How a course
is plotted.
Five fixes from question to sign-off — the same method whether the bearing is management or materials.
The advisory
run.
Each course produces a document — that's how advice stays charted, not just voiced.
Question & scope
The client states the question; the firm returns a signed brief — deliverables, rounds, timeline and fee basis on file before the first hour.
Data & sounding
Records reviewed, stakeholders interviewed, data gathered — the fix where facts replace assumptions.
Analysis & course
Findings analyzed and the recommendation drafted — steps, owners and bearings the client can actually steer.
Review & rounds
The client reviews against the brief; revisions run within the scoped rounds. Every change logged in the engagement file.
Sign-off & handover
Deliverables approved in writing; working files handed to the client — the engagement file closes with the client's name on it.
Rules the practice
steers by.
Fix before course
No analysis before the question is written — a brief signed in place of drift.
Data over opinion
Findings rest on the documented file — the numbers, not the presenter's confidence.
Steerable only
A recommendation the client can't act on is a failed deliverable — steps, owners, dates.
Rounds on the chart
Revisions are scoped, logged and priced — engagements never drift into free-floating revision.
Files, not decks
Working files belong to the client on sign-off — the buyer gets the analysis, not a locked deck.
Scope is plain
What's excluded is as documented as what's included — advisory isn't certification, certification isn't advice.
Asked of
the practice.
A signed brief, a sounding, an analysis, a course document and a sign-off — the whole shape. Engagements are scoped to a deliverable, not an open retainer; the file closes when the recommendation is approved.
Fixed-fee per engagement or scoped retainer depending on the work — the fee basis is stated in the brief before any hour is billed. Review rounds are scoped and priced in the brief, not negotiated mid-project.
Advice is the deliverable — the firm produces the course, not the sailing. Implementation runs under a separate agreement, and financial management consulting explicitly excludes investment advice.
Frequently — a plant relocation touches site selection, logistics and environmental remediation at once. The brief names the bearings involved and the work runs as one engagement file, not three projects.
Set the course,
on record.
Describe the problem, the decision and the deadline — the practice responds with a written engagement brief.
Set a bearing