Why consultants work

Because they don't have a dog in the fight....

When a company begins to contemplate a change in business process or systems, there is a tendency to have internal battles, a lot of spin, and a difficult time making decisions. This comes from a couple of issues; namely, the problem is outside the day-to-day core competency of the organization, and each individual will look at the problem myopically, with a focus on "..what's in it for me?..."

Solution: Well versed outside personage. (i.e. consultant).

In many circles, of course, consultant is a bad word. This is especially true if you do have some internal IT staff, who may be very capable IT implementers. However, that does not make them appropriate resources to help you through a system or business process change. Why? Because they DO have a dog in the fight. Even if they have the right solution in mind, know how to implement, and can execute flawlessly, they are in for a huge fight. In these circumstances, it becomes a "...what's in it for YOU?.." battle, where the stakeholders are quite certain that the IT department has chosen or recommended based on their limited knowledge of "other" solutions. Meanwhile, the IT department is quite certain that the only reason the stakeholders want something different is because "...their brother in-law told them that they would be stupid to use X product, when Y product is really where it is at..."

Bringing an objective third party in is like arbitration, only better, because everyone wins. The first thing a good consultant is going to do is ask questions. He/she will document findings from the questions in an analytical format to understand the true needs/desires/wants of the organization as a whole. Next, they will use any of a number of processes to prioritize the needs and wants. Finally, they will present the findings to the whole of the stakeholders and build consensus on the requirements, not on the solution. Now, we understand the real problem, time to match a solution.

With the whole problem documented, finding a solution becomes a matter of matching requirements to features, assessing budget, and managing risk. Simple.

So, as a final note, when you are considering surgery, you don't try to find your own anesthesiologist and scalpels, you bring in a surgeon. When you are operating on your business, you should take the same care to find an expert as when on your body.

Cheers...

-j