I hate consultants.
Since I am - ahem - a consultant, this sounds like a terrible personal problem - and why should you care? Here’s why: You’re thinking about hiring a consultant or you’ve had a bad experience with one. (If you are a consultant, think about the following when you’re pitching your services.)
I started hating consultants back when I worked in Corporate America. We’d hire expensive outsiders to tell the CEO what his own people had been telling him for months - while continuing to slash budgets and cut heads. On occasion I had to work with some freshly minted MBA - giving him or her work I’d already done so they could slap on their logo and present it. Was any of this fair? No. Was it of value to the company? Yes - in some cases. Outsiders will almost always have more credibility than somebody the CEO sees (and possibly abuses) day in and day out. Also, a third party can bring a fresh perspective to a problem, verifying what you think you know - or helping you look at things differently.
Then there’s what I call Consultant Happy Talk. Diploma mills and certification rackets are alive and well on the web and there are a lot of people promoting themselves as experts who’ve never had any practical business experience (or their PhD is in something like phys ed). If a consultant says they’re certified in something or have an advanced degree, find out more. Don’t be intimidated by the name or let them blitz you with buzzwords (we’re good with the buzzy stuff.) And, if they guarantee such things as “20% increase in sales” or “double your profits” - run. Sure, there should be goals and ROI measurements, but NOBODY can guarantee results. There are just too many external factors beyond your (or their) control. Those darned customers have minds of their own. Governments change. Wars break out. Weather happens. And so on.
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December 11th, 2005 at 6:30 pm
Hi Mary,
I agree with your simple assertions here except one…
your blog struck a cord….unfortunately a bad one when you used a ;psys ed major as your example.
I was a PE major from a prominant California university because I couldnt complete a 4 year degree in math (my orignial major) on transfer from a junior college during the Vietnam war and needed to graduate in the next two years or be dropped from my Navy flight program.
To shorten this story some I just retired from Hewlett-Packard after a 21 year highly successful career in the computer software business. I spent my 4 years in the Navy pointing toward achievement, studied Earl Nightingale tape and vocabulary when on deployments, spent my time in Vietname during the war, and was hired by Ross Perot’s EDS firm where I worked for 6 years in ever increasing positions. Next was 3 years in Cable Data Corp the largest billing firm in the world and next had my own software business until selling out with a positive cash flow at the end of 2.5 years and joining HP.
I have written software in 11 different languages, built my own computer back when you had to do your own soldering and in the last 2 years had the software product that I managed see a 400% combined annual growth rate while putting out 2 releases a year.
So please dont disparage the PE major. My math science background from junior college and my life science courses from PE have given me a terrific education. I know a lot of double E’s that have not progressed as far.
All lecturing aside I get your point but it would have been better to just say a Phd that has not direct application. By the way, I have met MANY PhDs that think their degree makes them smart and useful when their attitude makes them arrogant and of no use to a client.
Thanks for reading this far,
Mike Short
I am now a software marketing consultant
December 12th, 2005 at 10:05 am
Thanks, Mike - for your candid comments and also for further illuminating my point. You moved far beyond your initial major/education path - unfortunately, a lot of people don’t - including so-called consultants. An education (regardless of the major) is only as good as the person getting it. Further, education should be an ongoing process (such as you have done.)
I “hate” consultants since I see so much abuse of titles and pieces of paper that aren’t backed by years of experience & growth, such as yours with HP. And, I all too often have folks come to me for help that have already paid another consultant thousands and gotten - well - nothing much.
FYI - I’m a former pre-med/social work/sociology major and believe all the curriculum helped me be a better biz person…and consultant.
Thanks and drop by again - would love to hear more of your perspective.
M.
September 13th, 2007 at 8:31 am
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