Why We Dislike Consultants

 

Right up front I want to say that one of the reasons I dislike consultants is because I envy them. I’d really like to be able to make a living doing what they do, while being readily recognized as an expert in the field. I think I have the problem-solving piece of it down. It’s the ability to smoothly communicate the nature of the problems and a recommended solution that evades me. Consider the following table:

…but that’s just me. Generally speaking, though, many (if not most) of the organization’s sub-executive personnel who interact with consultants harbor at least a little bit of resentment, in my experience. It’s usually not the consultant’s fault, either – it’s the fault of those who hired her.

In several of my previous articles, columns, and blog postings I have asserted that, in organizations comprised of degreed, certified, experienced professionals, whatever the results of the consultant’s analysis may be, there are many members of the existing staff who not only already know the true nature of the problem that prompted the consultant’s hiring, they probably have a better handle on how to fix it, both in the short- and long—term.  If I’m right here (and, naturally, I am) then a useful mental exercise would be to put yourself, Ms. Executive, into the shoes of your management team. What are they to think when they see an outsider to the organization given access to the most profound information streams the company has at its disposal, while enjoying higher per-hour pay AND a perceived superior position with respect to their standing in the company’s executive structure (even if it’s temporary)? How could this not engender at least some level of resentment?

Now consider what prompted the need for the consultant in the first place. We’ve already established that, within professional organizations, there are almost certainly some people who already know the nature of the problem that summoned the consultant, and have a pretty good handle on how to fix it – all before the consultant gets badged in. Why haven’t they been “consulted?” It’s because the host organization has wandered so far away from being structured on a meritocracy that its native talent has no avenue for contributing as they are capable.

I’m not (that) naïve.  Very few organizations can even come close to basing their hiring and promotions purely on merit – the brilliant analyst who never has the opportunity to socially interact with the company’s executives doesn’t have the same advancement opportunities as the poorer performer who does have such access. But, when the macro organization has departed so far from the meritocracy model that the internal communication avenues that would normally identify and eradicate problems prior to their becoming major issues has ceased to function, the only real alternative is to bring in outsiders who can circumvent these failed communication avenues, and relay what many of the personnel already know.

Which may lead some already within the macro organization to wonder if all of the executives tumbled out of the same clown car together…