A Year in the Life
Where do you start to reflect on a year that took you back to your childhood, to places you’ve never been and even provided a brush with a US President?
By Adam Lyle
As an Asia-based Quest consultant I have the advantage of being able to collaborate with colleagues across four time zones during the course of a day with relative ease. This collaborative effort adds to the quality of the work and provides great stimulation as we bounce ideas across the regions crafting an ever improving solution. The exchange is always great and equally interesting is the fact I have never met a number of the colleagues on the other end of the email or telephone but the experience is as if we were in the same room.
At times we do lead peripatetic lives rushing from one client in one country to the next, sometimes working weeks in a row without a break. But for me this is balanced by the experience of working with a client and team delighted with the outcomes of the workshop or event.
Quest’s consulting style of combining high impact engagement with traditional process consulting around business issues makes every assignment stimulating and appealing for all involved.
During this year I had the opportunity to work in Singapore, Bangkok, Hong Kong, Taipei, Manila (the last time I was there it was under Marshal Law) Delhi and Dubai. Both D’s were a first time for me so I managed to roam around for a day to get a look at life outside the hotel. Both cities are quite extraordinary and ones that I hope to get to know better in the years to come.
A particular highpoint was working with one of our global clients at an event involving an extended top team of 170. With Delhi as a backdrop, the event was sensational, producing outstanding business outcomes following the participants’ “Missions” into rural India – a watershed experience for many. As with all events something had to be thrown in at the last minute to test one and all….President George W. Bush came to lunch with President Singh in the Ballroom that we had taken over and converted into a television studio and marketplace. This required the sets to be dismantled over night and rebuilt following lunch in time for the next session – all under the watchful eyes of the Secret Service!
Earlier in the year I returned to my childhood for a night - sorting and counting 5000 pieces of coloured Lego to support a business simulation exercise the next day. One piece out and the exercise could fail. The pressure! The following day saw senior business leaders sprinting from one end of the ballroom to the other to get that all important piece to complete the challenge.
The work has been diverse. From Strategy into Action with existing clients to developing service strategies, value propositions to differentiate offerings and change programs for new clients. The variety of work was only matched by the diversity of the participants from 15 countries around the world, each with their own stimulating points of view.
What makes this work so fascinating for me is the opportunity to discuss business issues with decision makers from across the globe and hear how each was coping (or trying to!) with the demands of innovation, commoditization of brands, the shortage of talent in the emerging markets and the increasing demands of stakeholders. I find myself incredibly fortunate to be party to such conversations that reflect the pulse of the international business community.
As cooler weather prevails in North Asia I find myself moving to Singapore after four years in Taiwan to open our office there with a new colleague Jon Pounder who has just joined the firm as Quest expands across the region.
Next year we enter the Year of the Pig – a good year for one born in the Year of the Monkey….I don’t know what it will bring but I do know that it wont be like the last year or the one before or the one before that…