Have you ever noticed how a good joke spreads? And endures? Have you ever
wondered why this is? Or thought about what makes a great joke?
The very best jokes have an element of truth. That is why the most popular
comedians get the most laughs when they take normal, everyday events or
situations that we have all experienced and recount an exaggerated version from
their own life or observations. Just watch the audience if you doubt it.
But let’s now test the theory. There’s a joke that you are possibly familiar
with. It’s one I hear regularly and first heard it almost thirty years ago. You know the one – “What’s the definition
of a management consultant?”
The answer of course is, “Someone who, when you want to know the time,
borrows your watch, tells you the time and then walks off with your watch!"
Now, whether you find that amusing or not, its very durability suggests that
it is funny. Consequently, if my premise
is correct, it must also contain an element of truth. That has to be food for thought, doesn’t it?
The fact is that one aspect of consultants’ work is diagnostics. It is not
uncommon for consultants to be called in to assess an organisation, identify
the problem/s and to recommend what action needs to be taken to address them. You
certainly wouldn’t hire them if you didn’t think there was a problem (unless
you wanted to demonstrate that there wasn’t one, which, if you think about it,
is a problem in itself!)
Now the only way they can assess the organisation is to talk to or survey the
employees. That is the only way learn and really understand what is happening because,
by definition, what happens is the result of human activity and/or peoples’ response
to situations or events. Thus the source of the consultant’s information is the
people and inevitably this means that the consultant’s perception of the
problem is shaped by that of the people who describe the problem. It is also
very unlikely that employees – the people who are dealing with these matters on
a daily basis – don’t also have a clear idea of what is needed to solve the
problem.
Thus it is equally inevitable that those solutions will find their way into
the recommendations in some shape or form. It would be a foolhardy consultant
who didn’t include them, because not to do so will virtually guarantee
resistance to any alternative solution and thus increase the likelihood of the
failure of their recommendations.
Of course the net result of this is that you are effectively paying the
consultant to identify what is already at your disposal if you only knew it or how
to access it. No wonder the net result feels akin to “paying for your own
watch!” Only, if you are the one paying, it is not really so funny, is it?
The thing is you can circumvent any possible need – or the type of problems
that cause such need, even if you are unaware of it – for such services by creating
an environment where your people work effectively as a single, inter-locking
team, taking responsibility for their own performance and working effectively
with their colleagues to identify and remedy any problems they encounter. That is what employee engagement really is, and
employee ownership is the best way to help build this and optimise talent.
So what are you waiting for? The consultancy fees you save will more than
pay for the effort!