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Jim McComb
Founder & Managing Director
Wild Card Strategy
Wild Card Strategy is a boutique consulting firm focused on strategic management, including strategic planning, strategy formulation and execution, Wild Card forecasting, Next Practices design, and business risk management. Based in Kingsport, Tennessee, we serve small business and mid-market companies, non-profits, and faith-based organizations throughout the United States. We work across a broad spectrum of industries, and our functional expertise includes marketing, finance, R&D, product management, strategy, planning, corporate development, and public relations.
Wild Card Strategy exists to teach our clients how to think strategically at all times, how to create a competitive edge, how to recognize and leverage unseen opportunities, and how to anticipate and mitigate/eliminate unknown threats.
Expertise: We have specialized knowledge and skills that may not be available in our client’s organization; we can offer insights and ideas from various industries and sectors.
Objective Perspective: We provide an unbiased, outside viewpoint, which can be critical for identifying issues and opportunities that internal stakeholders might overlook.
Problem Solving: We are skilled at analyzing complex situations, identifying root causes, and developing effective solutions. We apply structured methodologies and frameworks to tackle challenges.
Strategic Planning: We assist clients in formulating and implementing strategic plans. They help set clear objectives, define actionable steps, and ensure alignment with the company’s vision and mission.
Change Management: We guide clients through challenging change and transition, helping to minimize disruptions and ensure successful adoption of new processes, systems, or strategies.
Resource Optimization: We help clients make the best use of their resources by optimizing processes, improving efficiency, or managing costs effectively.
Temporary Support: When clients face short-term needs for additional expertise or manpower, we can provide necessary support without the long-term commitment of hiring permanent staff.
Innovation and Growth: We bring fresh ideas and innovative approaches that can drive growth and competitive advantage, helping our clients stay ahead of industry trends and capitalize on new opportunities.
You’ll benefit from partnering with us in these ways:
That moniker often brings a smile to the faces of the people he meets, as their minds conjure up an image of an elderly gentleman in a pointy hat and a wizard’s robe waving a magic wand over a crystal ball.
That’s not exactly how Jim forecasts the unseen and unimagined opportunities and threats known as plausible Wild Cards that are a few short years away from slamming into your business in the blink of an eye. But that picture isn’t all that far from reality either.
His research and analytical skills are his crystal ball, and his magic wand is a forecasting process he developed while a senior executive at a Fortune 100 company. He uses the crystal ball and the wand to extract unforeseen and unimagined plausible Wild Cards from the minds of the business owners and managers he works with. He then prepares them to navigate a disruptive future where unbelievable opportunities are everywhere, and unforeseen threats are really just opportunities in disguise.
Jim McComb is a seasoned strategist with Fortune 100 leadership experience in Strategic Planning, Finance, Marketing, Strategy, and Risk Management, and is a nationally recognized authority on strategic management and positioning for certain success in a volatile environment. As both a senior executive and a management consultant, he has been crafting and executing business strategy for more than 30 years.
Jim has served as the global President of the Association for Strategic Planning (the forerunner of the International Association for Strategy Professionals) and was selected for their Hall of Fame in 2009. While a partner in the Centre for Strategic Management (then the world’s largest dedicated strategic planning consultancy) he was one of the first 25 people in the world to be certified a Strategic Management Professional (SMP).
He has keynoted business summits throughout the US, and in Canada, Europe, Asia, and South America. His forthcoming book, Certain Success in an Uncertain World: How to Survive & Thrive in a Disruptive Future, will be published later this year.
The CEO of a $22 billion corporate credit union once wrote Jim a performance review that contained only four words: You Make A Difference. Today, his clients echo that sentiment.
That moniker often brings a smile to the faces of the people he meets, as their minds conjure up an image of an elderly gentleman in a pointy hat and a wizard’s robe waving a magic wand over a crystal ball.
That’s not exactly how Jim forecasts the unseen and unimagined opportunities and threats known as plausible Wild Cards that are a few short years away from slamming into your business in the blink of an eye. But that picture isn’t all that far from reality either.
His research and analytical skills are his crystal ball, and his magic wand is a forecasting process he developed while a senior executive at a Fortune 100 company. He uses the crystal ball and the wand to extract unforeseen and unimagined plausible Wild Cards from the minds of the business owners and managers he works with. He then prepares them to navigate a disruptive future where unbelievable opportunities are everywhere, and unforeseen threats are really just opportunities in disguise.
Jim McComb is a seasoned strategist with Fortune 100 leadership experience in Strategic Planning, Finance, Marketing, Strategy, and Risk Management, and is a nationally recognized authority on strategic management and positioning for certain success in a volatile environment. As both a senior executive and a management consultant, he has been crafting and executing business strategy for more than 30 years.
Jim has served as the global President of the Association for Strategic Planning (the forerunner of the International Association for Strategy Professionals) and was selected for their Hall of Fame in 2009. While a partner in the Centre for Strategic Management (then the world’s largest dedicated strategic planning consultancy) he was one of the first 25 people in the world to be certified a Strategic Management Professional (SMP).
He has keynoted business summits throughout the US, and in Canada, Europe, Asia, and South America. His forthcoming book, Certain Success in an Uncertain World: How to Survive & Thrive in a Disruptive Future, will be published later this year.
The CEO of a $22 billion corporate credit union once wrote Jim a performance review that contained only four words: You Make A Difference. Today, his clients echo that sentiment.
These values guide our daily operations, our decisions, and our interaction with others:
Integrity We uphold the highest ethical standards in all interactions, maintaining honesty, transparency, and accountability at all times with clients and colleagues.
Client-centricity We understand and address the unique needs of each client, delivering tailored solutions that exceed desired results and create lasting relationships.
Innovation We embrace new ideas and approaches to solve complex problems, drive continuous improvement, and design Next Practices that create a competitive edge.
Excellence We strive to deliver solutions that generate results beyond client expectations, and to foster professional development and growth among our clients and colleagues.
Collaboration We promote teamwork and open communication, both within the firm and with clients, to leverage diverse perspectives and achieve the best outcomes.
Respect We treat clients, competitors, and colleagues with dignity and respect, valuing the valued contributions everyone makes to client relationships and to the community.
Jim McComb founded Wild Card Strategy in Southern California on November 30, 2011, following his retirement as a strategic management executive at Bank of America. He named the new consultancy after a process he developed in 2007 while SVP of Strategic Planning at Countrywide. That process enabled the planning team to forecast plausible wild card opportunities and threats that wouldn’t appear on the company’s radar screen during a typical SWOT analysis. Jim referred to the forecasting process and the approach to preparing for, and managing, the plausible wild cards as a “wild card strategy.” This seemed like the perfect name for a new consultancy focused on Next Generation strategic planning.
In the early days, Wild Card Strategy served financial institutions, non-profits such as the Salvation Army and the Red Cross, and one of the largest churches in Southern California. A few years later, the firm began serving city governments and special taxing districts that managed everything from public cemeteries to libraries and municipal services like wastewater management and fire protection. In 2021, Wild Card Strategy relocated to Kingsport, Tennessee where it continues to serve a nationwide client base, with a particular focus on small business in the thirteen Appalachian states.
