Project

unsquaring_the_wheelUnSquaring the Wheel was launched in the fall of 2012 by Chris Bondy of RIT’s School of Media Sciences, Wayne Peterson of the Black Canyon Consulting Group, and Dr. Joe Webb of Strategies for Management. In a conversation sparked by Professor Bondy, the three saw a need for graphic communications companies to build a new and sustainable competitive advantage. The companies, however would benefit from a resource that provided them direction.

The three began to collaborate to clarify the need, and then craft an approach to meeting the need completely. In March 2013, a private day-long “proof of concept” presentation was staged in Dulles, Virginia. A handful of industry leaders confirmed that the approach was both thorough and viable. June 2013, a preliminary “UnSquaring the Wheel” workshop was delivered to a group of owners and executives in concert with the Association of Marketing Service Provider’s annual conference.

The feedback, from both industry leaders and business owners/executives, has confirmed that UnSquaring is valuable, viable, and unlike any other resource or approach available. That led Bondy, as UnSquaring the Wheel.

Comprehensive Approach

The UnSquaring the Wheel approach is designed to create a new and durable competitive advantage for graphic communications firms. The approach has two criteria: it needs to be both comprehensive and scalable. Comprehensive means that UnSquaring examines the entire business, not just one department at the expense of others. There is no one aspect of a company that can be changed and by itself create a sustainable advantage.

Scalable means that UnSquaring, can be successfully applied by graphic communications companies of all sizes. Bondy, Peterson, and Webb collaborated to create a model both comprehensive and practical, capturing every important aspect of graphic communications management.

They then worked to create an assessment method that empowered business owners and executives to quickly create a picture of their businesses current strengths, resources, and challenges. The UnSquaring process begins with a self-assessment. From that, a plan is created to rebuild the basic business model of a graphic communications company starting from its current job shop structure.