Challenging the Current
Fueling innovators, not contrarians
After nearly 15 years in IT Consulting — including consulting for IT consulting companies (I know, meta) — I’ve seen the inner workings and cultures of more than 100 IT contractors. And these experiences have left me with a sinking feeling that there has to be a better way.
RiverNorth was founded on the assumption that traditional consulting cultures don’t work for everyone, namely consultants who derive their motivation from more than a title. By methodically examining every aspect of traditional consultancies -- from staffing to contracts, recruiting to accounting, business development to account management -- RiverNorth’s culture threw away what didn’t work, re-built it, and is unapologetically trying to change the game.
The name RiverNorth is a literal and metaphorical reference to changing currents, a nod to the rare rivers that flow South to North, seemingly defying the natural state of things. Everything at RiverNorth flows “backwards” -- information flows up, not down through the communication channels; staffing decisions are made by the consultants themselves, not centralized teams; seniority and leadership positions are held by those that employees choose to follow, not by those selected by the founders; and the burden of corporate transparency is held by all employees, not simply a few leaders at the top.
From this desire to challenge the current of our internal operations and culture, we have extended our behaviors into our client work. Our tagline, “Challenge the Current,” is a way of life for consultants at RiverNorth. The goal is to fuel innovators, not contrarians. We challenge so we may help, not simply to argue.
Our consultants are trained to help clients challenge the status quo by finding creative solutions to remove blockers and execute the client’s vision. Each person we bring on to a contract is expected to identify problems and advocate for solutions.
However, we know how to seek advice from clients with institutional knowledge to refine our advice and suggestions. This is key. There are plenty of consulting firms who will tell clients exactly what they need before they take the time to understand their challenges, objectives, and requirements. Just because a solution has worked for another client doesn’t mean it is the correct solution for this client.
We see our role differently. As contractors who consult, we need to understand before we advocate a path. Combining clients’ institutional knowledge with our expert analysis avoids the endless cycle of off-target deliveries and empowers our people to consult with clients instead of simply serving as staff augmentation.
We live by a simple formula for this consulting behavior:
SENSE ➤ CHALLENGE ➤ ADAPT
This is one major way that RiverNorth differs from traditional consultancies. Because there are no titles, there is also no seniority. That means that less experienced consultants are not expected to sit silent, waiting for seasoned consultants to tell them what is required. Rather, we believe that it is every single consultant’s job to sense their surroundings: what is working, what isn’t working, what are the blockers to success, how could this situation improve?
Once a consultant senses a need, it is their responsibility to challenge the current. This means finding the right time, place, and communication channel to articulate their recommendations. This requires seeking advice from those impacted, to determine if their challenge is reality.
Finally, we do not leave a client holding the bag. We actively help those clients adapt to the challenge. This may require getting stakeholder buy-in, helping a client budget for change, or finding the people who can implement a change (if we are not those people).