedom be free and may all those who desire to steal those freedoms find instead the dire consequences that accompany contempt for a great man like Brutus.
As regards Machiavelli, eram sapiens tamen nefas And again, vox vocis publicus est vox vocis deus
May The Republic stand forever and bring the Glory of The World, with Dignity, into Its Treasury.
