Mission
The purpose of Georgia Tech Strategic Consulting is to serve as strategy partners who advise leaders, catalyze innovation, and mobilize the community.
Vision
Our vision is inextricably linked to our mission. For each of the 3 pillars of our mission, we aspire to achieve the following key results:
As we Advise Leaders we envision that we will continue these successes:
- Leaders look to our team as a safe haven for tough issues.
- Our counsel is consistently sought and implemented, not just acknowledged and ignored.
- Our client relationships aren’t just technical and process oriented.
- We are offered a seat at the table as crucial strategic decisions are discussed and made because we are wanted and valued—not offered a seat “for the honor”.
- Our advice is sought first before a leader reaches out to an external consultant.
- We aren’t brought in to “rubber stamp” an idea, but to provide honest and objective feedback to help leaders make the best decision.
- We are seen by leaders as being invested in their success.
- Leaders seek our advice on their toughest issues, even when it’s outside our stated expertise.
As we Catalyze Innovation, we envision that:
- Our client partners will achieve continuous improvement through leaner, more efficient and effective processes and practices.
- Our client partners will develop new offerings, products and services that align with student, market and institutional demands.
- Our client partners will make significant advancements in their offerings that result in a substantial leap forward in performance or capabilities.
- Our client partners will make radical shifts in how products or services are provided, challenging norms and creating new markets through entirely new business models, technologies, or ways of delivering value.
When we Mobilize the Community, we expect:
- New partnerships will continue to be formed across the organization, particularly among groups that would not normally know about each other or work together.
- There will be a measurable reduction in duplication of effort, and rework through structure, focus, and sharing of information.
- New system-level solutions to Institute challenges will be created through collaborations of people with different perspectives, knowledge areas, ideas, and insights
- The brightest GT minds will help us anticipate and prepare for the future.
- Community members will be well informed, engaged, and listened to.
- The voices of our community will consistently be represented in rooms where they are not physically present.
- People are comfortable, curious, and actively engaged in strategic work.
Goals
Our 5 team goals provide a balanced approach to serving the Institute while also developing our team’s effectiveness.
- Catalyze innovation and engagement to advance Institute strategic priorities by serving as a trusted advisor, connector, and thought partner with campus leaders.
- Equip the Georgia Tech and internal consulting community with the knowledge, skills, and tools to advance innovation and strategic priorities while improving organizational effectiveness.
- Support student success academically, professionally, and strategically through direct student engagement and ensuring that students are our top priority as we implement the strategic plan.
- Enhance the well-being, professional development, and team effectiveness in GTSC.
- Foster a culture of psychological safety and inclusivity, where diverse voices are heard, respected, and valued, enhancing collaboration, creativity, and resilience.
History
Georgia Tech Strategic Consulting has been serving Georgia Tech since the 1990s. Over the years, we have matured, moving from being reactive to responsive, to more strategic, and now using insight to be predictive. As shown in the table below, our role has evolved from targeted quality efforts in the early 1990s to the enterprise-wide strategic focus we have today.
Our Origins
During the early years, from 1996 to 2013, two groups served the organization. One was called Office of Organizational Development (OD) focused on helping unit leaders make targeted improvements focused on driving continuous improvement at the unit level. The other was the enterprise Program Management Office (ePMO) focused on technology adoption. These services provided several benefits:
- By focusing on resolving specific issues at the unit level, the internal OD group helped leaders develop tailored solutions to address unique organizational challenges.
- Continuous quality improvement and TQM practices streamlined processes, reduced waste, and enhanced operational efficiency, leading to better use of resources and increased productivity.
- The team equipped leaders and employees with the skills and knowledge needed to implement effective change, foster innovation, and drive strategic priorities within their units.
- By involving staff in the development and implementation of improvement initiatives, the team helped boost employee morale, engagement, and commitment to organizational goals.
The Shift to Strategic Consulting
In 2013, the two groups were combined and renamed Georgia Tech Strategic Consulting (GTSC). The group was given a new charge to bring all the services together and focus on strategy development as a foundation for organizational improvement. The change was important for several reasons:
- The two teams had strong capabilities independently – but so much more value delivery was realized when the skill and knowledge sets were combined.
- There was a growing need for strategy implementation, unit-level strategic planning, organization redesign and consolidation, change management, continuous operational and process improvements, and measurement of the organization’s overall effectiveness and excellence.
- Correctly positioned and charged, the internal consulting group better leveraged additional Institute resources.
- A more integrated approach reduced the risk of duplication or competing priorities.
- A well-focused internal consulting organization enabled GT to utilize external consulting assistance more effectively and in a more focused way.
Our Focus Today
In 2019, with the arrival of a new President, GTSC was moved from the Administration and Finance Division to the Office of the President so that the group could have a broader impact. The first assignment provided by the new President was to lead the creation of a new institute-wide strategic plan. Since then, the team has been operating primarily at the enterprise level to set and pursue strategic priorities. This change was significant for delivering even greater value because:
- We have been assigned responsibility for the development and implementation of the Institute’s strategy, giving us the opportunity to harmonize and align our efforts in a holistic and intentional manner.
- The realities facing higher education, and GT, are very different today than they were a decade ago. The dynamic nature and rapid pace of change necessitates greater organizational agility, which can be offered by a nimble Institute-wide service delivery provider.
- By taking a blended approach to delivering organizational improvement services, we can tackle process improvement while also addressing underlying culture issues and helping to manage change.
- We are helping GT build resilience and adaptability by promoting a culture of continuous learning and improvement, helping our campus partners to respond proactively to emerging challenges and opportunities.
- By operating at both the enterprise and unit-level, improvements are aligned with broader organizational strategies, facilitating coherent and unified progress towards institutional goals.
- Innovation and improvement can happen quickly and span across multiple units where there is not one clear owner. GTSC is seen as the resource for leading people to develop and implement innovative improvements.
- We can augment the capabilities needed across the institute as many of our partners lack the capacity and capability to drive the level of innovation expected