Is Your Consultant Gandolph, or Wormtongue?

 

For those who steadfastly refuse to expose themselves to epic literature or epic motion pictures, Gandolph and Wormtongue are characters from J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings trilogy. Gandolph is a very wise and helpful wizard, and all who take his words to heart are greatly helped. Grima Wormtongue (what a name, right?) is actually an agent of ultimate bad-guy Saruman as he “advises” Theoden, king of Rohan. Theoden in particular, and Rohan in general, are greatly diminished and made more vulnerable because of Grima’s council, until Gandolph finally rides up to the castle (on a white horse in the movie, naturally), confronts Wormtongue, and drives him away, even though Gandolph initially encounters resistance from Theoden himself, who is not convinced that Wormtongue is an agent of Saruman. Got all that?

Okay, back to the office. Is there in existence a sure-fire test that can determine if your consultant is on the up-and-up, or a devious weasel, short of having an appearance that suggests that the consultant in question appears to be applying for a job as a model in Vogue by pursuing the “heroin chic” look? Yes, there is, but to learn how to invoke this test I’m going to need to cover some management information theory first.

As I discuss in my must-have book, Game Theory in Management, management information (not data, but information) is extremely powerful if it’s timely, accurate, and relevant. (How can you test for relevancy? Click here.) Indeed, the mediocre or even poor manager who has command of, say, 75% of the information he needs to make the best decision in a given circumstance will out-perform the exceptional manager who only has 50% of the information she needs, every single time. This effect is probably why real scientists tend to have such disdain for managers – their decisions are almost universally made based on complete information, whereas managers are often (always?) compelled to decide based on incomplete information. When I was in graduate school, one of my textbook’s authors asserted that information is the life-blood of any organization, and I’m not at all sure I disagree with that notion. And, from an organizational behavior and performance point of view, think of the groups or divisions within your organization that attempt to gain or leverage power over other groups by hoarding, limiting access to, or altering the flow of coveted management information. Timely, accurate, and relevant management information is power, and if you’re the person delivering that information to the upper-level managers who need it, and can convince them that you are the only source, than you have the same power over the organization’s decision-makers that a pusher has over a junkie. They simply cannot function without you. And, like Sargent Foley in An Officer and a Gentlemen, people will use any means, both fair and unfair , to be perceived as such a one.

Let’s jump back to consultants. They are usually brought in due to some realization on the part of the host organization, either that some vital piece of management information is missing, or else, given that a vital piece of information is missing and may not ever be provided, some level of expertise in making the right call working from an insufficient data set is needed. In my humble opinion, the vast majority of the perceived demands from consultants can be fulfilled with superior management information systems (and, no, I’m not talking about Wall Street “quants” – those guys are barking up the wrong epistemological tree) rather than the seat-of-the-pants advice, but I digress. How can one ascertain whether a consultant is performing their function with fidelity (Gandolph), or if they are engaged in a deceit that will allow them to collect their fee without truly advancing the attainment of the goals of the organization they serve (Wormtongue)?  Here’s the acid test:

·         A Wormtongue is advancing a narrative. Always at its core this narrative will make the decision-makers feel good about themselves, reinforcing their conceits and leaving them with an inflated view of their importance in the organization. The need to be recognized for our abilities is near-universal: all humans believe that they are under-appreciated.  Wormtongue knows this, and will push a narrative, often at variance with reality, that will insinuate himself into a position analogous to the provider of essential information, whether he actually provides this service or not.

·         Gandolph will analyze the current management information system architecture, reject as irrelevant some of the streams, and seek to set up others that are essential. If he is politically savvy, he will throw the occasional bone to the egos of those who hired him, but that’s not his primary focus. Of course, this puts him at odds with those who have sought to manipulate the clear and healthy functioning of the existing information streams, especially those that serve no legitimate purpose (like the risk managers’). But, if he has read my book, and is successful, then, suddenly, your organization’s 50% managers are out-performing your competitors’ 75% managers, every time.

And that’s how you tell if you have a Gandolph or a Wormtongue.