Although there are many synonyms for being “in business” – trade, industry, commerce, ... – there is no adequate metaphor that covers the whole breadth of the notion. Being “in business” is a unique experience. There is nothing else quite like it. The men and women who create businesses share an urge to create and to build. Whether the objective is to develop a new product or service, or to make available existing products or services to new markets, it always involves vision, risk-taking and hard work. As businesses become successful and grow, they produce most of the wealth that our society enjoys, but the underlying or-ganisations also start taking on a life of their own. As it grows, the business de-velops its own organisational structure and culture; its specialized management functions; its own approach to the markets it serves; its decision-making, com-mercial, operational and financial processes, and its own technology infrastruc-ture that these days is often an essential part of the realisation of its strategy. The number and complexity of the decisions faced by management grows rap-idly, while the decisions taken are often of vital importance for the future suc-cess of the business.

Change is at the heart of business, but this change must be controlled. This is typically where organisations first see the need to formalise: reporting procedures, standards, quality programmes, systems and applica-tions. While these often rather static structures are being implemented, markets keep morphing, technology evolves, consumer behaviour changes, competitors enter the fray, and politicians keep changing the regula-tory framework. Not only are you shooting at a moving target, not only are you moving as you aim at the target, but the rules of the game keep changing!

The Consequence of Context
Business decisions are rarely straightforward. There is rarely a single correct answer. One size does not fit all. Each business is in a unique situation and faces a unique set of circumstances. For example: radical out-sourcing of all but a few core business functions has proven immensely successful for some companies, while it has wrought havoc in others. The outcome depends on the context, as reflected by your strategy, the structure and nature of your sales channels, the type of people that make up your organisation and their modes of interaction, the suitability of your IT infrastructure and applications, and the quality of your out-sourcing partners, to name but a few. Also, while caught up in the demands of day-to-day decision-making, it is easy to lose sight of whether or not each decision you take is compatible with your longer-term goals, or is perhaps the first of a sequence of steps that leads you gradually away from your original vision. In addi-tion to context, there is the added burden of uncertainty. Research has clearly demonstrated a remarkable and seemingly hardwired inherent fallibility of human decision-making when faced with any but the sim-plest set of circumstances. This gets worse when data is scarce or uncertain. Then again, too much data in-creases the cost and duration of decision-making. In addition, the knowledge necessary to interpret and hence evaluate the data correctly is often simply not available internally. This is the “sheer economics” ar-gument for buying in outside advice: many organisations do not have the resources to acquire the requisite knowledge internally. In situations like these, buying in outside help starts to seem like a good idea, but choosing an outside adviser is of course yet another decision. How do you select a consultancy? Which one is right for you? Will the advice given be suitable for your business? Will they understand your business? How much disturbance will be caused to the business in the process? Perhaps most importantly: will the end result be a workable solution?

Rooted in the Customer’s Needs
A consultants’ advice should always be rooted in the customer’s needs. This at first sight obvious statement needs some clarification:

A Beautiful Method...
... Is less than half the story. Like most trades, consulting is a competitive business. Consultancies must have offerings that are readily distinguishable from their rivals’. The degree to which a consultancy is seen to have a clear, appealing and well thought out approach is often what makes or breaks a sale. In other words: method – or: methodology – is important, but so is presentation. Nevertheless, despite real differences in fo-cus and approach, many commercially available, trademarked methods are really birds of a feather, though the buzzwords may differ. As long as a method is well-structured and complete (not all are), clear and suit-able for the task at hand, it doesn’t really matter all that much which one you choose. Method is the generic part of any consultancy’s offering and, as we have seen, the context of your business, and by extension what a consultancy’s capabilities will be within that context, is at least as significant.

Understanding Your Industry
To make a valuable contribution that is truly based in the customer’s needs, a consultant must offer more than a sound method: they must understand the situation you are in, and that begins with an understanding of the industry your are in. After all, before a consultant can offer the “right” answer, they must ask the right questions, and to do that, consultancy and client must, even if only imperfectly, speak the same language, the language of your chosen trade. This comes only with experience within that industry.

Information Broker
An external adviser must provide something not readily available within the client organisation: knowledge, ideally obtained both from research as well as ongoing involvement with the real-world practice of business. A consultant plugged in to the reality of day-to-day business and technology operations within other organi-sations in your industry builds up a treasure trove of valuable insights regarding what works in the real world. Many ideas look good on paper, but remember the old lament: “Well... it worked in the wind tunnel.” To help you become aware of, understand and use to your advantage the factors that are likely to shape your industry and influence your business is a key function of a consultant. So is helping you avoid costly, but hard-to-spot pitfalls, especially those already experienced by others.

Knowledgeable About Technology
Most consulting engagements will involve recommendations and decisions about technology. To make a valuable proposition in this arena requires that the consultant is up-to-date on the latest developments on the technology front and understands the relevant technologies and can assess properly their respective advan-tages and risks. As IT solutions are becoming increasingly complex, large, distributed, networked, layered and interconnected, consultants must also keep continually up-to-date on the latest developments in such ar-eas as security and firewalls; storage area networks; distributed and fault-tolerant architectures; remote sys-tem management, scalability, et cetera, or be able to draw on such expertise when needed.

Not Just Architecture, But Also Construction Method
Most business change today involves information and/or communication technology in some shape or form, either as the critical change enabler, as a means to simplify or improve, or as a tool to make the transition as smooth as possible. In engagements such as these, familiarity with and being up-to-date as regards (1) man-aging systems implementation projects and (2) systems analysis and software development methods, is es-sential.

Behavioural Counselling
Assume for a moment that we have clarified the problem, worked out the alternatives, defined the end state and have a plan for how to get there. When it comes to putting your plan into action, it may still all fall apart if the people whom we have assumed will bring it all about do not cooperate. People and organisations do not always behave in predictable ways. If we look closer, however, and really listen and observe on the indi-vidual level, we find that some of the unpredictability can really be predicted and explained. If we know what causes a certain response, we can devise ways to encourage or prevent it, however imperfectly. Awareness of human behaviour patterns and of group and organisational dynamics is an important factor in preparing for and guiding business change through to completion.

Experience
Working successful business change is all about bringing together method, industry insight, technology knowledge, construction methods and behavioural counselling in a judicious way. It takes leadership. It also takes experience. Both concepts are hard to define. If we try to describe leadership and experience by listing their respective qualities, we will find that some apply to both. Some, but not all: whereas intelligence, un-fortunately, is not additive – two people are not necessarily twice as smart as one; the most asinine decisions are typically taken by committees – experience is. This is why the experience of any consultant you hire is such an important factor. Theirs will add to yours.

References
People who choose a consulting career often have psychological insight and a flair with language. They know how to present ideas in compelling ways. It can be tempting to accept at face value a consultancy’s avowed competence and what looks like a very appealing method, especially when at that very moment you are grappling with an urgent business problem with no apparent solution. However, just as it is a good idea to check the track record of an investment manager before committing your hard-earned cash in one of their funds, it is important that you check the track record of any new consultancy whose services you enlist.

Email the author at mats@melloworld.com or visit www.catum.net from mid-February 2003.

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I recommend the following two books for a fascinating overview of the hardwired human tendency to take the wrong decisions, irrespective of IQ or education level: Dörner, Dietrich (1996). "The Logic of Failure“, New York: Metropolitan Books, and Piattelli-Palmarini, Massimo (1994). “Inevitable Illusions“, New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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About the Author
Mats Andersson is an experienced management and IT consultant, project manager and unit manager. He has had many Global 1000 companies as his clients, together representing a wide variety of indus-tries. Throughout his 15-year career he has lived and worked in several locations in Europe and the United States, most recently in London, where he was Director of Delivery at a wireless messaging technology start-up. He is an occasional speaker and lecturer.