You can learn a lot about business consulting from children.
At dinner one night, my wife mentioned a friend who was up to her eyeballs in work. Our young son wondered what that phrase meant, so we explained. She can barely see over all the work that’s stacked up around her!
Our son — ever the problem-solver — analyzed the situation in an instant. So, he said, why doesn’t she just stand up
Great advice! So reasonable. So simple. And so far detached from the reality of the situation.
Does that sound like the advice you get sometimes Years ago we used a particular consultant. We needed help with our circulation. In the magazine publishing world, circulation has nothing to do with how the blood gets around your body. Instead, it refers to how the magazines get to the people who need them. If you need a new word to throw around at Starbucks or the Waffle House, just tell them you are thinking about becoming a circulator. They will think you are some kind of surgeon. Then tell them that’s a person who works with magazine subscriptions for a living. They’ll throw coffee on you.
Consultant #1
This business consultant we hired was a big gun whose big company advertised in a big magazine. He dropped in once a month from The New York Office, gazed at our numbers, and left us with new assignments. He carried one of those brick-sized mobile phones in his briefcase. Talk about an impressive fellow!
We paid the bucks, worked the plan, and… not much happened. Maybe we just didn’t work hard enough on our end, but I’m more inclined to think a deeper problem was in play.
Consultant #2
A few years later, we tried again. This time we located a person who took the time to learn about our organization’s strengths and weaknesses. He also learned about our personality and potential. He brought a valuable perspective to our systems and circumstances, providing a solid foundation. (So did the other guy, I imagine.) But then he set himself apart by coming inside and living our systems, befriending our process owners, and interacting with our systems in a hands-on way.
He’s the guy who taught my children the Mr. Johnny Verbeck song. He gave our family its first Shel Silverstein book of weird poems. He took his laptop wherever he went, churning out spreadsheet templates customized for our needs.
So Much the Same, So Very Different
What was different about our two consultants Both had briefcases. Both were knowledgeable. Both were stocky. Both had salt-and-pepper beards. Both embraced the technology of their day.
To our first business consultant, we were hours on a billing statement. To our second, we were actual people who faced challenges in our business. The first came in and out of our lives every month. The second came alongside us.
Business consultants are great things. I highly recommend them. But not all of them.
Find somebody who wants to be part of your business for a while. Somebody you’d want to introduce to your kids. And next time you’re up to your eyeballs in work Stand up.
Tags: big gun, business management consultants, circulator, magazine publishing, waffle house