LUCRUM in The News…
March 21, 2008
If you happened to pick up the March 21st edition of the Cincinnati Business Courier, you might have read an article about LUCRUM. The article outlines some of the highs and lows that we experienced in 2007, and goes on to talk about some of our future plans for growth. The great thing about having a company blog is that I can immediately share my feedback on the article as part of our ongoing conversation - one that you are welcome to join by placing comments below.
There is only so much information that can be published in a 1/4 page article, so I will elaborate more on it here. LUCRUM is very excited about our partnership with Diane Egbers of Leadership Excelleration Inc (mentioned in the article). Diane has been working with the senior managemnt team to develop a 5 year strategy to address some of the shortcomings mentioned in the article. With her assistance, LUCRUM has made changes to both personnel and policies in an effort to become more nimble and better able to serve the emerging needs of our clients. This effort began in late 2007, and we are already seeing positive results. The Business Development Group has added 4 senior members in the last 4 months, and will be joined by another new member next week. We are not stopping there. Look for LUCRUM to add Business Development personnel in the coming weeks. Along with the new Business Development team members, comes new opportunites and clients. LUCRUM has engaged 10 new clients in the past several months, and is working on exciting data warehousing and business intelligence projects. In addition, we continue to leverage our partnership with Salesforce.com, as we are Cincinnati’s only certified Salesforce provider. The new marketing team led by David E. Bowman, is making great strides in changing our approach to Marketing. We are shifting from the traditional approach of marketing as a monologue to engaging the world in a dialog. My invitation above, seeking comments on this post, is a direct result of that shift in mindset. David is bringing in great young talent like Greg Levine, a recent Xavier graduate, to help further his efforts.
Not only are we investing heavily in restructuring our Business Development Team and Marketing Department, but our Delivery Organization, led by Jodie Heflin, is focusing on providing world class technical solutions for our clients. LUCRUM does not take client satisfaction lightly. In fact, we view it as the key to our future growth and success. Jodie and her team have worked hard to address the systemic problems that led to the issues listed in the Business Courier article. Since her tenure as leader of the Delivery Organization began in September 2007, LUCRUM has been delivering a level of service that is unmatched in the industry.
Ultimately, LUCRUM is a company that is about people. With Andy Erickson as the leader of our talent acquisition effort, LUCRUM is hiring the best and the brightest to join us in our goal of creating world class technical solutions. Be sure to check the People section in future editions of the Business Courier, as I plan on having new hires to LUCRUM making regular appearances there.
In summary, while not all of the information about LUCRUM in the article was positive, the negative information it contains is a part of our past. These problems have been dealt with. We have moved forward. And ultimately we are now a stronger company as a result. We have amazing people, a renewed sense of purpose, and a strategy for success. LUCRUM is focused on the future, and in the spirit of the 2008 theme for the Business Development kickoff meeting in Florida, “the future’s so bright we’ve gotta wear shades.”
Thanks to Laura Baverman for thinking enough of our company to write about us. I have attached a link to the article here. I hope you give it a look. Even more, I hope you will leave your thoughts on the article in the comments below.
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6 Responses to “LUCRUM in The News…”
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Doug,
I am not “the new guy” but actually one of several “new guys and gals” here at LUCRUM. In my short time here, I have been really excited by what I see. I chose to leave a job I loved for this one, and I have no regrets what so ever. The people here are amazing, talented, and tremendously enjoyable to work with. Sure we have some challenges that we face moving forward, but that is inherent to any company - especially one that espouses the idea of being innovative. I can’t speak to our past, because I was not here, but as for our future i agree. It is extremely bright. I am glad to see you open up the topic for discussion. I think it says a lot about where we are headed.
Hmmm…I would guess that most consulting companies have similar issues at one time or another. I’ve worked at a number of consulting companies and have experienced project issues at each one. Or maybe it’s just me
I’ve been around LUCRUM for about 4 years, and I participated in some of our problem projects. I know most of ours (but not all) resulted from our trying to innovate for the benefit of our clients, especially as we learned to integrate global teams. And holy cow, was that hard at first. For me, a couple of trips to Bangalore and I’m a much better person for it, not to mention the valuable lessons learned that I can help pass on to our next projects. But I don’t get sambar for breakfast and the local traffic “patterns”. That’s just WRONG!
I’m exited about our model moving forward. I don’t think I’ve ever seen our organization so well aligned to create value for our clients. I’m all in!
This article highlights the process of change and evolution. In my mind, the key to this article is the fact that LUCRUM has been around for 15 years. What company could be a company 15 yrs strong and not have some mis-steps along the way? In fact, studies show that most companies fail within the first 5 years of existence.
Evolution happens when you are able to learn from your mistakes, adapt to each environment, and grow. I understand that LUCRUM has had to reinvent themselves over the last couple of years, but what company hasn’t? If a company has been around for a long time, the playing field they are used to is constantly changing, their challenges are new and exciting, and their clients have new needs.
All companies make mistakes, but its the company that is able to accept, learn, change, and adapt which will grow. I believe LUCRUM is in a growth state right now for the points mentioned in the article. There were some not-so-successful projects in the past, and some people who were at LUCRUM are no longer here; but I believe that this lays the foundation for LUCRUM grow.
I have been with LUCRUM for a short time, but I can already see that we have accepted those mis-steps and learned from them. Change has already occurred and I think LUCRUM is in the right state for growth.
I am personally excited about this growth, because, as mentioned in the article, LUCRUM has new leadership, a new vision, new methodologies to support that vision, and 10 new clients to support LUCRUM’s evolution.
Distinct or extinct. Change is not a bad thing, nor is it a one time event. Change management is definitely an artform, and I think the Courier article overlooked the fact the change in a small company is essential to growth- even if it means making some difficult choices.
I was very surprised that the Courier article was so short-sighted on the aspect of change management in an organization. I think most business leaders would praise LUCRUM for taking bold steps to correct was wasn’t working or hold people accountable rather than deteriorate our strong financial position.
When did taking a new approach become a bad thing in business?
I absolutely agree with you Melissa. I think that the article illustrates that we had some problems and we’ve made some changes in response to those problems. If this were a Fortune 500 company, we’d be praised for leadership in the face of adversity.
As the most recent new hire at the time The Business Courier article was published, I might have been dismayed at my decision to join LUCRUM - but guess what? - I wasn’t.
In fact my feelings were quite the opposite. After reading the article, I realized I joined one of the most well known IT Consulting firms in the Cincinnati area, one whose restructuring plans would attract the attention of publications like The Business Courier; one whose leadership has the guts to make changes when and where changes are needed.
I for one, am glad I chose to work for such a company and at such an exciting time - where I my contributions will positively affect LUCRUM and its future growth in the Cincinnati marketplace.