Our business
Formally, Syncopate doesn’t really have a business area. We are consultants and people can do whatever they want. Nothing about our model is specific to any domain or industry.
In practice though, because of our history and the people who happen to work at Syncopate, we’re primarily interested in the following business areas:
- Board Advisory especially related to strategy development and risk assessments centred on new technologies including digital and AI
- New product development, especially in Insurance and Wealth Management. Either shorter or longer engagements.
- Capital markets consulting especially regarding counterparty credit risk leveraging the vannarho risk platform. Either shorter or longer engagements.
- Large project delivery (using agile etc) especially in Insurance, Wealth Management and Capital Markets. Mostly longer engagements and close to full-time.
That is, most Syncopaters happen to spend most of their time in one of these areas, thought they typically overlap.
Also, there are some industries that we avoid.
Different “species”
We sometimes use a funny animal metaphor to talk about different types of engagements. Most Syncopaters fall into one of these categories (although it can change over time). At our bi-yearly unconference all animals get together on a rock and make noise together!
Seal consultants
A Seal is faithful and dedicated to one single client pretty much full-time. The Seal consultant takes a deep breath, dives in, and then stays under water with the client for months (hmmm… perhaps Whale would be a better metaphor). Seals normally don’t have as much time for other stuff such as teaching courses, but we do attend a few conferences. Once in a while a Seal will pop up above the surface, take a deep breath & learn some new stuff, perhaps find a new client, and then dive deep again.
Seal work takes patience and dedication. You need to take special care not to go too deep too long (you might get the bends), and remember to come up for breath once in a while to expand your horizons. You also need to select your clients carefully since the decision has a big impact on your daily life.
Seals are usually cute and playful.
Albatross consultants
Some of us are Albatross consultants. We sail around high in the sky and travel great distances. Once in a while we plunge into the water and grab a juicy fish, then up into the sky again. The Albatross gets to see many different places – but doesn’t stay still long enough to get to know any single client well. The Albatross is flexible and free. No client will complain if the Albatross decides to spend a week attending a conference or writing a book. On the downside, the Albatross spends a significant amount of his time coordinating with his clients and fiddling with his schedule trying to make everything fit together.
The Albatross has to be careful not to sail too high into the clouds and lose touch with reality (or get the altitude bends). It can get lonely and insecure up there in the sky, always on the move, not having your own cozy little cubicle to call home. The returns are great but freedom does have a price.
Albatrosses are usually swift and graceful. They can also be a bit absent-minded and noisy.
Duck consultants
Some of us are Duck consultants – a compromise between the Seal and the Albatross.
Like the Seal, we have one specific client that we focus on. Unlike the Seal, however, we don’t spend all our time under water with that one client. Like the Albatross, we sometimes spread our wings and visit other clients or teach courses or attend conferences. But the Duck has one particular pond that he likes to return to, a client that has gotten to know well and perhaps spends one or two days per week with. Long enough to get to know the client, but not long enough to get below the surface.
Ducks are usually pretty and funny. They look calm, but underneath the surface they are paddling furiously!
Anglerfish consultants
Some of us used to be Anglerfish consultants before joining Syncopate.
Anglerfish are way down in the dark, lost, wandering aimlessly with nothing but a small artificial light to guide them. Sometimes they are lucky and manage to attract a small fish. As opposed to the Albatross, the Anglerfish can’t see the horizon and doesn’t choose where to go – it just floats around and eats whatever scraps it happens to bump into. The Anglerfish never goes up to the surface to see the big picture or learn something new – in fact, he doesn’t even know the direction to the surface.
Anglerfish are usually ugly and scary. Fortunately we don’t have any at Syncopate :o)