Sage Advice: To be or not to be. . .
By Wayne Bourne -- Logistics Management, 6/1/2009
I am a consultant. I have been for several years and it's what I enjoying doing. I have the right experience, education, and contacts to make a real go of it. I work for the clients I choose and on projects I enjoy: and best of all, I am blessed with an high success factor.
That said, I was recently contacted by an industry colleague and friend of mine, steering me to write a column for another supply chain related trade magazine. It was co-authored by Ken Ackerman and Art Van Bodegraven, two experienced logistics professionals.
In the column, Ken and Art took on the subject of whether or not consultants actually deliver their promised value propositions. They did a great job of breaking down the various categories of consultant groups and I would like to address the smallest of the groups they mention: The sole practitioner.
I toiled in the industry for 35 years with two respectable Fortune 200 companies. The former was fully matured and the latter was in its infancy. I was able to learn a great deal from the former because their network development models had already been designed and tested before my arrival. So, I was able to implement enhancements on a stable platform.
In the company still maturing, I had to use everything I learned in school and leverage my experience from my former company just to keep my head above water. But I survived. And I learned a great deal. From these experiences, I felt that I had something to offer certain companies. So, after more than three decades, I hung out my own shingle.
The friend who sent me the heads up on the column thought maybe I would be somewhat offended by the categorizing of consultants and the perceived inference that we are all alike. Well, I read the article three times just to make sure I wasn't missing anything, but I came away feeling very comfortable with the commentary. In truth, you will find the good, the bad, the winners, and the losers, as well as a few who are resting on their laurels. But you will find a few capable leaders out there who are able to help.
I was a reluctant executive when my former superior told me that the company was engaging a large consulting company to help us. My first thought was that we didn't need the help: If the company would give us the money they were going to pay the consultants, we could do it faster and with better results. The consultants were merely going to ask to borrow our watches just to tell us what time it was.
So, how did I go from being uncomfortable with consultants to becoming one? Well, I wanted a change. I needed to step out from behind the mantle of protection that a corporate position provides to see if I was as good and creative as I thought I was.
My idea was to specialize purely in transportation economics and network development. I would offer individual fixes and very deliberate and specific network design and contract strategies. I did not offer "all things to all people" because I know my limitations and shared them up front, and I recommended supplementary specialists in other logistics disciplines to fill gaps in larger projects.
I am a transportation specialist. When my project is complete, it's time for me to leave. I don't like the routine the large consulting companies seem to thrive on: the temporary-turned-permanent "partner." I want to be thought of as a contributor—an advisor that sits on the bench and is called in for a special play that requires a unique set of experience and skills, then returns to the bench while the others learn and adapt.
There are plenty of reasons why corporations from both the shipper and the purveyor sectors will retain consultants. They may want to fill a knowledge gap temporarily, or they may need to rent expertise to teach and train the incumbents, or perhaps to conduct process reviews that lead to more efficiency. Then there are the "language" classes where carriers learn how to speak "shipper" and shippers learn to speak "carrier." The bottom line: My clients don't hire me to hear about my previous successes, rather they want to hear about my failures so they won't make the same mistakes.
In a down economy perhaps the first place that corporate budgets get trimmed is the outside consultant category. But if the consultant is as good as he presents himself, then this is the most opportune time for corporations to engage.
I am not attempting to polish up the consultant nameplate. Calling us anything more creative simply won't work. In short, find the right consultant that fits your immediate need and validate his prior successes before you engage. Release him when the project is complete and demand an audited report that details their actual results versus the stated objectives.
Nicely done Art and Ken, but go easy on us the next time around.
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