Category Archives: Consulting Philosophy

I’ve always been intrigued by the difference between compliance and commitment. They are simple contrasts that make consultants into heroes because so many senior people don’t grok the difference.

Of course, that’s assuming the consultant understands the difference.

Compliance works only so long as the authority is present, has a big stick, and demonstrates willingness to use it. That’s why on any interstate highway the average speed is at least 10 miles above the posted limit, until there’s a police car in sight. That’s why Prohibition closed 80,000 New York City saloons, only to see 130,000 speakeasies take their place.

The threat of reward and punishment branded by hierarchical leaders (the title printed on their business card and the size of their office—and often, ego) is effective only so long as they are present, can effectively provide carrots and sticks, and have a recent history of doing so. But the problem with mere compliance is that it is entirely reactive. That is, very few people will voluntarily come forward with innovation and ingenuity, and will often even refrain from prudent warnings. Compliant organizations are dull, conservative, and poor competitors in volatile times. (Do law firms come to mind here?)

The military might seem like the ultimate compliant organization, but assaults and defenses are far more effective when the participants are committed to the cause, not merely ordered to charge or resist. Do you prefer people who are ordered and monitored to be dealing with clients, or people who truly love being with them and helping them? Do you want people meeting quotas, fearful for their jobs, or people finding new business because they’re so attuned to providing value to others?

Poorly run organizations—most airlines, newspapers, banks, to name a few underachievers—demand compliance with rules, processes, and policies. Truly outstanding organizations—Apple, Fedex, Amica Insurance—create evangelists among employees and customers alike.

You can’t demand evangelism. You need people committed to the cause. That’s not so difficult, really, unless, of course, you’re insecure and don’t really believe in the cause yourself. That’s when you try to order the troops to attack from the rear, they’re unsuccessful and stream by you in retreat, leaving you to face the enemy all alone.

© Alan Weiss 2011. All rights reserved.

The Future of Consulting: Session 2

(An anonymous grad student’s interview with Alan, part 2)

BEB: We’ve been inundated with vision/mission/values and so on for what seems like decades, and we’ve been told that “execution” is the key. But things still don’t get done. Do you anticipate any changes in these “sacred” relationships?

AJW: I do. We all know (that is, most good leaders and executives) what has to be done, why it’s important, and even how to do it. In all my years of consulting I was usually validating what people already knew, infrequently introducing entirely new concepts. So “execution” isn’t sufficient. What we really lack is accountability.

BEB: You mean we’re lazy or we don’t know how?

AJW: We DO know how, but we fail to hold ourselves and others accountable. There is no rigor, no discipline, no priority. I’ve used the example for years now that over the prior decade the U.S. along has spent tens of billions on weight loss: diets, exercise equipment, personal trainers, medication, operations, and so on. Yet we’re collectively fatter than ever! I’ve led a hundred strategy sessions, and where those that fail do is when the top executive doesn’t hold himself or herself and subordinates accountable for all those lofty statements on the easel sheets they created.

BEB: Because people lack the willpower?

AJW: Let’s define “willpower.” People are enamored with the goal and the future picture is wonderful. But the journey is another matter entirely. That’s because the specific steps are either not defined sufficiently or they are not laden with the proper reward and punishment, so to speak. I was ineffective at working out on my own, but very effective once I paid a personal trainer who isn’t interested in how tired I am but is interested in how much progress I make. I don’t miss a session, I’m paying for them, even though I hate the sessions with a passion. But I’m stronger and in better shape today than I was ten years ago.

BEB: And you see this as an example of consulting in the future?

AJW: Yes, I see the dramatic need to make things actually happen as they are intended in those situations where they are not happening due to a lack of accountability and discipline. I think consultants who can install an “accountable culture” within clients will be worth their weight in gold.

BEB: Are some organizations there already?

AJW: Yes, but: It’s highly situational. FedEx has a tremendous, accountable delivery system replete with great people. But their back office is a customer disaster. My driver will make extraordinary attempts to get packages to me, but try calling to get a credit when something doesn’t arrive as it should or to correct a billing error and you’re dealing with a bureaucracy from a Rube Goldberg cartoon. I can’t think on one airline today that is fully accountable to customers, although you can find bright spots here and there. But how could they be, when they’re not accountable to their employees or even to their own stated strategies?

BEB: So contrary to those who believe that globalization, technology, demographics, and the like will be the high potential for consulting, you believe it’s in accountable cultures?

AJW: Look (to quote our President), you’re talking about fertile grounds to add value and I’m not disagreeing with those choices. But I’m talking about a process that transcends fads and trends: I think the world of tomorrow will richly reward those who make make things happen, and I’m convinced that’s done through accountability and resolve. Otherwise, you’ll just be another investor in “Spiderman.”

The Future of Consulting: An Interview with Alan Weiss

Session 1

Alan was recently interviewed by a graduate student who wishes to remain anonymous.

BEB: We’re seeing increasingly startling headlines about management incompetence, whether Toyota’s quality problems or Hewlett-Packard’s leadership follies. Do these represent more opportunity for consultants?

AJW: I don’t subscribe to the notion that management is more corrupt or less adept today than in, as my son says, “days of yore.” Most of the great fortunes, from Kennedy to Astor and Vanderbilt to Rockefeller, were created through questionable practices. As Balzac commented, “Before every great fortune there is a great crime.” We are able to more immediately and shrilly comment on faults, through the media, as we do proclaim new “geniuses,” as we do with Gerstner or Jobs or Smith [IBM, Apple, FedEx]. Remember that Bernie Madoff’s scheme takes its precedent from Charles Ponzi of nearly 100 years ago.

BEB: So is this a particularly enlightened management age? Do we know so much more, have so many more resources and access, that management is actually better than ever?

AJW: It’s an age like any other. There’s the good, the bad, and the ugly. What I don’t subscribe to are the notions of some authors and consultants that management, as a class, is somehow “evil” and it’s the responsibility of the workers to fight that evil. Are there greedy and inept and bullying executives? Sure. Are there enlightened and generous and exemplary executives? Sure. I hate the labeling. The bad cops, bad teachers, and bad clergy are a minority. But they get the preponderance of the headlines. If most weren’t good at their jobs, we’d have a meltdown.

BEB: If a consultant were to ask you what major philosophy to adopt about the business marketplace, what would it include?

AJW: First, volatility is the norm. This isn’t a passing fad after which we’ll return to years of boring stability. We’re in a swirl of huge evolutionary  and revolutionary change, a great deal of which we can’t possibly control and are lucky to merely influence. The Arab “spring” that we’re currently witnessing is just one example, as is the radical change in the housing market.

BEB: What else would you include?

AJW: Technology is omnipresent, as is any other utility from electricity to natural gas. It’s innovative aspect is plateauing. The last time I had a technological breakdown, I was still being told to unplug the item and then plug it back in. Imagine if that were the case with our cars or elevators? International influences are unpredictable. I don’t agree with the India/Brazil/China default of “huge economic powers” of the future. There are simply too many social and environmental issues that have to be addressed in these countries and, as far as I can see, aren’t close to resolution any time soon. I also suspect that Europe is going to change radically.

BEB: Why is that?

AJW: Because they’re not replacing their mortality rates and their only recourse for the labor they need is immigration, and it’s going to be largely Muslim immigration, which has not been a smoothly integrated community in most of Europe. Not only has Europe been far less friendly to immigration than the U.S., but laws are now being passed—such as a ban on veils in France—that would never occur in the U.S. Further, the Euro is in dire shape. The U.K. has never accepted it, and economically depressed countries which would at one time simply devalue their own currencies no longer can. That places a huge burden on economically strong nations such as Germany. Now we’re even seeing increased border controls within the EU, which had claimed ease of unfettered travel as a fundamental benefit.

BEB: Let’s return to consulting specifically. What does this bode for the profession?

AJW: Peter Drucker wrote about the great, universal need for management expertise and corporate intelligence. He even posited that if one were to include education as an American export (both that aspect going abroad with consultants, and non-U.S. students studying in America) that there would be no trade imbalance. I’m not so sure about that, but I do think that the need for management expertise will rival technical expertise as universal requirements, even  in third and “fourth” world nations.

BEB: Aren’t the needs of developing countries those of infrastructure, health, jobs, and so forth? Much more basic?

AJW: That’s the point. How do you manage large scale improvement? How do you intelligently use money and resources to help the populace and not the politicians? We’ve seen, for example, that providing massive amounts of food has the horrible byproduct of destroying the local agricultural base. These are world, not local, issues, that require highly adept advisory support.

BEB: And for the private sector?

AJW: If you believe that volatility is the new normal, and demographics continue to shift, and finances continue to oscillate, then I can make a case that the future of strong product and services growth is in forming communities of customers, disciples who provide feedback on future products, promote current products to peers, and who constantly challenge companies to raise their standards. Consultants adept at helping in these dynamics will be in great demand.

BEB: Are we seeing those trends now?

AJW: Just look at Apple.

[To be continued….]

© Alan Weiss 2011. All rights reserved.

I find that the default position for far too many professional services providers is adversarial. That is, someone has to lose for someone else to win. I recall one of the “sales gurus” commenting from the stage, “In every sales transactions someone wins. You either win and make the sale, or the prospect wins and rejects you.”

That’s certainly healthy! No wonder there are so many execrable books on selling.

The marketing and sales processes are collegial. They are intended, in their correct form, for both parties to “win.” You receive tremendous value, and I receive equitable compensation. Easy as that.

But your mindset must be: “I have tremendous value to provide, and I’d be remiss if I didn’t attempt to provide it for all appropriate parties,” and not, “I need to make my quota, and I know I’m imposing on this person in an attempt to take their money.”

That mindset makes a tremendous difference. Eschew the “experts” who advise of tricks and manipulation and “finding the pain” (which went out with Nehru jackets and quadrophonic sound). Instead, focus on maximizing your value, the amounts of people exposed to it, and the ease of doing business with you.

The next time you’re in a group of peers, such as I recently assembled in Las Vegas at three major meetings, consider how easily you interact with them and share. Now take that attitude and superimpose it on your prospective buyers. Peer conversations are what matter. “Elevator pitches” should only be considered if you’re on the 67th floor and the elevator’s brakes are failing.

© Alan Weiss 2011. All rights reserved.

Here are some incredibly easy tips to stay ahead of the pack that most consultants simply ignore or aren’t disciplined about.

1. Speed: “Right from the outset, we saw how quickly you responded and realized that was lacking with people in the past,” said a brand new client of mine a week ago, whose business was closed while I was in France, never having met. Proposals, meetings, reports, debriefings, promised items—get them there fast. Using Fedex is a cost of doing business. The Internet is free last time I looked.
2. Attention to detail: If you can’t learn to use grammar and punctuation correctly for some unfathomable reason, then find a good proofreader and/or editor. When there are mistakes in your communications with clients or your promotional material people wonder how much attention you’re paying. (There will ALWAYS be mistakes, we’re not perfect, but the idea is to minimize them.)
3. Independent expertise: When you constantly quote others as verification for your approaches (Oswald’s Decision Model, or Karponsky’s Supply Chain Theory), then why do I need you? Why don’t I simply go to the source? What’s your contribution to thought leadership?
4. Assertion of value: Many of you reading this are afraid to make follow-up calls, or instead use far lower profile (and far more ineffective) email to follow-up. What are you afraid of, bothering someone??? If you believe you have value, then pursue buyers. The worst they can tell you is “No,” but they won’t tell you anything if you sit by the phone and wish for it to ring.
5. Perspective on methodology: No client was ever improved by methodology. The client was improved by the RESULTS of the methodology, and ten times out of nine there are alternatives to create those results. Don’t default to how you do things. Find out what the client needs and work backwards, using the shortest and easiest methods, not necessarily a 24-step process you’re in love with.
6. Ask, don’t just tell: The very best people with whom I work are constantly asking. On Alansforums.com I remind some people that there is no “faculty,” so you can’t just sit back and offer opinions and advice. The consulting meetings we’ve all attended where a bunch of people sit around and tell each other how good they are and how things should be done according to them produce one thing: old, unsuccessful consultants.

© Alan Weiss 2011. All rights reserved.

“Collaboration” with colleagues is too often a theoretical exercise that burns up time determining what would happen “if”: If a client came along. If you had a project together. If you combined your methodologies.

Collaborate (that is, work together on a project, sharing revenues) under these conditions:

1. One or the other of you has a client or prospect ready to move forward.

2. The project requires expertise, methodology, and delivery more than just one of you can provide.

3. It isn’t a sole matter of needing extra delivery, since quality delivery people are widespread and can be hired at a daily rate. (These are people usually unsuccessful at marketing themselves, hence, they hope for business from others.)

4. The value the two of you bring far exceeds the value just one of you would bring, In other words, one-plus-one must equal 80, not merely 2.

5. You don’t make it legal, simply situational. Legal partnerships are worse than bad marriages, and more costly to tear asunder.

6. You trust each other implicitly, allowing each to make decisions for the other.

7. You apportion the revenue with a formula representing your contributions to it (e.g., business acquisition is far more critical than providing methodology or delivery) and are both happy with it.

8. You can be honest with each other.

In 30 years of consulting, I’ve had three alliances, each one with specific markets or a single client engagement. Of course, I could simply be anti-social. Or, on the other hand, I could be really smart.

© Alan Weiss 2011. All rights reserved.