DISASTER CONSULTING 101
I was called by a large company (+100 employees) because their sales were going down and
management wanted an external opinion.
THE PROBLEM:
The description I was given was along the lines of “our company is the best in its market and
we have been leading it for more than 20 years. We’ve seen our sales slashed over the last 2
years and we don’t understand why”.
It seemed more like a market research job than anything else.
I asked to speak to as many members of staff as I possibly could in the first week. This is
useful in general to get my own feel for the “type of air people are breathing at work”. I also
asked to gather as much market data as possible on competitors, a comprehensive SWOT
analysis and a survey for managers and staff.
After 2 weeks I began getting a real sense of the disaster the company was in. The problem
wasn’t really external, it was rotten from within.
Everybody was against everybody. There were more people talking behind other people’s
backs than otherwise. Line managers were in fierce competition with one another. Top
management (4 people, 2 of which were brothers) was under the impression that everything
was great internally and the problem came from the outside.
I did a bit more digging and found out that there had been a high turnover of line managers
over the last 3 years, so I assumed this would have been hard on staff members.
I then heard from various sources that the managers who had been fired were mostly
proactive people who were trying to improve things, and were blocked by the owners every
time.
I was therefore faced with the hardest job in consulting: convincing the people who pay you that they may be the problem.
I was therefore faced with the hardest job in consulting: convincing the people who pay you that they may be the problem.
I asked management to have a series of discovery sessions and I was told they were too busy
for that.
I explained that it was necessary to complete my work.
They accepted the first session and I was almost unable to speak, because most of the talking (a fair bit of shouting too) was done by the 4 who were mostly attacking one another.
At the end of this session I explained that the only way for me to fix the bottom of the chain was to fix the top and that we’d have to do some work together if they wanted things to get better.
I explained that it was necessary to complete my work.
They accepted the first session and I was almost unable to speak, because most of the talking (a fair bit of shouting too) was done by the 4 who were mostly attacking one another.
At the end of this session I explained that the only way for me to fix the bottom of the chain was to fix the top and that we’d have to do some work together if they wanted things to get better.
They agreed, but their body language was telling me otherwise.
The next Monday I received an email cancelling my project with them.
I thanked them anyway and offered another free session if they wished.
They replied telling them they’d let me know the date.
The next Monday I received an email cancelling my project with them.
I thanked them anyway and offered another free session if they wished.
They replied telling them they’d let me know the date.
I was never contacted again and I wasn’t paid my last invoice.
I didn’t even bother chasing it.
What went wrong and why did I write this?
I wrote this because if you’re an honest consultant you have to show the successes and the
failures. If you speak to someone who tells you they’re perfect 100% of the time they’re
probably selling you smoke.
What went wrong?
A multitude of things.
The fact that those who hired me were the start of the problem and they didn’t want to
accept it was a pretty big first hurdle.
You can’t help someone who refuses to be helped. It goes against basic human behaviour rules.
These types of people tend to think that paying for an external consultant is like calling a plumber when your water pipe is broken. But fixing a company isn’t necessarily as easy or fast as replacing a broken pipe.
There are no magic tricks in consulting. We’re dealing with people, and people are intricate, often unpredictable beings. If you call for help but in reality you don’t want to be helped there is very little a consultant can do.
If I just wanted to make some money I’d have focused on market research and I’d have done some work with staff and line managers. It might have even improved things in the short term, but I wanted to get to the bottom, and that seemed to be the owners. Being an honest person also means being ready to lose a job if it means doing the right thing.
You can’t help someone who refuses to be helped. It goes against basic human behaviour rules.
These types of people tend to think that paying for an external consultant is like calling a plumber when your water pipe is broken. But fixing a company isn’t necessarily as easy or fast as replacing a broken pipe.
There are no magic tricks in consulting. We’re dealing with people, and people are intricate, often unpredictable beings. If you call for help but in reality you don’t want to be helped there is very little a consultant can do.
If I just wanted to make some money I’d have focused on market research and I’d have done some work with staff and line managers. It might have even improved things in the short term, but I wanted to get to the bottom, and that seemed to be the owners. Being an honest person also means being ready to lose a job if it means doing the right thing.