Disruption in Consulting - The Client Perspective
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Disruption in Consulting - The Client Perspective
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By Aparupa Chakravarti, Director, Botho Emerging Markets Group
September 27, 2021
This is part 4 in a series exploring what a paradigm shift in how consultants consult could look like in the 21st century, especially given our tendency to superimpose linearity on a world that is, more often than not, circuitous at best.
I can talk all day about how 21st century consultants need some kind of methodological revolution to tackle the successive “wicked problems” our clients keep throwing at us. But for a true paradigm shift to occur in our industry, we ultimately need the consumers of consulting services to also - forgive the obligatory, consultant sports analogy - play ball.
Let’s face it - the consultant-client relationship needs an overhaul. Consultants have an ever-growing rap sheet that ranges from quotidian stereotypes (death by decks, anyone?) to far more serious and damaging controversies. And insofar as we as consultants can do our part to be more effective, creative, conscientious, and ethical advisors to those we serve, clients play a critical role in setting the terms and parameters within which we function.
So, clients, this one's for you.
Your consultant can be a partner, or a service provider... or both
Just as consultants should resist the temptation to succumb to linearity, which admittedly is by far the path of least resistance, clients too would benefit from a more holistic view of when and how to engage with consultants.
One of the unfortunate outcomes of the aforementioned consultant rap sheet is an inexorable erosion of trust. To keep a tight rein on budgets and outcomes, clients are veering towards top-down approaches, where projects are clearly and rigidly defined from the outset and consultants have relatively little wiggle room.
We understand the impulse - we really do. And sometimes, to be fair, you as a client simply need a service provider who can fulfill a very specific scope of work and then be on their way. But there might also be times where you find yourself grappling with a more wicked problem - one that is fraught with complexity and ambiguity - and while you will have an idea of the destination, you may not know exactly how to get there. In these cases, you are more likely to benefit from an advisory relationship that is less transactional and more of a partnership.
The point is - it doesn’t have to be an either-or proposition.
It is very much possible for you as a client to toggle between these two states - transactional and relational - as your needs and contexts evolve. But in order to take advantage of this fluidity and get the most out of your consultant, I’d encourage you to bear two things in mind:
It is usually mutually beneficial for both you and your consultant to have a participatory rather than a top-down approach. An external advisor is meant to help you identify your blind spots and reveal connections that might exist outside of your immediate environment. To enable them to do that, give your consultant some room to co-define, co-create, and work through a problem set with you.
It helps to have a longer term view. Even if you decide that currently, you need a service provider and not a partner, how does that tightly defined assignment fit in with your overall strategy or planning? If you manage to find a good consultant for a short-term project, how could you potentially continue to tap into them as your needs and interests morph?
Let’s Talk About Decks; Rethinking Consultant Deliverables
But then, you might ask, where’s the accountability when things are all relational and fuzzy?
The accountability lies in what you should expect your consultant to deliver to you.
The Consultant-PowerPoint trope is well known and well worn. That said, for better or for worse, decks are still very much alive and kicking. But both consultants and clients need to push the envelope in terms of what decks - and deliverables from consultants, in general - can and should look like, and what purpose(s) they serve. Whether it’s a report or an operational tool, a framework or a template, your consultant should give you something that you can understand and use, adapt and tweak over time as your needs change. A static document in a dynamic world will become obsolete as fast as you can say “invoice”.
What this points to is a growing need to marry strategy with some form of implementation - a need that has been recognized by clients and consultants alike. There are many ways to achieve this: from thinking creatively about what form you want your “deck” to take, to exploring longer term engagements comprising distinct phases that build on each other, to tying a consultant’s remuneration to clear definitions of success.
And, yes, as relational as your consultant engagement may be, it is still a business relationship, so money will change hands. But just as the nature of consultant-client interactions can be reimagined and reconfigured, the way consultants are compensated can also be opened up to fresh, collaborative approaches towards creating fair compensation structures - ranging from milestone payments to retainership models.
While you may think that all of this - new forms of deliverables in exchange for new forms of remuneration - calls for a top-down management style, I’d argue that a participatory approach will likely get you far better results. The more you work with your consultant, the likelier you will be to receive something that will make sense to you from the outset, which you can use and deploy even when your consultant is not around.
Say no to gatekeepers
Finally, while it’s important to know who you want, it’s equally important to know who you don’t want - and that is a gatekeeper.
Your advisor is meant to work with your best interests in mind and provide you with recommendations and guidance accordingly. Anecdotally, there appears to be a rising incidence of consultants who, under the guise of offering pro bono services, especially to early-stage businesses, end up dictating terms and making demands in a way that falls far outside the bounds of the role of a consultant. This includes everything from preventing them from working with other consultants, to determining who should sit on their boards. So, when you’re working with a consultant, pay attention to not just what they’re offering you, but also what they’re expecting in return.
We can’t do this without you
Any good relationship rests on a foundation of reciprocity. In order for consultants to break the bounds of linearity that continue to circumscribe our work, we need clients to also reframe their thinking around who a consultant is and what their contributions can be to their business, organization, or problem set.
Fundamentally, I believe that the role of a good consultant is not to hand you, the client, an absolute truth, but, rather, to help you navigate complexity. For that to be possible, we need to recognize the potential for complexity and multidimensionality in the client-consultant relationship itself. Maybe then these wicked problems will not seem quite so daunting, after all.
Aparupa Chakravarti is the Director at Botho Emerging Markets Group