How do you know a consultant is competent?

Think about it. You understand (I hope) situational competence. We all know people who are extraordinarily competent in one area and hopeless incompetents in other areas.

So the question is really, “How do you know the consultant you’re about to engage is competent to assist you with the issue at hand?” Having the world’s greatest consulting brain surgeon working with you on a factory floor reengineering project might not be the wisest thing to do, no matter how competent the consultant was in her field or how nice she was.

What’s the approach you use to determine and verify the competence of the consultants with which you work? From my perspective, it’s less important which approach you use (as long as it works) and more important THAT YOU HAVE AN OBJECTIVE APPROACH that you use with consistency.

So. What’s the name of your approach? How often do you update it? Who is in charge of updating and maintaining it? Is it used consistently throughout your organization?

Hmmmmm.

Are digital coaches real consultants?

Seth Godin, in a post on his blog entitled “A shortage of digital coaches,” describes the absence of a certain type of individual – a digital coach. His thesis is that there are a large number of individuals and small businesses using an increasing array of digital technology that could be getting a much better return on their investment.

He posits that there is a huge market for people with the skills to “hear what you do and how you do it and then show you how to do it better.” He goes on to give examples, describing these digital coaches as “People who organize data and put it in the right place” and “People who overhaul the way small groups use technology so they can use it dramatically better.”

If such people existed and they were to charge $100 per hour -- or some set amount per day -- for their services, could they be considered true consultants? I think the answer is yes. Certainly the good ones would be more than temporary help, more than contractors. To be effective, these individuals would use both issues-based and solution-based consulting skills to move their clients further along the digital competency continuum.

Are these digital coaches around? Sure, but finding them and vetting them doesn’t seem to me to be an easy task at the present time. Simply having technology skills does not automatically equate to having consulting skills. In an effort to help make the desired connections, Seth has set up a Squidoo group for digital coaches.

Being both a consultant and small business owner, I’m intrigued by the possibility of bringing these skills to the marketplace in a rational manner. Is this a natural extension for The Geek Squad or Firedog, or are they already providing such services?

Finally, is this something the larger consulting firms might consider in an effort to provide a “starter service” to small businesses to get them familiar with their range consulting services – and hopefully turn them into long term customers?

Here Come “The Project Police”

On a previous post on this blog and on our firm’s web site, we’ve told the story about how the term “consulting cops” came into being. Today, after quite a bit of discussion, the name was changed.

As you’ll learn by reading the story, there was always some reservation on my part as to the use of the term “consulting cops” or “consulting police.” The phrase struck me as a bit negative, implying that all consultants were less than honest and ethical. That just isn’t the case; some are. The story behind the name is a great story, but he name just wasn’t right. We’ve now fixed that.

From now on, we’ll answer to “The Project Police.” A good portion of the work we do with clients is to help them resolve troubled projects that involve external (and occasionally internal) consultants. Objectively assessing troubled projects and getting them back on track is one of our primary skills.

We’ll still address troubled projects and we’ll still carry our badges. We’ll just be operating under a new – and more descriptive – name.

Beware of consultant’s myopia

When you engage a consultant, you want them to focus on your issues and not get distracted by things around them that would get in the way of their successfully completing their assignment.

However, there are limits to just how focused you want them to be. Sometimes, there are important – even urgent – things the consultant should be able to recognize while he or she is focusing on the task at hand.

News reports from Bedford Falls, New York (I don’t really think it’s THAT Bedford Falls) describe how a computer consultant, who was driving a rental car, was so focused on following the directions on the car’s GPS system that he neglected to notice that he was crossing a set of railroad tracks THAT CONTAINED A TRAIN HEADING RAPIDLY TOWARD HIM!

Apparently, after the car got stuck on the tracks, he realized his error and got out and tried to flag down the train's engineer. Reportedly, he jumped out of the way just in time and the train slammed into the car at 60 mph; pushing it more than 100 feet down the track in a spectacular and fiery crash

It seems the driver was issued a minor summons and that he and his rental car company would be liable for resultant damages, estimated in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.

The whole thing reminds me of some of the occasions where we’ve been called in to review a troubled project. However, in many of those projects, the consultants who were at fault didn’t even see “the train” before the project's fiery crash.

New Year. New Approach?

Do you or your organization ever use consultants?

If it’s true that over half of all consulting engagements fail to meet the originally defined objectives, what proactive approach will you be taking this year to improve your odds of getting a better return on your consulting investments?

More importantly, what do you think your competitors will be doing?