Australian software firm Austhink prides itself on being a "specialist in the visualization of reasoning and argument," president and CEO Tim van Gelder says. Austhink's new software, bCisive, is targeted to management consultants, and a recent partnership with Barbara Minto, founder of the Minto Pyramid Principle and former McKinsey consultant, has enhanced the offering. Consulting recently spoke with van Gelder about the software .
Consulting: What was going on in the industry that prompted the launch of bCisive?
Van Gelder: We made some observations about the toolkits that people have at the moment and how they compare with the activities [consultants are] doing. And there are some key things that are not directly supported. So people are making do with other tools. [But] in consulting, there are distinctive skills and methods that are sort of like a secret sauce. And…if you've got a special tool for that job, you're generally going to get a better result. So that's what we have built and are continuing to refine.
Consulting: What sectors of the management consulting market are most in need of a more comprehensive tool?
Van Gelder: The most receptive customers are the large strategy customers. [The Minto Pyramid] principles have been adopted by virtually all the major strategy consulting outfits. So anybody who's been trained in that, whether they come from A.T. Kearney or PA Consulting or Bain or BCG, will look at our tools and say, "Yes, I can see what you're doing and I can see how that can be useful."
Consulting: How would consultants most benefit from this software?
Van Gelder: I'd say there are two major benefits. One is in productivity—that is using the tool alongside other office tools as a way to help thinking be done more effectively. It's not just a matter of producing nice diagrams, but it's an extension of your own thinking capacity. The other major area is upskilling. How do you take smart, young entrants into the profession and help them think like management consultants? With [bCisive], junior consultants are guided and scaffolded into organizing their thoughts into a particular way. So this can accelerate the training in the distinctive ways of thinking.
Consulting: How do Austhink and its sister company, Austhink Consulting work together?
Van Gelder: One way to look at management consulting is that they're the thinking specialists that big organizations will bring in to help them with their thinking challenges. Because, for whatever reason, those organizations don't have that thinking capacity themselves. And at Austhink Consulting, we are focused on helping organizations build their internal capacity. In a way, the goal would be to help reduce their reliance on external thinking resources. But to some extent, it's useful for organizations to build some of that internally as well.
Austhink Software and Austhink Consulting are two distinct companies under the same brand. At Austhink Consulting, we assist our clients in making the best possible decisions. Our consultants use Austhink's software in training and facilitation. Also, while our consultants teach businesses how to make better decisions, our software helps our clients implement the learned methodologies on a day-to-day basis.
Consulting: How can you help consultants better succeed in organizing and expressing their thoughts in the future?
Van Gelder: Consultants are a smart group; however, there is always room for improvement. In my years of research as a cognitive scientist, I've been able to identify the holes in people's ability to think critically and have developed software tools to augment these skills. bCisive can help consultants with their critical thinking skills by allowing them to organize information and evidence into a coherent overall structures that clearly bear on the main points of interest to their clients. Additionally, bCisive can help consultants identify the missing parts of their argument such as hidden assumptions or unsupported points, all resulting in sharper, more critical arguments.
© Arc, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to TMSalesOperations@arc-network.com. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.