I work as a consultant in a small corner of the world - the Caucasus region - which includes Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan. I first started working in Armenia in December 1994, shortly after the ceasefire with Azerbaijan over the disputed territories of Nagorno-Karabakh. It was a time when Armenia was going through an extremely painful transition, having gained independence following the break up of the Soviet Union. The Armenia of December 1994 was cold, lacking heat and electricity for much of the winter, and the level of impoverishment was something that is still difficult to comprehend.
The first week in Armenia had me wondering if I had made the right career choice to join PA Consulting. I had left a comfortable consulting career that had taken me to Copenhagen, Edinburgh, San Francisco and Honolulu. But at 32 year's old, one night - after an especially strong Mai Tai under a banyan tree at Waikiki beach - I decided that I was 'too young" to be working in paradise; it was time to go out and "try to change the world". A friend, working for PA, suggested I consider taking a project management job in Armenia to reform the dysfunctional and inoperative energy sector.
Twelve years later I am now located in Tbilisi, Georgia where I have the immensely challenging and rewarding task of serving as the general director of the United Energy Distribution Company, a state-owned electricity utility serving most of the country that is being managed by PA. This was not your normal electricity utility. At the time of PA's takeover, it was considered the most corrupted company in the Georgian energy sector, a sector that was also considered one of the most corrupted in the nation.
The company, if you could call it that at the time, was unable to pay salaries (even salaries that averaged only USD 40 per month), it couldn't pay its taxes, it couldn't pay for electricity supply, and any notion of customer service, corporate governance and the like was completely lacking. The company didn't even know how many employees it had. Perhaps not surprisingly, mysterious fires destroyed many of the records a few days prior to our arrival. We faced intense hostility from entrenched (and dangerous) interests.
Two year's on, we have created something from nothing. Our team, comprised of some of the most outstanding professionals with whom I have ever worked - most of whom are Georgians - have turned the situation around through intense and radical action. The company is now the best performing utility in Georgia; electricity supply has improved dramatically, taxes and salaries are being paid in full, investment is being made and the company is energised in ways that were simply difficult to envision two year's earlier.
An average day in this part of the world is rarely average or predictable. As much as I try to prepare my "to do " list each and every day, it is usually discarded within the first hour as unexpected problems arise. If I had to pick a unique and particularly memorable day, I would go back to one of the earliest days of our takeover. On a single day, we dealt with: the kidnap of our external auditor by one of the utilities employees; a debate in Parliament that saw me labelled as both a "stupid capitalist" and a "brilliant communist"; the kidnapping of a branch manager until electricity supply was restored to a particular region; an impromptu meeting with an alleged murderer who threatened to do bad things if some of the company assets were not "gifted to him" (they weren't), and then to top off what was not the best of days, I was informed I was to be awarded the medal of loyalty by the Georgian government. This day was characteristic of what I enjoy about Georgia - everything - the good, the bad, the fascinating and the perplexing - all mixed together in the most interesting of ways.
Thankfully, Georgia now has a government that has demonstrated support for the kinds of reforms necessary to turn this situation around and they are working.
It's arguable whether my efforts are "changing the world for the better", but I am certainly having a rewarding and interesting time trying.
Now if only I could complete that "to do" list......
