Vanguard Magazine

42 AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2017 www.vanguardcanada.com G GAME CHANGER See the full interview online Q How did you start out in this industry, and how has it brought you to where you are today? Long before I joined EXA, I founded and later sold a company that manufactured and sold remote sensing satellite receiver ground station control systems. Primarily through proposals, I won several interna- tional contracts in a marketspace domi- nated by large, multinational companies. I realized then I was on to something. Q What is your role at your organization today? I am President and CEO of EXA Consult- ing, a strategic business development sup- port firm in operation for over 25 years. I acquired EXA eight years ago as part of a planned effort to focus on service-based industries. Q What was your worst moment? A proposal leader's most difficult moment hits when you realize you cannot win. It's more gut wrenching than bidding and losing a fair fight. I once advised the vice president of my client that his company could not submit a compliant proposal for a Major Crown project, and then I re- quired he acknowledge that he had been so advised. The client made an informed decision and chose to submit a non- compliant proposal for strategic reasons. In the end, no bids were compliant, and DND cancelled the project. Q What is the best advice you received? Don't insist on perfection when the win- ning solution is within reach. Q What is a habit that contributes to your success? Clients have called me dogged, tenacious, and relentless. I prefer to consider myself persistent and consistent, which is not the same as inflexible and compulsive. Every- thing I do has a purpose within a larger goal. Q What people or organizations do you believe best embody the innovation mindset? There is no lack of innovative people. In- novation dies when a monolithic culture fails to recognize and nurture a good idea that is "outside the box." The most in- novative organizations I have worked with designate idea incubation zones sheltered from the quarterly financial reporting im- peratives. These zones, which are never called that, typically pop up organically within a project or department. The best ideas filter to the top and take hold. Q What are some of the biggest impediments to innovation in your organization or industry sector? The single largest impediment to innova- tion I see among our proposal clients is reinventing the wheel. Companies des- ignate employees to support a proposal based on their subject matter knowledge and workload availability. After each ma- jor bid, the proposal team disbands and their new skills melt away. Typically, a dif- ferent group of employees staff successive major proposal efforts, forcing each team to relearn what the last did. Q What are the biggest impediments to innovation in today's enterprise? If innovation is a priority, then executives need to champion and manage innovation as a corporate resource. When corporate KPIs' and managers' performance assess- ments track quality innovation, the cor- porate culture shifts toward an innovative organization. Q How has innovation become engrained in your organization's culture and how is it being optimized? We measure what works and what doesn't work primarily through debriefings our clients receive from procurement authori- ties. Whenever possible, EXA attends de- briefing meetings with our clients, and we identify which aspects of the proposal architecture worked, which did not, and why. We also collaborate with other pro- posal preparation firms in a Coop-etition fashion where we explore and share suc- cessful practices. Q What technologies, business models, and trends will drive the biggest changes in your industry over the next two years? EXA's technology framework always respects and works within the IT and security restrictions imposed by our cli- ents. Consequently, we are seldom on the leading edge of IT roll-outs. EXA is migrating to cloud computing for best practice models and non-proprietary templates. Q What is your parting piece of advice? Nothing blinds you more than your own assumptions. I cringe when someone tells me "because we do it that way." If you want to step up your game, challenge your assumptions every day. Deconstruct your processes, understand them, and adapt. ALEX McPHAIL PRESIDENT & CEO EXA CONSULTING LIMITED

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