The "Acres of Diamonds" Consulting Methodology

When I was in High School, a rap group called Public Enemy had a song entitled, "Don't Believe The Hype." Walt Whitman once wrote: " You road I enter upon and look around! I believe you are not all that is here; I believe that much unseen is also here." Russell Conwell used to deliver a sermon about "Acres of Diamonds"

As Conwell told it, he was riding in 1870 in a camel caravan along the valley between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers in Mesopotamia when he heard a guide weave tales to entertain his American tourists.

Conwell, then only 27, was deeply impressed by a legend about a prosperous Persian farmer, Ali Hafed. Lured by the stories of a Buddhist priest, Ali deserted his fruitful lands to search for immense wealth in mythical diamond fields.

Far and wide Ali Hafed roamed, footsore and weary. Youth and wealth disappeared, and he died far from home, an old and disillusioned pauper. Not long afterward, the guide related, acres of fabulous diamonds were found on Ali Hafed's own land.

To the other tourists, this was just another alluring story, but in Conwell's mind a great truth had been sown. To him it said: "Your diamonds are not in far-away mountains or in distant seas; they are in your own back yard if you will but dig for them."

They are also available within the people and resources who make up your business.

My Acres of Diamonds consulting methodology focuses on mining and leveraging information from the individuals working within an organization. When I first utilized this methodology, I was working for an Information Technology firm in Manhattan. The firm's client was a hedge fund that had some very significant technology challenges with respect to people, process and technology. Through asking the right questions to every stake holder, I managed to compile answers to these challenges. These answers were then shared with the proper project champions and we collectively facilliated an action plan. The plan was a huge success and my methodology became a model for future engagements.