Couple of things on this topic.You should take dissatisfied rumblings on message boards with a pinch of salt for three reasons. Firstly, this is clearly not a representative sample of all consultants. Secondly, people tend to be motivated to write when they're unhappy, not when they are contented. Thirdly, in any profession where someone does not have complete control over their activities ( ie. any 'job' ), there is bound to be some dissatisfaction - it's the nature of the beast.That said, lets look at consultants. Typically they are analytical and well educated but one thing as a group they're not is risk takers. For this reason they exhibit classic herd behaviour. Witness the constant rush to acquire the 'right' brand associations with universities, companies etc. and to measure themselves against others in the rat race. Sadly, all this intellectual horsepower therefore results in a lack of innovation and value due to risk avoidance in general behaviour. Obviously this holds for consultants as a group rather than individuals who will of course show a wide spectrum of qualities. The typical consultant knows one world - his consultancy career and measures progress by movement along the predetermined lines laid down by their chosen employers or industry. Nothing wrong with that but clever folk should be able to do more. Ultimately all this leads to mediocrity as the gold standard for the profession as a whole.
