The Practice of Not Being All Things
to All Clients
by Milton C. Habeck of Unbeaten Path International
September, 1997
In consulting, the concept of integrity goes far beyond honest billing practices. Integrity rests, more importantly, on having the courage to turn down a potential consulting assignment even though you've been "on the beach" for some time and your next job isn't scheduled yet. It's having the courage to say, "look, it would be nice to take the work, but the scope of the assignment falls outside my area of practice."
Not every consultant is that brave when the next mortgage payment isn't covered or monthly incentive pay is still up for grabs. Rather, they fall victim to the temptation to bid for the work, making a mental commitment to do whatever it takes to cope with the requirements of the project. It isn't easy, but some consultants can pull this off without sweating in the presence of the client.
There are several elements to this low integrity/high-stress game plan.
The first strategy is to persuade the client that preparation time is needed before the consulting begins. It isn't so much "preparation" time as "perspiration" time. The idea is to get on the client's machine and learn enough so that the first five questions on day one don't prove to be an embarrassment. The safest approach is to do this remotely or in an obscure cubicle on site so that client personnel can't observe the process.
Strategy number two is to avoid long one-on-one or many-on-one meetings the first day. If a consultant gets trapped in a meeting like this there is no opportunity to break away to a workstation or phone to conduct some frantic research.
Third, ask for permission to come back after dinner each night. Plan on studying the system until the guards ask you to leave. This reduces the practice of consulting to learning material faster than the client can.
The fourth strategic element is finesse: the gift for teaching what was just learned 10:45PM the night before and making it sound like wisdom accumulated over years of practice.
Finally, none of this works without the ability to bluff with poise and self-assurance. This moves consulting from a practice to an art form. Tactics include responding with an anecdote instead of an answer, changing the subject, or polling the opinions of client personnel and then voting with the majority ... subject to your further review, of course. Partners can also tap the "I'd rather not give a firm answer right now before confirming my understanding with some technical people back at our firm" maneuver.
So, where's the integrity in all this? Should words like finesse and bluff and maneuver be read with a positive spin like "skilled/deft/adroit" ... or ... do these words merit a negative connotation like "trick/dupe/deceive?" Is this consulting or is this deception?
The root of the problem is scrambling to be too many things to all clients rather than practicing within a well-defined niche of competence.
At the other end of the integrity spectrum, there are consultants with rich experience within their niche who can almost do projects "blind-folded." They have the wisdom, seasoning and sensitivity to recognize the effect new directions will have on people. They have a passion for getting the job done well. These are the practitioners of fully competent consulting (FCC).
FCC is a beautiful thing to behold; unfortunately, it's typically a three-sigma experience. Many clients have never seen FCC so they have no idea what it is supposed to look like. If you've never seen FCC professionals at work before, here are some ways to recognize them:
o FCC professionals usually prefer to provide all consulting services for a project personally rather than trying to sell time for a crew of assistants. They often view assistants as training overhead that provides little value to the client.
o During a period of just hours, an FCC professional will be able to resolve a problem which has stumped the client project team for two weeks.
o After a visit by an FCC professional, at least one client senior manager will be confronted with compelling evidence that some key aspect of his/her job should be re-engineered.
o An FCC professional will often introduce an entirely new paradigm for business practice to the client.
o After a few visits, FCC professionals generally end up in audiences with the CIO, CFO, and/or CEO and these officers hear things no-one else had the courage to tell them.
"Quick Studies" who are in the practice of "learning faster than the client" can't perform at the FCC level. Why not? Because they are tactical, not strategic. They've got their head down trying to figure out dials and switches instead of looking where they are going. They end up on dead-end streets they never saw before. And, they are scared to death the client will find out they are a student instead of an expert.
It has become politically correct to accept mediocre consulting; after all, no one wants to be viewed as unreasonable or demanding. Furthermore, some clients believe they couldn't afford the billing rate of an FCC professional ... perhaps that's because the tendency is to measure the rate by the hour instead of by the unit of value delivered. Perhaps it's because insufficient weight has been placed on the integrity factor.
Focus is the key.
If you're a consultant, figure out what your niche is. If you've got a passion for doing well in that niche, stick with it. Don't try to bid on every job that crosses your path. If you're small and need to add a professional, make sure the new person fits in the same niche. Build market awareness that you and your associate(s) are experts in that niche.
If you're on the client side, precisely define what your support objective is and then look for a consultant or a consulting practice that specializes in achieving that objective. Be demanding. Expect outstanding performance. Look for a no-hassle money-back guarantee of customer satisfaction. If necessary, convince your supervisor to pay a premium rate. Look forward to celebrating the results.