For the first ten years of his consulting endeavors, Tom ran a conventional, prescriptive consulting practice. All too often, Paterson and Company owned the result, even though the client paid for it. Once Tom overheard a client talking about the “Paterson Plan” for his company and it was at this point that he became sensitive to the need for a better way.

Sitting in Ted’s Smith’s office at RCA, the two reflected on the bad reputation that strategic planning had among their colleagues. 

“Strategic planning didn’t have a good name. We had looked at plans from different divisions at RCA, and no one implemented what the plan mapped out. Plans were put together with great effort and typically never implemented.” 

Tom and Ted theorized a new approach that would produce a more effective outcome.

In 1980, Thomas E. Bennett, the Vice President for Corporate Planning of the Ingersoll-Rand Company (and later, the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Ingersoll-Dresser Pump Company), challenged Tom to strategically profile a business in a day. Tom thought about it and answered, “A large company might take three days.” Mr. Bennett replied, “If you can do it in three days, you’ve got a job.” Thus, the Paterson Process was conceived. Tom accepted the opportunity excitedly, believing in letting his market lead him to better processes and approaches.

As Paterson began designing a process that would elicit the results required in as little as three days, he recognized there were certain requirements that were going to be necessary. To profile a business unit in a short period of time meant a process must have no waste in it. All viewpoints would be important and have to be aired. The process would have to be a cross-functional one, facilitated through an inductive logic sequence, using the Socratic teaching method, accomplished with great sensitivity to the varying sets of realities in the room, and using flip charts to record the session. The facilitator would have to start with blank charts and use a flexible process. Filling out pre-printed forms would destroy any hope of creativity. There would be no “perceived” functional experts in the room. Anyone could speak on any topic. 

Above all, the process must find that elusive, most precious of substances: Truth. The process must be fun, because it would also be very hard work. If successful, it would be team building through useful effort: planning a future by design.

The Tom Paterson StratOp Process is a powerful, proven, and extremely cost-effective. Cross-Functional Facilitators help clients to help themselves. Clients get more than a plan. They get tools. The people who have to make it happen are brought into the process. The plan is not crammed down their throats. Planning isn’t something done to them, it is something they do together. The process is generic and can be used for all kinds of team problem-solving efforts, in businesses or in not-for-profit organizations like churches, educational institutions and social service enterprises.