DELPHI -- a brief history

Delphi is a retained executive search firm. Most of our searches have been admirable. Some were even extraordinary. A few were abject disasters, but we'd like to think that, after 30 years in the profession, we have learned how not to repeat them.

Our headquarters are in Kansas City, Missouri, USA  because it is central to the nation, and a nice place to live. We have always pursued a general practice of search. Two beliefs have forged this.

First, our clients have serious problems. Their solutions require serious people. Serious people are skillful, not merely steeped in a particular industry. Excellent executives will develop industry contacts in a year, but their skills have required many years to acquire. Such people are found everywhere. Therefore, we have to be able to look for them everywhere. This is the very nature of a general practice. Second, we think search should be fun. We know that specializing in one or two industries is a recipe for profound boredom.

These prejudices have resulted in an extraordinary breadth of practice in which we have conducted more that 1200 searches for executives, managers and professionals -- in most industries, and all functions. Our marketing strategy is to concentrate on two markets; becoming the "number three" search firm for a lot of large and medium-sized companies, and searches no one else wants because they defy conventional solutions. Pursuing these markets has forced us to develop our innovative search methodology, and the powerful technologies that enable it.

Two of the systems we are proud of are WingSpread and the array of technologies that support our search practice.

WingSpread is a skills-based human resource decision support system for large and medium-sized corporations. It provides a rigorous scientific basis for all aspects of human asset management.

BlackBird is an innovative self-directed search system for knowledge worker executives, managers and professionals.