I saw a sign from the FastForward 08 Conference on two of my favorite blogs today and found it to be quite funny. It could be that I really like bananas, but more thank likely I think I just agree.

I may be reading a bit too much between the lines here but the idea of the opening of the enterprise, to be a more transparent organization, and relinquishing its IP to the world at large could represent a real sea change for large professional services companies. There are inklings of such things afoot already, but my sense is that the majority of IP is still locked behind the steel curtain of questionable hourly rates. (I will include myself in this).

This “opening” seems inevitable though. Proprietary methodologies and solutions (of which most are neither proprietary, nor all that methodical, and rarely seem to solve anything) sort of harken to the days of the $435 hammer. Are we that expensive because we are that “custom” or “tailored”? Did someone retool a manufacturing line for just one deliverable?

Hogwash I say! Professional services firms should be about selling a capability, not a spec. The capabilities of their people. And the best way to determine someone’s capability is to see it for yourself, open and public on the Internet. To Jay’s point about corporate blogging, companies who expose their capabilities (read: people) to the greater community will reap significant rewards. I am willing to bet a 100kg bushel of bananas that a smart consumer will hire the consultant who shows his IP cards from jumpstreet and furthermore, offers the intellect required to develop that IP, than a firm hiding behind a proposed proprietary methodology, and betting on the come that the possible knuckleheads behind it can implement. I mean, you test drive your car before you buy it right? Why not your consultant?

So anyway…perhaps I have rambled a bit and drawn some spurious correlations, but at least you learned that yes, in fact Iceland does export bananas. Oh and I can’t wait for the lawyers to jump all over this…