Innovative Relevance® -- Realigning the Organization for Profit

"Innovative Relevance® is about how to address the complex array of challenges and constraints that impact virtually every organization, regardless of the size and industry. When an organization is facing a major initiative, restructuring itself, or responding to significant regulatory, competitive, and market issues, the ripple effect is felt by everyone — from the board to the receptionist, the customer, the supplier, and the stockholder. 

As the level of chaos and complexity in any initiative increases, we see that the ability of management to grasp and understand all the moving parts frequently decreases. Having worked through the intricacies of mergers, large systems deployments, new product launches, and other strategic initiatives as a manager, consultant, and vendor, there are many key 'lessons learned' that can make life easier, if applied earlier in the process. Innovative Relevance® could easily be described as 'things we all learn along the way, but frequently forget to apply.'

Among the most important of these lessons is the concept of holistic or systems thinking. In business, we are frequently bombarded with examples of success stories and case studies. Often these examples are one-dimensional and designed to push a specific agenda and in the process, mask bigger, more onerous problems (e.g., WorldCom, Enron, Commerce One, and others). Each of these aforementioned organizations were once touted as Wall Street “darlings” in their respective industries, but ended up costing shareholders billions of dollars in lost wealth.

Many business and leadership books promote trendy management solutions that are simply topical duct tape. Innovative Relevance® delivers a structured framework that takes into consideration the numerous interrelated moving parts of today’s enterprises, regardless of whether you are conducting a merger, acquisition, realignment, or business transformation. Created from proven experience, it is a comprehensive, holistic compilation of many of the lessons learned from a long journey through the trials and tribulations of many of America’s largest, most visible corporations and consulting firms."

Michael Brooks (excerpts from the Foreword)