What Can We Learn from the 'Fog of War'?

War is terrible. It is not Hollywood. It is not to be glamourised or romanticised. It is a tragedy for everyone, every time.

However, we can learn a lot about complexity (the ‘fog of war’) and how teams can manage that complexity, in challenging environments, in the most efficient and effective ways. In the past, fighting battles and holding territory meant boots on the ground. Over time we have seen this paradigm exposed as inefficient, costly and one that adds to the complexity of the situation.

Breaking the paradigm

On Finextra TV: Tom Hewson, Senior Partner, RedCompass Labs, speaks about how banks are tackling low ROE and trying to cut costs while complying with regulation. He explores what opportunities will come from these challenges, what tools are available for FIs who are getting lost in the fog of data and what this means for areas of banking that are less regulated.

In Vietnam, for every 1 frontline soldier there were 10 support troops. At the outset of conflict in Afghanistan the modus operandi was still to have relatively large numbers of boots claiming territory and then holding it. The problem is, boots need to be fed. Their jeeps need to be fixed. The people who fix the jeeps need to be fed. Everyone’s letters need to be sent home. The people who deliver the letters need more jeeps. Boots need more boots and the numbers grow.

We see similarities with consultancies. They have a model that requires partners to sell large numbers of conscripts who have been through a boot camp and then deployed on site. To hold that ground they concoct ‘outsourcing’ deals that keep more boots in place. Even if organisations ignore the large consultancies, they still often follow this model and end up with armies of contractors.

As Afghanistan continued, NATO pivoted. Troop numbers were reduced. Investment was put into highly trained, highly skilled, multi-functional teams of special forces who were WRAPPED IN TECH. Their job was to get in and out. The ground was held not by boots but by technology; drones monitoring, analysing and reporting. A person can only see what they can see. One or two people can oversee what took whole armies (and their PMOs) before. Tech can monitor millions of events.

Our equivalent is to simplify. Achieve project results quicker. Solve complexity in a series of small bite sized steps that deliver benefits and reduce risk. Don’t leave people to ‘outsource’. Use technology to monitor and report. Less people need less people to support them.

RedCompass Labs believes in right-sized, integrated teams that deliver faster and leave behind right-sized data analytics-driven organisations.

We provide highly trained, highly skilled, payments and banking experts that work in multi-functional teams who are wrapped in data analytics and tech. They can do much more than armies of contractors or consultants. Typically, when we arrive the first step is to reduce the project team size. More can be done with fewer of the right people. We never work without a balance of the client’s people. This is a threat to people, we know that. How often have you sat in a room where a thousand words are spoken by people all concerned about protecting their role, their contract, their renewal? Too many people means the project moves too slowly. Too many people add to the fog.

In today’s world, with increasingly complex regulation, challenger banks and costs that need to be cut, the old consultancy boots on the ground model doesn’t fly. It will be impossible to do more with less and increase ROE without a change in approach.

Internally, RedCompass Labs people all belong to multiple skills networks – Technology, Project/Programme Management, Business and Systems Analysis, Quality Assurance, Business Consulting. We do not believe in the old approach of ‘here is my rate card’. We do want to charge this for BA, that for TA, this for PM that for SA etc. Projects are not pick and mix selections. We don’t provide consultants who can do a little of everything.

To be part of a RedCompass Labs “special forces’ team, people need to pass difficult internal accreditation. Some are still top-quality BAs, SMEs and PMs on the journey. They accompany teams if they have a deep SME angle. But when we deploy a team we don’t price via a rate card. We price based on the number of consultants and contractors that can we reduce and the quality of the delivery and project Go Live.

These Special-Enter-And- Leave (S-E-A-L 😉) Teams have PMs who can analyse issues and write CMD line prompts to re-start services. Technologists who understand the business. Consultants can not only communicate, but can analyse as deeply as an SME and can organise and lead via multiple methodologies. They all use data analytics to accelerate and then to monitor. For example, our Day-1 Readiness Data Analytics Tools serve to accelerate AND improve the test cycle and then monitor post Go Live. S-E-A-L Teams don’t work as BAs, or developers, or PMs. They are tight, fast-moving, accurate, change teams that reduce project headcount and costs.

A RedCompass Labs ten-person S-E-A-L Team can reduce the need for 50 external consultants and contractors to run the project and to then monitor it going forward.. that might be £10m-£15m a year in savings. We are happy to be paid one-off fees, but we prefer to reduce that upfront cost and be paid in a percentage of project and bank savings over 1-3 years. We are confident that integrated right-sized, highly trained, highly skilled teams wrapped in tech (and that leave tech behind) can save money and improve productivity and results. We are happy to share those benefits.