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EXTREME PROBLEM SOLVING | Ground Truth
AUGUST 2014 | Resource Global Network 81
Recent ‘reactive’ work has seen Ground Truth secure
the release of confiscated cargo from unpaid and
disgruntled haulers; prevent a US$140 million lawsuit
over breach of contract; and tackle chronic loss
reduction operations in Southern Africa, among other
varied tasks.
The importance of early
engagement
One thing that makes Ground Truth different
is that it has two functions: one proactive, the
other reactive.
The team’s preferred function, where they
can apply their expertise to the fullest
extent, is proactive. This is where resource
companies engage Ground Truth from the
very beginning of a project to assist them
in looking at investment opportunities and
potential mergers with overseas partners.
The first stage of Ground Truth’s business
model and process is called “Assess”, because
it involves gaining “a complete understanding
of the operating environment, who’s who,
macro and micro dynamics, and how that
affects and moulds the strategy”. Ground
Truth uses this knowledge to develop the
Business Threat Targeting Model, with which
the team assists the client with the next stage
of the process, called “Design”.
“Forming a complete strategy design before
moving forward with any venture is essential
and very often overlooked in project
development,” explains Ground Truth’s
Programme Director.
“Military operations fail by design; we have
seen many examples of this recently, and
business in challenging environments is
subject to similar elements. The strategy
design needs to be all-encompassing and
completely geared for that environment.
“What works in Free Town doesn’t work in
Lagos,” he continues. “The strategy must be
a joint effort between all entities engaged in
the venture. There must be joint ownership
of the plan, there must be unity of effort, or
else it will come unstuck early. The factors of
the design can range from local engagement
strategy and information operations to
effective human resource management and
how that is played out locally. In our relatively
short life as a business, we have seen this
overlooked on numerous live projects.”
Implementation is the
hard part
Once the scenario has been assessed and a
strategy designed, Ground Truth moves onto
the final two stages of its process: “Build” and
“Execute”.
As the team moves on to explaining these
steps, one member diverges to quote an old
friend from his days in the S.A.S.: renowned
US Army General Stanley McChrystal, whose
business group works closely with Keel. “Gen
Stan says that ‘designing the perfect strategy
can be done, but it’s the implementation
that’s the hard part,’” he remarks.
To begin implementing the strategy, Ground
Truth needs to build the in-country team that
will deliver it. Selection and vetting are crucial
and “mixed teams” tend to work better.
“Our experience of this is that all barriers,
sectarian and otherwise, can and must be
broken through a sense of achievement
and a common purpose,” the Operational
Director adds.