Being an independent consultant isn’t easy, to start with. At the onset, one is answerable to several corporate structures, and being an SME conclusively makes you lonely within a team. It’s obvious, therefore, that the role of a consultant is looked upon with a lot of scepticism, with no less than the legendary Steve Jobs who had his personal take on the topic of consulting.
For some vague reasons, consultants have garnered a notorious reputation for themselves for the misplaced belief in the industry that they do not focus on the outcomes and for “not owning the results”, and costing dollars to the companies for nothing. Quite evidently, that’s not true. While there cannot be any debate on the role & responsibilities of an internal consultant (full-time hire) which is well-defined and aligned with the company’s overarching vision it’s the vast majority of the external consultants working on contracts that come under heavy criticism and undue scrutiny. It isn’t about seeking tangible outcomes alone, but the constraints of budget and time sometimes render the viable goals of the engagement (yes, it’s treated as an “engagement”, short-term or long-term, not a project) out of reach. Consultants, therefore, favour tasks that they feel would clearly deliver the value proposition for the company in the long run. On the other side, companies hire external consultants with the sole purpose of squeezing multiple outcomes in a limited timeframe, expect that consultant deliver practically on the vision which has been laid out, and more so, without justifying the value of the process and the investment in human resources. While the expectation is not completely misplaced, a third-party consultant comes with a fresh pair of eyes and is able to weed out insufficient and incoherent tasks which may not deliver the outcomes the company is striving to achieve. Hence, there might be a review of the processes and team structure to bring the efficiency back. Moreover, outcomes are as achievable and as valuable as the process would be.
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