Consulting at Fortis: Beyond Advice, Toward Lasting Impact
At Fortis Business Consultants, we believe that consulting is not merely about offering solutions—it’s about creating partnerships that empower change, unlock internal capabilities, and align every level of the organization toward sustainable success.
Too often, businesses invest heavily in outside expertise only to receive advice that lacks practicality, buy-in, or follow-through. We’ve seen organizations spend tens—or hundreds—of thousands of dollars on reports that gather dust, processes that go unadopted, or transformations that never move beyond the whiteboard.
Fortis was founded in response to that gap. We offer more than insights; we offer implementation. More than answers; we offer accountability. Our mission is to redefine what businesses expect from consultants—by working not just for our clients, but with them.
This article outlines the Fortis approach: a comprehensive, purpose-driven methodology that reflects decades of collective experience, research-based principles, and a track record of results. Inspired in part by Arthur N. Turner’s landmark work, “Consulting Is More Than Giving Advice,” we’ve built a framework to guide clients and consultants through a hierarchy of value—from tactical wins to enterprise-wide transformation.
The Fortis Hierarchy of Consulting Objectives
Consulting isn’t a one-size-fits-all service. Every engagement has a different scope, challenge, and outcome in mind. To maximize value and align expectations, we help clients identify where they are—and where they want to go—across a hierarchy of consulting objectives:
Each level adds depth to the one before. Clients may hire Fortis to answer a specific question—but through collaborative inquiry and open communication, we often uncover opportunities to shift the focus from treating symptoms to transforming systems.
Some consulting firms stop at step 4—delivering a recommendation and walking away. At Fortis, our work is just beginning there. True value is created when teams own the outcome, leaders gain clarity and commitment, and organizations grow stronger from the inside out.
1. Providing Information: Data With Direction
At its most basic level, clients come to Fortis for clarity. Whether it’s market research, internal performance data, feasibility analysis, or customer sentiment, we gather and synthesize information to illuminate what’s happening and why.
But we don’t stop at the spreadsheet. Fortis doesn’t believe in producing data for data’s sake. Before we collect a single data point, we ask a critical question: What decision will this information support?
Too often, businesses request information without a clear plan for how they’ll use it. Leaders may assume more data will lead to better decisions—yet without context, even accurate data can be misleading or misused. Our job is to dig deeper, uncover hidden assumptions, and ensure that what we’re measuring truly aligns with the decisions our clients need to make.
We also examine what information is already available. Many times, the data a company needs is sitting in a siloed system, buried in feedback forms, or embedded in employee knowledge that no one has yet tapped. Fortis connects the dots—ensuring that the right insights reach the right hands at the right time.
2. Solving Defined Problems: Solutions That Stick
When businesses seek out Fortis, they often arrive with a defined problem: a broken process, poor performance, low morale, lagging sales, or customer complaints. Our role is to validate that problem, understand its full scope, and co-develop solutions that work in the real world—not just on paper.
But here’s the truth: most presenting problems are symptoms. A department struggling to meet its KPIs may be suffering from unclear expectations, poor cross-functional communication, or misaligned incentives. High turnover might point to leadership gaps, outdated onboarding, or a culture issue rather than compensation alone.
That’s why one of our earliest goals in any engagement is to understand context:
What has already been tried?
Where has the organization succeeded?
Who has influence over the outcome?
What’s the appetite for change?
What would success actually look like?
Rather than rushing in with pre-packaged solutions, we listen deeply and design solutions that address both surface-level symptoms and root-level drivers. This ensures that any change we implement—whether structural, procedural, or cultural—has the traction and support it needs to endure.
Sometimes, this means reframing the problem altogether. At Fortis, we’re not afraid to say, “You might be solving the wrong thing.” But we never say that from a distance. We explore that possibility side-by-side with our clients—guided by transparency, trust, and a shared commitment to impact.
3. Diagnosis: Reframing the Real Challenge
At Fortis, we consider diagnosis the heartbeat of every effective engagement. Before proposing any solution, we aim to understand not just what’s wrong—but why it’s happening.
True diagnosis goes far beyond reviewing metrics or interviewing leadership. It means examining decision-making patterns, incentive structures, communication flows, cultural norms, and leadership behaviors. In many cases, the most impactful issues are those that haven’t been named aloud—barriers leaders sense but haven’t yet fully articulated.
We approach diagnosis as a collaborative process. We embed with teams, facilitate workshops, and include client stakeholders in the discovery process. This co-investigation ensures buy-in, increases transparency, and often leads to early-stage corrective action before any formal recommendations are made.
This approach also helps us identify internal champions—those individuals who carry influence, model desired behaviors, and can serve as ambassadors for change. Their involvement in diagnosis becomes the foundation for alignment and ownership throughout the organization.
Fortis knows that effective diagnosis is not about pointing fingers—it’s about creating a shared understanding of what’s holding the organization back and what’s possible on the other side of transformation.
4. Recommendations: Strategy Meets Reality
Once we’ve worked with our clients to clearly define the challenge, we develop targeted, actionable recommendations. Our guidance is rooted in evidence, shaped by organizational dynamics, and tested for feasibility from day one.
Too many consultants hand off reports filled with ideal-state strategies—only to watch them die on the vine due to political friction, capacity gaps, or poor timing. At Fortis, we write for impact, not for shelves. Our recommendations are never a surprise, because they emerge directly from the diagnostic work we do with client stakeholders.
And while we bring outside perspective, we never impose one-size-fits-all prescriptions. We customize every recommendation to fit the culture, pace, and capabilities of the client. We also pressure-test each plan through the lens of implementation: Who will lead this? What resources are needed? How will success be measured?
Our goal is to equip leaders not only with a clear path forward, but with the internal conviction to champion it.
5. Implementation: Driving Change From Within
The greatest risk to any consulting project isn’t the diagnosis or even the strategy—it’s the drop-off between planning and execution. At Fortis, we bridge that gap by staying close during implementation.
We don’t just hand off a playbook—we coach leaders, coordinate cross-functional teams, guide communication plans, and troubleshoot obstacles in real time. Whether we’re introducing new evaluation systems, improving workflows, redesigning organizational structure, or supporting a cultural transformation, we act as hands-on partners from kickoff to closeout.
Implementation at Fortis is collaborative by design. We believe that the people closest to the work should be actively shaping how the work evolves. This means we don’t “own” implementation—we facilitate it, empower it, and model how to lead it effectively.
We also know that lasting change rarely happens in a straight line. Progress requires iteration, realignment, and patience. That’s why we focus on capacity-building during implementation—ensuring that your team grows more confident and capable of navigating change long after our engagement ends.
6. Building Consensus and Commitment: The Real Currency of Change
At Fortis, we know that even the most well-researched solution will fail without buy-in. That’s why we treat consensus not as a checkpoint, but as a strategic outcome of the consulting process.
Too often, companies rush to fix problems before ensuring that stakeholders are aligned around the nature of the problem itself. We work with leadership to define what alignment really means in their context—who needs to be involved, who needs to feel heard, and who holds both formal and informal influence.
Consensus isn’t about unanimous agreement—it’s about shared clarity and forward momentum. We engage people across departments, levels, and roles to surface conflicting assumptions, elevate concerns, and co-develop responses. When done well, this process not only accelerates implementation but also builds trust within the organization.
We also help leaders understand and measure readiness for change. Is the organization emotionally, structurally, and culturally prepared to move forward? Where is resistance most likely to arise—and what does that resistance reveal? At Fortis, we believe resistance is rarely the enemy; it’s a signal of unmet needs or unseen barriers that, when addressed, can unlock progress.
When consensus and commitment are prioritized, transformation doesn’t feel like a top-down directive—it feels like a collective step forward.
7. Facilitating Client Learning: Building Capability, Not Dependency
A successful engagement at Fortis leaves more than results—it leaves clients stronger, wiser, and more self-reliant than before.
While many firms pride themselves on “doing the work,” we focus on transferring the capability to sustain the work. This means embedding learning into every phase of the project, from diagnosis to implementation. We don’t simply offer solutions—we show your teams how to think about problems differently, how to lead change more effectively, and how to replicate those insights long after we’re gone.
This learning happens formally and informally—through guided sessions, strategic coaching, collaborative design, and exposure to new tools and methods. Whether we’re helping managers improve communication practices, redesigning performance systems, or introducing new cultural rituals, we ensure that the people driving those initiatives have the confidence and clarity to own them.
Importantly, we never position ourselves as teachers “correcting” the client. Learning is reciprocal. In every engagement, we observe, adapt, and evolve. We learn as much from our clients as they do from us—and that humility sharpens both our approach and our relationships.
At Fortis, knowledge-sharing isn’t a deliverable. It’s a mindset that underpins everything we do.
8. Improving Organizational Effectiveness: Consulting for the Long Game
The highest level of impact we strive for at Fortis isn’t solving one problem—it’s equipping organizations to solve future problems better than before. That’s the essence of organizational effectiveness.
To us, effectiveness means alignment between vision and operations, between values and behaviors, between systems and outcomes. It means an organization that can adapt to change, mobilize quickly, and operate with integrity and intention—even under pressure.
We often start with a narrow challenge—low employee engagement, inconsistent customer experience, siloed communication. But we approach every engagement with an eye toward the broader system. How do roles and structures reinforce—or undermine—the goals? What behaviors are being rewarded? Where is leadership modeling the future it wants to see?
Our process integrates these broader questions, even when they weren’t part of the original brief. Not to overreach, but to ensure that the solutions we help implement don’t create new problems elsewhere in the business.
We don’t just leave behind new workflows or policies—we leave behind stronger leadership, clearer expectations, and more resilient cultures.
Fortis believes that consulting is only truly effective when it improves the organization’s ability to think critically, act decisively, and evolve continuously.
Conclusion: The Fortis Difference
At Fortis, consulting is not a transaction—it’s a transformation. Our clients don’t just hire us for answers. They partner with us to reshape how their organizations think, decide, adapt, and grow.
The Fortis consulting model is built on a hierarchy of impact. At the base are fundamentals: data, solutions, and recommendations. But the real power lies further up—in cultivating consensus, fostering learning, and building lasting organizational effectiveness. We work across all eight levels with intention, ensuring that every engagement leads to measurable outcomes and internal alignment.
We do not view success as delivering a deck of polished insights. We define success by what happens after we leave:
Do people at every level feel more connected to the mission?
Are teams communicating more clearly, executing more confidently, and collaborating more effectively?
Has the organization developed the capability to solve the next challenge without us?
The answer to these questions is what sets Fortis apart. We don’t just provide value—we multiply it, embed it, and leave it behind in the hands of the people who live the change every day.
As organizations face unprecedented complexity, volatility, and pressure, consulting must evolve. Clients deserve more than advice—they deserve committed partners who challenge assumptions, co-create solutions, and stay engaged until the work is truly done.
That’s what we do at Fortis.
Let’s build something better—together.
