What's in a name?

Gor­dian Solu­tions was a name my mind long before the busi­ness became a real­i­ty. Not just as a busi­ness name, but more as a state­ment of intent. A state­ment that we now realise is unfor­tu­nate­ly lost to most of those either with­out a clas­si­cal edu­ca­tion, an inter­est in ancient Greek his­to­ry or were lucky to have been gift­ed the Lady­bird book on Alexan­der the Great, as a birth­day present. How­ev­er, whilst the name may not (yet) bring instant brand recog­ni­tion, the state­ment of intent still dri­ves the stan­dards of ser­vice and deliv­ery we offer to clients.

The Ori­gin

The sto­ry goes that back in ancient times, a gold­smith by the name of Gordius found­ed a city in Phry­gia (now cen­tral Turkey) called Gordi­um and made him­self King (as you do). He then installed, in the Tem­ple of Zeus, a char­i­ot, whose shafts were bound to a post in a fiendish­ly com­plex knot made from the bark of the cor­nel-tree. Over time a leg­end grew that who­ev­er could solve the prob­lem of the knot who become the ruler of the whole world. Back in those days the whole world being Asia.

Alexan­der the Great

In 333BC Alexan­der the Great invad­ed Asia Minor to take on the mighty Per­sian Empire. Hav­ing defeat­ed the Per­sians at the Riv­er Grani­cus, in March 333BC Alexan­der cap­tured Gordi­um and being unable to resist the prob­lem, or the leg­end, he attempt­ed to unite the knot. Unfor­tu­nate­ly the fas­ten­ings were so elab­o­rate­ly inter­twined, with the ends cun­ning­ly hid­den inside the knot. Being unable to see how to start unrav­el­ling the knot, Alexan­der drew his sword and cut through the ropes.

The appeal of this sto­ry to me was the deci­sive action shown by Alexan­der in solv­ing an intractable prob­lem through the use of using a bold and inno­v­a­tive stroke to solve the prob­lem of the ​“Gor­dian Knot”. 

We can­not promise our clients that they will end up rul­ing the known world, or acquire hon­ours and trea­sures. What we do promise is a clear insight into their busi­ness needs and require­ments and in match­ing them to fast, effi­cient and cost-effec­tive solutions.

Paul Dal­libar MD Gor­dian Solutions