Putting the Past to Work

In most organizations the past is an underdeveloped asset. People fear being trapped by nostalgia. In a desire to create the new, new thing, they neglect the value of the past. Knowing the past, however, helps us envision the future. At Vantage Point, we work with our clients to help them understand how an organization’s traditions can constrain or shape opportunities ahead. When an organization needs to change, we facilitate the process by documenting and interpreting the challenges and accomplishments of a previous generation. By showing how continuities in values remain even if products, methods or markets change, we help people see the connections between the past and the future, making difficult transitions less disruptive.

Strategic Planning

Trained to look at the long-run, historians help organizations and communities step back from the crises of day-to-day management. At Vantage Point, we work with leaders to isolate the core values and mission of an organization as evidenced in deeds and action rather than rhetoric. In a lead or supporting role, we bring our research, interpretive, and communication skills to bear to facilitate the strategic planning process with either small groups or whole communities.

On the verge of deciding to spin off its wireless business as an independent company, Pacific Telesis Group hired Vantage Point historian Eric Abrahamson to write a history of the breakup of the Bell System from a California point of view.Learning to Compete: A History of Pacific Telesis Group offered executives and board members a strategic overview of the evolution of regulation, technology and the telephone business in California.

Mergers & Acquisitions

Blending the cultures of two different organizations poses a major challenge to any leader. History can be an obstacle or an opportunity. At Vantage Point, we can help streamline the transition by developing histories that allow individuals from different organizational cultures to understand one another. The stories of the past communicate more powerfully than an abstract analysis of values and traditions. In addition, attention given to the track record of an acquired organization helps bring closure for employees and stakeholders, enabling them to commit themselves to a new future.

Shortly after the British wireless company Vodafone purchased California-based AirTouch in 1999, CEO Sam Ginn hired Vantage Point historian Eric Abrahamson and Lou Galambos of the Business History Group to coauthor a history of AirTouch. The book, Anytime, Anywhere: Entre­pre­neurship and the Creation of a Wireless World, helped industry veterans understand the similarities and differences of the two organizational cultures.

Customers & Stakeholders

Trust makes organizations efficient and effective. It speeds transactions with suppliers, customers and regulators. It makes getting the job done easier and more enjoyable. Trust develops from a track record of experience. At Vantage Point, we work with our clients to conduct an honest appraisal of the evolution of business relationships. With a better understanding of the challenges and successes of the past, these relationships can be strengthened going forward.

California State Parks asked Vantage Point to write a history of Monterey that would help visitors understand how various historic properties shared a common history.