Evolution 5 - ProjectOne

As we further develop our model for delivering ideas created to overcome specific marketing problems, we find that we also benefit from on-the-job-training, such as with a project we're doing for a company in Charlotte called On Course Recruiting.

Andrew Mackay is the lead partner. He has considerable experience in the recruiting business, having conducted more than 400 successful searches, most in the IT industry. But he loves golf. And he saw a niche in the golf business that he believed he could fill, essentially bringing professional service to an industry reliant on word-of-mouth networking and what I think of as "50/50" measures (basically a willingness to accept success half the time rather than hone the process to increase your chances).

With On Course Recruiting, we're learning something about our own process evolution, what we're now calling "ProjectOne." Namely, we're learning that the web and interviews and discussion and research and all the stuff we do to get smarter is valuable, extremely valuable. But it's a preface, not the book itself. The big ideas come out of filtration, the step where we sift through it all, put our sensibilities to it, grind it into workable shapes.

Sort of like the search business. Andrew and On Course Recruiting can review hundreds of files, resumes, and contacts. But his real value - what he does best for his customers - comes when he sifts through them all and finds the nuggets they're likely looking for.

Andrew's customers - ours too - could do this on their own. It's not that they don't know how. What they lack is time, discipline and objectivity. Sure, they know the culture, as our customers know their companies and their industries. But that's not enough.

Interested in knowing more about ProjectOne? Our web site (www.burris.com) will soon explain our process more fully. Interested in knowing more about On Course Recruiting? You can contact Andrew Mackay at andrew@oncourserecruiting.com.