Take that a step further and try to ferret out whether he or
she is comfortable departing from the script when an unexpected comment or subject pops up.
A grim reality
One of the dirty little secrets of the consulting business is
turnover, which can only be described as incredible. The
average consulting career is shorter than that of an NFL
player: less than three years. The mega-firms, particularly,
chew ’em up and spit ’em out. It’s a tough lifestyle; tough on
the individual, tougher on families.
Even the “career” consultants don’t tend to stay in one
place for long. Most bounce from firm to firm, a few years
here and a few years there. Although those who have successful small firms tend to stay in the game longer, very, very
few establish long careers at one organization.
So, the odds are good that the consultant you really liked
last time is no longer a consultant, and the probability that
he or she is still with the same organization is somewhere
south of No Chance.
As much as we believe in the value and potential efficacy
of consultants in helping clients achieve supply chain excellence, it can be overdone. The average company doesn’t
need consultants to answer every question. And it might
not need large numbers of them, if the consultant is
inclined to leverage knowledge and experience through the
efforts of internal teams.
It’s a bit reminiscent of those interesting people on talk
radio’s “Dr. Laura” show who answer their own questions
before the call is over. The solution frequently lies within
the company, and it may only take a little probing and
direction to get the organization on the right path.
Art Van Bodegraven, president of Van Bodegraven Associates, may be reached at
(614) 336-0346 or avan@columbus.rr.com. Kenneth B. Ackerman, president of The
Ackerman Company, can be reached at (614) 488-3165 or ken@warehousing-forum.com.
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