Assessing our worth…

Consistency, Consistency, Consistency… 4 feet, 8 ½ inches wide Because that’s how they built them in England… And, that’s the same gauge as the tramways...

And, why? Because the people who built the tramways used the same jigs and tools that they had used for building wagons, which used that wheel spacing. And, that particular odd wheel spacing because if they tried to use any other spacing, the wagon wheels would break in the ruts on some of the old roads in England, because that’s the spacing of the wheel ruts.

In a rut? Imperial Roman Legions built the long distance roads in Europe and England to move their armies and the roads have been used ever since. And the ruts in the roads? Roman war chariots formed the initial ruts, which everyone else had to match for fear of destroying their wagon wheels.

Bureaucracy Forever!! Since the chariots were made for Imperial Rome, they were all alike in the matter of wheel spacing. Therefore the United States standard railroad gauge of 4 feet, 8.5 inches is derived from the original specs for an Imperial Roman war chariot.

What horse’s ass came up with this idea? So the next time you hear someone commenting on your well-conceived and thought out consulting solution, they may be closer to the mark than they think. Imperial Roman army chariots were made just wide enough to accommodate the rear ends of two war horses.

And now, the rest of the story… The two big booster rockets attached to the sides of the main fuel tank of the Space Shuttle are solid rocket boosters, or SRBs. The SRBs were made by Thiokol at their factory in Utah.

Trapped by our own limitations… The designers of the SRBs wanted to make them a bit bigger around for better fuel-load. However, the SRBs had to be shipped by train to the launch site and the tracks run through a tunnel in the mountains, and the SRBs had to fit through that tunnel. The tunnel is slightly wider than the railroad track, and the railroad track, as you now know, is about as wide as two horses’ behinds.

But, we operate within the constraints…  Of our clients  Of our expertise  Of our values  Of our value proposition

A value proposition is a clear statement of the tangible results a client receives from our products or services.

 Our solution is affordable, quick to implement, easy to use, customizable and scalable.  We help clients more effectively plan and execute strategic network projects.  We provide the infrastructure and tools to dramatically increase administrators leverage, allowing you to focus on higher-value activities.

Focus on 3 questions… Who? What? Why? Put another way… Convince … (Who?) That … (What?) Because … (Why?)

For talented creatives who aspire to share their story, __________ offers creative expression through human technology that is easy-to-use. ____________ consistently innovates with breakthrough, well-designed products.

For athletes who seek great performance, _____________ mission is to make all athletes better through passion, science and the relentless pursuit of innovation. ______________ technology is complex but the value is simple: wear HeatGear when it’s hot, ColdGear when it’s cold and AllSeasonGear between the extremes.

What is your basic value proposition? What do you think your clients pay you for? What do your clients think they pay you for? Is there a consistent thread running through the value propositions of trusted advisors? How do we price those values? What would it be worth to us to have “Shovel- ready” clients?