Hello everyone.I work at a Big 4 as an analyst. Some time ago I came up with an idea. I told about this idea to a couple of senior managers. They said it sounded good. I then wrote to the person over whose work I had this idea (different country, same firm). He said it was a good idea and should be investigated. I forwarded his response to the senior managers.Next thing I hear is that people are freaking out about me having ‘ideas’. Suddenly a 'good' idea, became a 'dangerous' idea.Now, my question to you is: where should I have been so that my idea (or any!) would have been nurtured and developed – or maybe tested and proved to fail?thanks

In your garden shed?

:)I would love to disagree. I guess I believe a consultant should make life better for a client. Anyone else? I guess this is a hard one...I would love to hear Boxershorts, VI and Beng here (among others), if that ok....

I like you. Were you transferred internally from another country to the UK? You must have been doing exceptionally well to get the transfer. What country did you come from, if you don't mind saying?

Good morning, cynic,Thanks for your kind words! :) Sometimes I feel like a one man band here. However, the side of the firm in the US seems to like what I am doing and supports me when possible.I am actually not working in the UK right now. Will probably do so when I get a bit more experience, since I have this love-hate relationship with London.I prefer not to get into too many details about my plans in the web, but I'd love to get into more detail with you. It's always good to hear other people's opinions. (plus, I still havent given up making a team of like-minded people who genuinely want to do good things for clients!)My email is sunnysundaydawn@gmail.comHappy sunday for you!

In any big firm, you have to be careful about having ideas, or rather about who you share them with. There are always politics that mean someone sees you as treading on their toes, and vested interests that will be harmed by whatever efficiency your ideas bring. It is a difficult process to get your ideas adopted - usually involving getting someone with existing political clout to champion your ideas. Going direct to senior management can come across as bypassing the chain of authority. Not that I endorse a hierarchical approach in any way - it's just that it's common feature across professional service firms.The best place to be get your ideas heard is a small and rapidly growing firm.I don't think any large firm is great for having ideas. For example, I work in a large firm with a very informal (non-hierarchical) culture. Although this means you can talk directly to senior staff, the formal hierarchy is just replaced with patronage and informal cliques, so it is even harder to work out who you need to go through and convince to get things done.

Thanks for your answer, airnet.So, specifically which firms would you suggest?

The nature of small firms is that they tend to cover a niche. Therefore, you'd be best to target that niche first in order to find good small firms. Also, to state the obvious, smaller firms often cover a smaller geographical area so you need to look at what countries/states the firm has offices and projects in.Getting the right job is both about getting into an environment that is open to your ideas and one where you can generate those ideas (e.g. if you're a technology junkie then you might be stultified in an organisational development consultancy and unable to generate decent ideas).Here are three random fairly good small consultancies in the UK:Project One (project management)Troika (financial services)IAMCO (strategy/due diligence)Obviously, you can also search the forum and start a new thread to ask for specific recommendations on your target niche & geography.

Again, thanks for your help, airnet.

hi again,I was hoping someone else could offer their opinion about this.I am not so sure that there arent any 'big' firms supporting innovation (whatever it is). One of the downsides of 'small' consultancies is that, after all, they have less sources of information and that the expertise they have accumulated is a lot smaller.It would make sense to, at least, create small teams of innovative people within a 'big' consultancy. (or maybe im just naive, that could be too).Whats the opinion of senior people around the forum?Thanks

I agree with much of Airnet's commentary on this thread.In my experience, the issue is often not the idea, but the way it's put out there (style and channel). Who you tell plays a major part here. If you get the message right to press buttons for person A, it may actually backfire for person B. Also, some ideas are edgy and need to be released carefully. They gain a certain momentum and then can either take off or cause a panic. How you manage that transition is the key.Of course, you may also be looking at the case of the idea being too good - someone somewhere wants to repackage it and play it as their own. Cynic? Moi?I have to say, I'd expect a fair few of the big firms to be in the 'innovation' market as well: they are always looking to develop a new offering that with give them a competitive edge. So it is possible, if the general idea is in the ballpark of the big firm. If it doesn't fit, try elsewhere.Since you kicked this thread off a while back, I'd be interested to know what's happened since.

Hi Boxershorts.The idea basically died. Of course I cant get into too much detail in here (if you want to move to email, thats fine, im sure you can make a couple of good interesting points which Id love to hear).I decided to push forward with the idea in spite of some of the partners in my dept obviously not liking it at all. In the process I had to ruffle some feathers. The idea rolled here and there and I got a job offer to work at another dept -not due to the idea itself, but to the fact that I showed that I think out of the box (that expression gives me the creeps). Some people also tend to value creativity (sometimes).I rejected that offer and have chosen to try to move somewhere else instead.I learned that one has to be careful with how to present ideas and strike a balance between how good you want to say they are (the selling process) and how minor they are (the not scaring people issue). Also, as much as I hate to say it, its not good to let many people know about it until its fait accompli. Its better to keep it hush-hush.

I disagree with the last bit. If the idea is a good one, and you want it to be implemented, then fine, keep it hush hush. But, if it's a good one, and you want it to succeed, then it'd be best to get stakeholder involvment, irregardless of the politics involved. I've seen way too many 'ideas' which seemed good in theory, but failed in implementation because stakeholders weren't consulted. One of the most critical success factors in making something suceed is buy in. And I don't mean just from the stakeholders, but the owners as well. You need buy in, irregardless of how good the idea is.

I disagree with the last bit. If the idea is a good one, and you want it to be implemented, then fine, keep it hush hush. But, if it's a good one, and you want it to succeed, then it'd be best to get stakeholder involvment, irregardless of the politics involved. I've seen way too many 'ideas' which seemed good in theory, but failed in implementation because stakeholders weren't consulted. One of the most critical success factors in making something suceed is buy in. And I don't mean just from the stakeholders, but the owners as well. You need buy in, irregardless of how good the idea is.

hi jammy how's it all going? how's the nice big company car allowance - bought your porsche yet??! lol

This anon dude in all the threads is a tit. Cocky manipulative and thinks he knows it all and doesn't take anybody advice. Wasting everyones time