Editor's Note: An Instinct for Innovation

Consultant Livingstone, I presume?
Somehow, the unforgiving climate of the central African jungle might not be a bad metaphor for many corporate corridors as of late.
And never has the presumption that consultants roam such remote spaces been emitted more freely by technology companies, now half-starved for client intelligence.
So it is at IBM Corp., where, having just returned from an extended honeymoon with PwC Consulting, top managers are now eagerly waiting to savor the convenience of having client intelligence on tap. Make no mistake, IBM's nuptials are in fact a marriage of convenience — but it would be a mistake to think of this as merely a merger of two consulting organizations. The knot being tied by IBM is between client intelligence and research and development, and its impact on both consulting and the technology community will likely be far greater than any one competitor — be it Microsoft or Accenture — has yet dared to admit publicly.
While the acquisition of PwC Consulting by IBM will need to overcome numerous cultural integration hurdles before it can be considered a success (see our interview beginning on page 14), the PwC buyout would merit little jaw-dropping inside the consulting marketplace had it not been preceded by the removal of certain cultural barriers within IBM.
Foremost among these was the inbred notion that IBM's army of research and development workers (3,000 strong) toiled at the pleasure of IBM's software and hardware product executives, but not necessary its consultants. The removal of this barrier should be counted among former IBM CEO Lou Gerstner's most inspired acts — one that demonstrated a consultant's instinct for innovation.
For decades, innovation within the consulting sector has occurred at and with the client, and the client's needs led the consultant to the new insight that could then be applied to other clients. Unlike so many other seasoned industry leaders, Gerstner got this, and so has IBM's research chief, Dr. Paul Horn — who says that his top priority is now arming IBM's 60,000-member consulting army with innovation. It's an awesome undertaking, and one that's expected to gain new momentum following the recent formation of a new consulting business unit within IBM Research. The new unit, announced this past November, will receive $1 billion in funding over the next three years and has currently begun dispatching 200 career researchers and scientists to explore client sites around the world.
"Take what you want, but find Livingstone!" was the order that commenced Henry M. Stanley's historic search for David Livingstone, that most sought after of professional breeds: a scientist who liked to roam.