Intro to Jim and Harvey Sayings

I thought as all of a sudden we started publishing Jim and Harvey sayings to give you a brief intro as to why.  Jim (Jim Hayward) and Harvey (Harvey Gellman) started a Canadian consulting firm called "Gellman Hayward and Partners Ltd." in the early 70’s which eventually merged with CGI.

Both Jim, Harvey and the other partners had a large impact on me personally and to somewhat a degree on Graham.  It was Jim and Harvey that introduced Graham and I which ultimately started us on todays journey.  One of the many things that Graham and I have as a guiding principles for Project X is the ideals and views that they both introduced us to.

The other day Graham and I were in a client situation and we were both torn as to what was the actual "right" thing to do.  Graham said "What would Harvey or Jim say?"  So that got me to thinking about trying to capture the essence of some of these lessons.  So over time when I run into ex-GHPl people I will ask them to share these with me or hopefully people will share via comments, which I will then post no more than one a week.

I will also see if I can scare up a bio from the two of them and share that with you to give some context.  Sadly Harvey died a few years ago. Jim is still around, I even pulled the poor guy out of retirement to work at Project X for us and he has been a great asset to us and our clients.  So please share.  If you did not know them and have some thoughts please share them as this is to be about conversations not tellings.

  1. Graham Boundy Reply

    Another thought that Burry triggered is the whole notion of gauging readiness. Jim has often stated that no one does anything until they are ready. In any situation where change is required the level of the readiness of the client for change needs to be assessed. If there is a clear readiness to proceed then progress can be made. If readiness is lacking progress will be slow and painful. Preparing the client, getting them ready for a change is critical to the success of that change.
    I’m not sure if there is a “Harvey” saying in there. Perhaps is can be paraphrases as “Gauging readiness is key.”

  2. Burry Foss Reply

    I was also a founding partner of GHP. In 1980 I opened the first GHP office outside of Toronto in Calgary, and later opened the Edmonton and Stamford offices. Probably my most memorable saying from HSG was the “drip” method. This is the gradual introduction of new ideas to clients when their readiness for change is low. I have found it to be one of the most powerful tools in my 40 years of consulting experience.

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