Teams as a Service

StrategyCrowd

A few years ago we founded StrategyCrowd. The principles are that 1+1+1+1 = a lot more and that a swarm or team of entrepreneurial talent can bring something different to the table, compared to the usual suspects. It has worked well. StrategyCrowd has developed a portfolio of impressive clients, including Trinity College, Teesside University, EBRD, Enterprise Ireland, World Bank, Sustainable Nation, some private equity funds and a number of large corporate clients.

Talent pool

With a pool of interesting individuals whom all have the battle scars of failing and scaling and everything in between. With expertise in fundraising, innovation, intrapreneurship, strategy and scaling.

“The Interim Revolution: How crowdsourcing, the on-demand Gig Economy and Teams as a Service are transforming business globally”

The concept of problem-solving as a swarm of experiences entrepreneurial talent that has our interest. “The Interim Revolution: How crowdsourcing, the on-demand Gig Economy and Teams as a Service are transforming business globally” has put its finger on it. The future of consultancy is “Team as a Service” (TaaS). Individuals cannot cope with the demands of such rapid change. Teams can.

Change as a capability

Companies don’t have the calibre of people they need in order to change. They don’t have the agility to change. They can’t move quickly enough as they’re sitting in old organisational designs that no longer serve them. And the current routes to capability (via recruiters and consultancies) are failing.

The playbook has changed

If you take the playbooks out of “The day after tomorrow” or “Zone to win“, it is very difficult for the people internally to manage the solid, fluid, superfluous transitions (in reverse order). 70 per cent of change programmes fail to achieve their goals, mainly due to employee resistance and lack of management support. What got you here, won’t get you there. Change as the new normal. Your best thinking from three years ago is your biggest baggage today. We have no other choice than to think differently and act accordingly because past practices are increasingly no longer fit-for-purpose.

Transformation is not a choice

Unless corporates make changes around how they source people and try new models, these capability and speed gaps will widen and overcome them, swallowing them up.  Unfortunately, most organisations don’t have the capability or agility to adapt. The 21st century is not going to wait for big monolithic organisations to try and change every multi-year period. Transformation for many is no longer a choice. However, the easiest option for the CEO in this instance is not to rock the boat, but instead to seek the comfort of targets and rigid plans. Read “Jack Reacher”. Most CEOs can’t take the pain. We can. We have.

Outside teams can make a difference

The right teams of the right people from the outside can make the difference in business. Diverse teams are the future. Using gig teams to tackle a series of problems rather than a single issue. Imagine having access teams from a curated network to deliver projects and keep the business in a continual state of transformation. Imagine a shift towards crowdsourcing project-based work over full-time employees. Imagine hiring teams and agile networks specifically brought in to crowd around specific problems. Imagine interim teams delivering desired outcomes while upskilling your core team.

Teams as a Service (TaaS)

The new model is designing teams of pre-gelled, top-5% talent. A-Team. Teams as a Service. Small autonomous teams operating in a decentralised way. More agile and lean and enabling improved focus. Moving from gig economy to an executive gig economy. Because in this new economy, access to talent is more important than ownership of talent

Moving away from the expensive recruitment lottery, the people as a commodity approach, being stuck with permanent consultants, applying one size fits all model. Instead of harnessing the power of the collective. Talent crowdsourcing, a fresh way to address the talent issue, enabling organisations to tap into a scalable agile workforce. Getting access to a carefully curated collective talent pool of highly-skilled, top quality and flexible workers, on-demand.

Handpicked talent

Handpicked talent for the mission at hand (corporate Masterchefs or Navy SEALs if you like). Staying agile, with the ability to test often, measure and align constantly and enabling autonomy and agility at scale without letting bureaucracy slow them down or take away the start-up mindset. Tapping into the collective minds of autonomous teams and having an agile response to embracing innovation. Future-proofing their operations so that they may thrive, consistently so.

Why interim?

It takes new permanent employees a month or more to get started. Interim leaders can inject expertise and capability around a variety of disciplines into your organisation instantly. Transformation experts can be hired to deliver on a key programme and keep the agenda of the board. Programme managers, project managers, process people, architects technical analysts, teams of the best in these areas can be sourced and vetted, and their knowledge and capabilities harnessed in an instant.

  • Interims are guaranteed to have a proven track record in working on the type of problem or project that your enterprise requires, with expertise within a specific sector.
  • Interims have one objective, to make maximum impact in a short space of time. As such, they work hard, and they work well.
  • Interim give a higher return on investment and value for money.
  • Interims are immediate availability
  • Interims have a wealth of knowledge and experience.
  • Interims have objectivity.
  • Interims have a higher level of accountability.
  • Interims have a high commitment to results (their next job depends on it).

Tap into the collective mind

It’s not just the gig economy that is providing organisations with huge opportunities, but the shared network economy is also enabling corporations to fill gaps and deliver outcomes by tapping into teams and harnessing a collection of minds. Great people are rare. Great teams are rarer. It is now possible to source a stealth unit of great people. A super team, if you will.

Advertisement for StrategyCrowd

“The Interim Revolution: How crowdsourcing, the on-demand Gig Economy and Teams as a Service are transforming business globally” reads like a big advertisement, and so does this blog. Forget Strategy Crowd. Forget Pat Lynes,  the author of the book. The principles stack up.

TaaS is an attractive proposition

There is no denying that handpicking and curating an elusive high-performance team, pre-packaged together from a trusted crowd to deliver an outcome, is an attractive proposition; teams that will get you out of a problem, solve it, disperse and also leave you with internal benefit and a significant gain for your core permanent team.

Tailored to your business

Delivering bespoke solutions to suit different companies and outcomes are what’s required.  Not algorithms, not automation, not some new stunning piece of AI or robotic technology, which links individuals to companies, but a personalised service, which provides bespoke teams to suit precise needs of the board, executives and senior leaders.

Transformation squads-for-hire anyone?

sensemaking cover

WHY REINVENT THE WHEEL AND WHY NOT LEARN FROM THE BEST BUSINESS THINKERS? AND WHY NOT USE THAT AS A PLATFORM TO MAKE BETTER BUSINESS DECISIONS? ALONE OR AS A TEAM.

Sense making; morality, humanity, leadership and slow flow. A book about the 14 books about the impact and implications of technology on business and humanity.

Ron Immink

I help companies by developing an inspiring and clear future perspective, which creates better business models, higher productivity, more profit and a higher valuation. Best-selling author, speaker, writer.

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