How do consultants learn?    

Can they learn? Have faith. Possibly.

Trouble is consultancy is a barely legitimate cross over between self interest and being eager to please, which can make
learning difficult. But if consultants, above all, don’t, how effective can they be? There is evidence that many
consultant-supported change programmes fail because at the initial stage, consultants do not ‘challenge the frame’.

This is increasingly necessary if the initiative is organised in a way which is top down, loud hailing, more managing than
leading by those commissioning them.

In a recent exchange with an experienced consultant, she said: ‘I knew what the client asked me to do would not result
in the improved performance they sought. It would make no difference.’ Respectfully, she had said the same to the
client.

Now there are many points in such client-relationships where value can be created and you would think consultants
should spot these. However, the consultant sought to do this at the end-point, at evaluation. Here, she attempted to re-
explain the limited (imposed) strategy, only vaguely hinting at the more comprehensive one needed to effectively tackle
the problem -which would need to challenge the perception of the client. By the way, she was more than capable of this.

During the exchange, I asked how she could use this to handle similar future clients, who would otherwise be wasting
money. Key to this was what she felt she had learned.

Here is what I learned.

The reason we’re here (at any particular sticky point) is we haven’t done enough thinking.

If an ‘excellent’ organisation is one which is able to do more complex things better, year–on-year, shouldn’t this also
apply to consultants?

The less we take opportunities in our current work to use the big muscle between our ears, (however painful)
the more our future options narrow.

Given that you would not simply take the money, what would you learn?

Comments

[Claudia]

Love them or hate them, consultants are supposed to be knowledge workers. They possess know-how that attracts premium pay rates; their work involves creating new knowledge; they handle ideas rather than material things (Storey); their knowledge work involves acquiring creating and applying knowledge. So learning has to be a fundamental part of what they do. In this complex 21st century knowledge age, consultants, like the rest of us who are keen to make more than a quick buck, have to out-smart their ever-increasing competitors (and consultants are everywhere now!)to survive the cut and thrust of the market place. Continuous learning to 'do more complex things better, year on year' is key to developing excellence and competitive advantage. Only arrogance would say otherwise. Larry Prusak said 'the only thing that gives an organisation a competitive edge- the only thing that is sustainable- is what it knows , how it uses what it knows and how fast it can know something new'. As knowledge and learning go hand in hand, applying this to consultants makes it quite simple; no learning, no survival! C.