Engineer by training, consultant by trade and educator at heart. Brace yourself to meet...

Organisational Provocateur Tom "Bald Dog" Varjan

Having just defected from communist Hungary, on a late afternoon on 29th June 1988, I was standing at Heathrow airport in London, trying to figure out what to do next. I didn't have any money and didn't speak one single word of English. Of course, at that point, as a well-brainwashed by-product of communist dogmas, my idea was to spend the rest of my life working for paycheque in telecom engineering which was my professional in Hungary. I never thought I would start my own consulting firm.

Well, but I did...

But first I spent some years in my then dream profession, engineering. Since I was barred from applying for higher education in Hungary, I started university in London. By the time I graduated with honours in electronics and computer engineering, I knew I wasn't cut out for working alone in isolation in a lab. I realised I was a natural collaborator, and my passion was working with people in collaboration relationships.

As I was consulting with medical professionals on technology issues, but bit by bit, I started giving them some advice on the "business stuff" as well, and some of my ideas worked out pretty nicely. So, that gave me the bloody nose to go deeper into this "business stuff."

Then I came across three people who sealed my fate in consulting. One was Alan Weiss and his cold-blooded pragmatism, the other was David Maister and his compassion and empathy, and the third was Tom Peters and his insatiable passion for excellence and living your life to the beat of your own drum. I learnt from many other people as well, but Alan's, David's and Tom's perspectives opened the world of consulting for me. Alan's concept on value-based fees, David's concept that client relationships are pretty similar to romantic relationships and Tom's concept of being a loudmouth straight shooter and excellence-seeker actually started my consulting career.

And besides what I learnt from Alan, David, Tom and other masters, I started using the hard-core human behaviour skills I learnt and experienced in the military and skydiving: An oddball blend of cheerleading, encouraging and arse-kicking really, pushing people to achieve new levels of success in their lives. Sort of inspiration through provocation.

So, then to top up my skills I ended up at the London Business School studying leadership, business development and then got on a lifetime learning path at the University of Harsh Knocks' MBA (Mentored By Aces) programme, working under the tutelage and mentorship of some world-class business experts.

So, based on the German-born psychologist, Kurt Lewin's truism...

"There is nothing as practical as a good theory"

I did my best to lay good foundations and since then I've been enriching my practical repertoire from some pretty broad sources. Therefore I split my work between client work and ongoing learning.

And since I've never worked in a "Big Four" type traditional consulting environment, I've never been encumbered with conventional wisdom of how consulting firms are supposed to work. Actually, in my experience, many sizeable firms operate as manufacturing companies doling out shrink-wrapped, off-the-shelf solutions in a few sizes fit all fashion, delivered by impressively dressed smooth-talking classroom theorists with fancy "credentials."

But what has compensated for the lack of "Big Four" knowledge is my military experience. The military is often referred to as the "Ultimate Professional Service Firm." Former Coca Cola CEO, John Hayes; former State Street Bank CEO Marshall Carter; and AOL founder, Jim Kimsey refer to it as the "World's finest business school" The military has some of the finest teams because discipline is taken dead seriously, and lack of discipline happens to be most consulting firms' main weakness.

What I have learnt over the years is that when I expect people to be great, I set the bar for them higher than they've ever set it before, and don't let them lower it. I stretch them mentally, emotionally, spiritually and physically, so they can see what's possible, and rise to the challenge. And they want to go even higher. It's an upwards spiral. In the American writer, John Steinbeck's words...

"It is the nature of man to rise to greatness if greatness is expected of him."

To better demonstrate this phenomenon, here is a story from Tony Robbins...

Once the US Army requested Tony to speak to some of the soldiers. After the speech, one of the generals mentioned to Tony that many of the soldiers regard their military service as the pinnacle of their lives. The general lamented that, considering the great training these soldiers receive, after their military service they could go and achieve incredible things. Basically these soldiers should be some of the most successful people in the world. But that doesn't happen.

Tony had a short but pretty eye-opening response. What he said was that after leaving the army, these soldiers no longer have the environment and culture that hold them up to a higher standard of excellence and challenge them to be the best they can be.

So, my work is simple: Gradually raising the bar and expecting clients to step up to the challenge, and let them do what they are really capable of.

I have found that to achieve great results requires lots of focused attention. Through my military training and many years of skydiving I have learnt how to help people to focus on what they do, so they can go beyond their "I'm doing my best" limitation. Both in the military or skydiving if you make the wrong move, you either catch a bullet or hit the ground.

But what I have also learnt in the army is that at one point, regardless of the potential risks, we've got to take action, because without that move we can certainly get killed. I run my client engagements as military missions. We have to do the right things at the right time, otherwise we land in deep shit. When the client's livelihood is on the line, the last sound we want to hear is, "Oooops."

In the military "Oooops" means someone has just been killed. In business "Oooops" means a business has just been killed. Just like the military or skydiving, the world of business has a very expensive 'Undo' button, and if you have to push it, you will pay a very high price for your action. And this hard-arse militaristic approach has served my clients very well.

My concept of a great engagement is about creating a highly demanding and challenging yet safe environment for my clients, in which they feel the heat of expectation without the danger of getting burnt out, and feel the stretch of growth without the danger of getting strained or snapped. Yes, I push clients to the breaking point, but I also know how to catch them if they fall. This is why my engagements are fairly short and impactful. I don't want clients to have me around longer than necessary. The military trained me to be able to look after myself, and I want the same thing for my clients: I want them to grow independent of me as quickly as possible, and then we both move on.

And now most of my clients perceive it an advantage that I'm not one of the typical business graduates the "institution" churns out roughly every 5 minutes. Imagine some 100,000 MBAs every year. Plus all the other business graduates. How about calling that mass production unique expertise. More like lukewarm commodity. And some 56% of them openly admit to cheating and lying in order to get their fancy papers. Just do a Google search for "Academic Dishonesty in Graduate Business Programs: The Prevalence, Causes, and Proposed Actions", and you'll see it for yourself. You can also read some of the details in a in a previous newsletter issue.

So, essentially a large chunk of my work is to establish "military grade" discipline, teamwork, dedication, commitment and accountability among team members. And from then on they know what to do. Sure, I can share with them what I know and utilise our combined brainpower, but my idea is that where there is a problem, there is a solution. I just help clients to connect their problems and answers. So, essentially I'm facilitating my clients' own organisational healing processes, helping them to find their own answers.

Yes, some people ask me what's the big deal about the military. I think the big deal is that the military is a super-tight tolerance organisation. In an environment where even minor errors can lead to major devastation, including multiple fatalities, tolerances are taken very seriously. And what makes the military so powerful is that it doesn't tolerate loudmouths, exhibitionists, show-offs, "look-at-me" self-claimed heroes. Some of the best commandos consist of quiet, soft-spoken, self-effacing and self-contained people with almost icy nerves who are immune to panic.

Interestingly, the same characters also make a good foundation for great consulting firms. And just like in the army, in the world of commerce too, tolerances make the difference. That's why Ferrari costs some 50 times more than a Ford and a Ferrari mechanic charges much more than a Ford mechanic.

And the more firms I worked with the more I realised that if I help to build firms on the same principles as military commandos are built upon, these firms can become profitable, their clients can become euphoric with the newly created results and the firms' people are fulfilled in their careers and happy in their personal lives.

And there is one more important point I've realised. I've realised I cant do anything FOR clients, although that is what conventional consulting wisdom teaches us. Just like lovemaking, consulting too is done WITH people, not for-, to- or at them.

So, after some rather eclectic occupations, like...

• ...aerobics instructor
• ...college lecturer
• ...construction labourer
• ...crematorium attendant
• ...delivery driver
• ...embalmer
• ...engineer
• ...gravedigger
• ...hotel porter
• ...kitchen assistant
• ...personal trainer
• ...pizza cook
• ...slaughterhouse worker
• ...soldier

...I've finally settled in consulting. And just like most consultants out there, I too have had my ups and downs, made my mistakes and paid the price. Yet, I keep doing it because I love it, and while I had a successful career as an engineer, I'm glad for that fateful decision when I decided to change my career and became an Organisational Provocateur and a compassionate arse-kicker. An oddball blend of a drill sergeant, a den father and a cheerleader based on speed, simplicity and boldness.

One more thing just for the sake of being upfront. Nothing you read on this site is a sort of "Secret", which has become so fashionable especially with the proliferation of the Internet. Everyone and his kitchen sink are selling business secrets. Well…

Nothing on this site is my stuff. There is nothing new under the sun and I've had damn good mentors. Yes, I've added my twist to everything, but the concepts come from greater minds than me. So, I'm forever grateful to all the people who've helped me to come as far as I've come.

In my spare time I enjoy hiking in the local mountains, skydiving and running my microscopic fitness and lifestyle advisory services for baby boomer female executives. I love it because we learn a lot from each other while I'm helping them to put their lives on even keels and improve their health.

I also do quite a bit of volunteer work in the local community. I'm a volunteer instructor for a local career management programme called Network To Work, sponsored by Vancouver Community College, where every month I wreak significant havoc with my oddball concepts about employment and life in general. The great thing is that some of my workshop attendants have already reaped the benefits of going to job interviews thinking like entrepreneurs and discussing values with employers. And they've landed jobs way beyond the going rates of their professions.

My other contribution is to be one of the instructors at Vancouver Community College's Small Business Programme, where I hold regular "torture sessions" for innocent participants and aspiring business owners on the ins and outs of starting and running successful small businesses. I find this mutually beneficial since we all learn from each other's experiences.

I'm also a volunteer mentor for the Canadian Youth Business Association, a pretty neat organisation helping young entrepreneurs to get their business ideas off the ground. They provide both the education and the start-up financing for qualified candidates. It's a great group to work with. I've been mentoring at the CYBF since 2003, and have met some amazing young entrepreneurs with brilliant business ideas. And while it seems to me my mentorees have been learning bits and bobs from me, I've certainly learnt a lot from them. So, it's a great win-win.

I'm also a member of the Dollarmakers Joint Venture Forum. Personally I believe this is the best business gathering in town. I've found most business associations, chambers of commerce and boards of trade far too political and socialistic for my taste. In this group like-minded members do joint ventures with each other by adhering to a Code of Ethics.

"Look before you leap
Has never been the way we keep
Our road is free
Charging to the top
And never give in never stops
The way to be
Hold on to the lead
With all your will and concede
You'll find there's life
With victory on high"

~ Freewheel Burning by Judas Priest

So, I hope you find some of my ramblings valuable and worth reading. Who knows? One day we may even work together on some sexy projects.

So, having reviewed who the guy is behind the business, now you can check out the services Dynamic Innovations Squad has to offer for consulting firms.