Do we really need consultants?

Consultants do not know what they are doing.

They are given a remit from the organisation they are to work for and they have to go in and find out what is happening.
 

How do they do this?
 

They talk to people. Lots of people, at every level in the organisation.
 

They ask questions, and make you question your own processes.
 

They want to learn what your problems are and they want to know what ideas you have to solve these problems.
 

Because they don’t know the trees, they are able to see the wood. 

They bring an independent mind and a viewpoint formed by what they learn.
 

What comes out of this process is a report and usually a number of recommendations. 

What also comes along is a large bill.
 

Now most of the information and advice in this report has come from within your own organisation. You could have had it for free. But you wouldn’t have valued it.
 

Instead, you have an expensive report from professional consultants who obviously know their stuff because they’ve come up with some really good recommendations. This, you value and hopefully will put into practise.
 

What consultants seldom tell you is the systems to put in place so that you never need call on them again.
 

Systems which allow all of your staff to bring their ideas to the table without wading through seventeen layers of bureaucracy.
 

Systems which will really listen to new ideas.
 

Systems which teach your managers how to manage efficiently, which isn’t always dictated by the bottom line.
 

Systems which reward innovation regardless of pay grade.

The best organisations do this already. They do not need consultants. Every single member of their organisation is already a valued consultant. 

Now that’s a system worth building!