Management consulting, going in blind and killer phrases
Part 1 of 13 of my series on the profession of management consulting
What is management consulting?
Management consulting is one of those professions with a bit of a stigma around it. Some people think that management consultants are snake-oil pushers, while others think it is what people who can’t perform in the industry do. I guess some of these views are justified. As there are many consultants in the field who do their jobs very well, there are those who are unethical. I see this as a profession akin to those in law – a few bad apples spoil the broth – or something like that.
Regardless of your opinion of what consultants are, at the heart of the matter, management consulting has a few core aspects:
- it is a process, as the name implies, that involves helping management
- it involves analysis, diagnosis and, like a doctor, prescription of a course of action to be implemented
- it is a professional service (and as such – has a code of ethics).
The above implies that consultants are experts of some sort – and while this is true, it does not imply they are experts in every single vertical.
Going in blind
Having worked at Bell as an analytics consultant and at Concordia University as, in essence, an internal web consultant, I can tell you that while consultants are very knowledgeable about their topic of expertise, more often than not, they haven’t the faintest idea about your specific industry. Swear. It simply is impossible to know everything about every topic. And quite frankly, this is the beauty of the profession. You get to dabble in all sorts of industries and are always learning.
It goes without saying that consultants have to be skilled at scrambling and getting up to speed quickly. We are, as some may put it, chameleons. You definitely have to be able to think on your feet AND appear competent in front of the client even when you’re breaking the news to them that you have no clue what their TLA (three letter acronym) means.
Killer phrases
The ability to gain a client’s confidence while telling them you are clueless is all part of managing their expectations and creating a partnership with the client. Unfortunately, many clients view consultants as people brought in to either do their dirty laundry, or someone to hand the football too and let them run alone. This is unfortunate because the best results occur when clients allow themselves to be part of the solution process along with the consultant. Being part of the solution implies a cooperation and strong partnership – but how does one get started in reaching this point? Two words: Ground rules.
I will be the first to admit that I often omit setting ground rules with my clients. I personally find setting ground rules at the beginning a bit, excuse my language, anal. However, far too often I’ve sat in unproductive meetings as clients and fellow consultants leave the room regularly to take phone calls. Or furthermore, not promote the conversation and use killer phrases – phrases that not only get you nowhere, but also damage client-consultant relations. Phrases such as, “That’s a stupid idea” and “That would never work” are prime examples of killer phrases. You get more bees with honey than vinegar, y’know. All this unproductive behaviour could be stemmed with setting a few ground rules at the beginning of an engagement.
Simple rules like, no cell phones during meetings, can do wonders. And in a relationship where the consultant is entering an industry he has no track-record in in the first place, it’s always best not to create friction between himself and the client… ‘coz as we all know, you’ll never sell any snake-oil that way.
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