The Blind Men and the Elephant

It was six men of Indostan
To learning much inclined,
Who went to see the Elephant
(Though all of them were blind),
That each by observation
Might satisfy his mind.

The First approached the Elephant,
And happening to fall
Against his broad and sturdy side,
At once began to bawl:
God bless me! But the Elephant
Is very like a wall!

The Second feeling the tusk,
Cried, Ho, what have we here,
So very round and smooth and sharp?
To me tis mighty clear
This wonder of an Elephant
Is very like a spear!

The Third approached the animal,
And happening to take
The squirming trunk within his hands,
Thus boldly up and spake:
I see, quoth he, the Elephant
Is very like a snake!

The Fourth reached out an eager hand,
And felt about the knee.
What most this wondrous beast is like
Is mighty plain, quoth he;
Tis clear enough the Elephant
Is very like a tree!

The Fifth, who chanced to touch the ear,
Said: Een the blindest man
Can tell what this resembles most;
Deny the fact who can,
This marvel of an Elephant
Is very like a fan!

The Sixth no sooner had begun
About the beast to grope,
Than, seizing on the swinging tail
That fell within his scope,
I see, quoth he, the Elephant
Is very like a rope!

And so these men of Indostan
Disputed loud and long,
Each in his own opinion
Exceeding stiff and strong,
Though each was partly in the right,
And all were in the wrong!

John Godfrey Saxe (1816-1887)

Well you are now probably wondering whether you have signed up for a poetry course or one about management and management planning. Replace each of these wonderful men of Indostan with a member of your team. As a way of explanation lets look at a management team made up of the CEO, CFO, CTO and all the other Cs. Each comes to the table with many years of experience and study behind them. They come with a thorough understanding of their role in the company but a limited understanding of the other Cs roles.

Now imagine your revenue is on a downward trend and you have come together to try and reverse this trend. Each member will see the problem and solution from their own familiar position. You will sit around and argue long and hard about how to tackle this problem. If each took a tour of the elephant and tried to understand each part and how each part makes the whole then it might become clear that the elephant has a thorn in his foot and therefore cant walk to get his food and water and so is becoming malnourished.

Understanding each part of the elephant and how they come together to make the whole is what Peter Senge calls systems thinking and is one of the five disciplines that make a learning organization.

We are not saying that the CFO needs to go and get a marketing degree and work in marketing. But if each member of the team listens and tries to understand the whole elephant rather than stating their position more and more firmly, then the team has more chance of reaching a true understanding. The team has more chance of fixing the problem and achieving success.

Open your eyes and see the whole elephant for what it truly is.

Graeme Nichol

What differentiates Graeme is the depth and breadth of his experience in management. He has either been in management or has been consulting to management for over 25 years. What he has seen and experienced is an unlimited resource that his clients can tap when resolving their business and team problems.

His experience includes consulting with large practices such as PricewaterhouseCoopers, Ernst & Young, Coopers and Lybrand and Price Waterhouse; and boutique performance improvement implementation practices such as Knox D?Arcy Intl. and KrestaHague Intl. He has configured and managed complex ERP software implementations, worked in productivity and performance improvement, quality improvement, change management, strategy implementation, and managed both small and large projects. Graeme has worked in manufacturing, transportation, agriculture, communication, direct marketing, banking, beverages, consumer packaged goods, foodstuffs, and retail amongst others.

In his years of experience gained around the globe, he always found that business problems were usually either caused or solved by a team. If a team worked well together they could overcome amazing hurdles but if they were not aligned all types of hurdles appeared. He has gained extensive experience developing high performing teams. He knows what makes a team works and how to get them to function as one.

Besides management he is passionate about teaching and training. He has instructed many workshops and training sessions on various aspects of business such business planning, sales training, team building, introduction to business, conflict resolution, negotiations, general management, costing, management accounting, management reporting, developing management metrics and operations management.

When not working with his clients, Graeme?s passions are flying and sailing. His passion for teaching extends into his private life where he teaches flying and basic aerobatics. He has a small aerobatic plane which he loves to take up and throw around the sky. He has raced a 40ft yacht across the Atlantic Ocean, and competed in numerous sailing regattas, in the USA and abroad as well as cruised the East Coast of the USA with his family. Sailing is always a team event as each team member controls a small part of the boat. Team members need to be aligned and focused to achieve the results they desire.

Graeme has a BS degree in Agricultural Economics and an MBA from the University of Cape Town, RSA