Practical frameworks and actionable insights from Brian C Jensen on business strategy, AI tools, leadership, and modern execution systems.
Explore practical insights on strategy, leadership, and modern business execution.
A budget variance tells you where actual results moved away from the plan, so you can investigate the reason and improve the next decision. It is not a verdict on competence, effort, or discipline unless the facts prove that connection. When you treat budget variance as a signal, the finance conversation changes. You stop asking, “Who missed?” and start asking, “What changed,
Scope creep usually starts where a contract leaves room for interpretation: vague deliverables, missing exclusions, loose approval rules, and no written process for changes. If you want fewer surprises, your contract needs to define what’s included, what’s not included, who can approve changes, and how extra work affects time and cost. Clients often read a contract for price, deadline, and broad
Outcome-based consulting fees tie part or all of a consultant’s compensation to agreed business results rather than time spent. They change the client relationship by shifting the conversation from activity, hours, and deliverables to accountability, measurement, and shared risk. If you’re considering this pricing model, you need more than a new fee schedule. You need clear success metrics, honest limits on
A weak consulting plan is exposed by questions that force the consultant to prove fit, specificity, accountability, and transfer of capability before the proposal is signed. If the answer sounds polished but not specific to your business, the plan deserves more pressure. You’re not just buying analysis, slides, or a few senior meetings. You’re buying a path from the problem
Between 40 and 100 employees, your company will hit a wall where informal systems collapse: communication channels multiply, managers need managers, and compliance obligations arrive faster than your hiring plan. Most founders expect growing pains, but they don’t expect the specific regulatory thresholds that trigger mandatory benefits, anti-discrimination policies, and reporting requirements—often catching them off guard in their third year
The 90-day test measures consulting project value by checking, three months after the consultants leave, whether recommendations are adopted, business results are moving, and your team can run the new way of working without outside help. It gives you a practical checkpoint before a consulting engagement becomes another polished report with no lasting change. Three months is long enough for the
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