The values behind a name

Consulting companies need to appear at the edge of innovation to keep clients interested, and their workforce busy. It means that trending concepts turn into click-bait to present this new “thing” as the way to the future, without which a company would not survive. Providing a blurry answer, but an answer nonetheless, is part of the bluff game to prospects. Of course we are in the game, check our white paper, webinar, lab demo, survey etc. Who will read, after all?

Consulting with plain English means that elements of language that are conceptual rather than practical are avoided. Superlatives and buzz words are avoided. What is marketed is what can be confidently done, what is new and risky is presented as such.

Consulting with peaceful English means that the intensity of competition does not need for rush and violence to infiltrate a company’s internal practices, language and behaviors. There is more to sustaining a business than Command and Conquer. It’s finding the path and wording of least resistance for staff and customers.

Product lifecycles are shrinking, the most profitable and admired companies are a couple of decades old, and yet we are flooded by reports, prospective and visionary communication about 2025, 2030, if not 2050 or the end of the century.

Consulting with relevance means focusing on the relevant time range, and the relevant topics. This is the horizon of your next major investment, this is the side topics stuck in the long tail that could put the company at risk. Dreams and vision can initiate momentum during public or company events, but relevance is what will motivate change on a daily basis, and for a sustained duration.

Part of the commercial relationship between a company and its consultant relies on the fact that the company is buying support to get what’s best in the industry, ahead and above competition. However, the starting point and particular context may not be what’s best for the company at this specific moment. Maturity comes in several steps, and methodologies applied all come with their caveats, especially if rushed or if the gap to bridge is very large.

Self-criticism in management consulting is communicating clearly what could go wrong, and what steps need to be performed internally to prevent or mitigate these risks. Most of the time, it is committing time to build skills and change one’s way to work. Self-criticism is also explaining that the current solution or fix is not forever, and will not apply as effectively with a change of context. There is no “once and for all” solution in a fast changing environment.

What is to remember here is that it is not a commercial trick from the consultant to extend a project.