So, I was listening to the mayor of Limassol on the radio the other day, commenting that according to a study that Deloitte did, the best thing to do with the Enarios area of the city, is to build high-rise buildings, in order to maximize profit. That may be the case indeed, except the aim of a municipality isn’t to maximize its profits. One would think that the mayor of all people, would be aware of that. And even if he weren’t, one would think that Deloitte, acting as an external advisor, would be in a position to point this out to him, rather than simply rush in to get the project, delivering exactly on the scope that the client had requested. More often than not, most of the value of an external consultant comes from the stage of scope setting. It’s the old axiom of “all clients know what they want, but they don’t know what they need.” It is obvious to me, that both the mayor, and his consultants, are oblivious to a municipality’s KPIs.
I was visiting a high-tech client and it just happened for my visit to coincide with that of an interior designer that they had hired, for the renovation of their premises. The client asked how much the realization of these designs would cost. I don’t remember the amount, but the client found it be way too high. I asked the designer whether there were any budgetary constrains in her scope, and she said no. Still, shouldn’t a professional ask the client how much money they could afford to spend? After all, what’s the value of designs that cannot be materialized?
I proposed the very wealthy UBO of a corporate client of mine, to buy a beautiful building of colonial architecture here in Nicosia, renovate, preserve and turn it into some sort of cultural site. He said “I don’t think this will be profitable. How much can I charge for entry into such a site?” I replied that I didn’t propose this as a profitable business venture. I noted that he already had more money than he could spend, and, were I in his shoes, I would like to start building some sort of legacy that would outlive me. He said that I was the first to talk to him like that, and that he really appreciated and liked my idea. As an advisor, I believe that my main KPI is to help others define their own KPIs, which are usually unique for each of us.
What are your own KPIs? Do you put some thought in defining them for you, or are you just following the current and let others define your life for you? Put some thought into it. It will be time well-spent.