How to be a good consultant

Around ten years ago, I decided to make an uncertain and somewhat daunting career change – to move away from the relative security of the corporate world and into the uncertain world of consulting.

The main driver for me was not just to find a way to do the things I enjoy and I’m good at every single day, but also to escape doing the things that I didn’t enjoy and was not good at.

On that day I decided to join up with Glenn Merritt, who had made the same jump a year earlier, and together we decided to see if we could build a business built around a shared ethos of quality and delivery.

We have been very considered about the way we grow – carefully scaling to ensure we maintain our values around quality, authenticity and integrity – and we now we have nearly fifty brilliant people working at Intuita. And I can happily say that each one of those people contribute to a brand that still fulfils those original beliefs.

One major concern I had about starting a consultancy was the negative perception and narrative that often surrounds consultancy services. In many ways I shared a lot of these negative views associated with the industry. But we have worked hard to build a model which hopefully changes some of these perceptions and works well for both our clients and our team.

We have done this by putting a lot of emphasis on what it means to be an Intuita consultant, which we have refined over the past decade, and will continue to refine over the coming years. In my experience here is what makes a great consultant:

1. Really think about your client’s business

‍This may seem like a no-brainer, but time after time we have seen consultants come into a business with an off-the-shelf solution, without any real context of the specific customer or challenges they are facing. It is crucial to emotionally embed yourself in a client’s company – really think about the commercial drivers, internal structures and politics, technology decisions and data. Ask yourself the key questions:

-       Why have certain decisions been made?

-       What are the challenges and stresses they face in their day-to-day life?

-       What do they need help with now?

Don’t just jump straight into analysing data - understand the full context of the client’s situation, the reasons behind their objectives and what they really want to solve.

2. Own the problem - don’t blame others‍

To me, one of the most damaging attributes that anyone playing a part in a project can show is a lack of responsibility and accountability – particularly when this translates into pointing out flaws, not working towards a solution and blaming others.

Clients want and need partners who own the problem and deal with issues effectively. We can’t stress enough to our team how important it is that we are ultimately accountable to a solution we are working on.

3. Be an ACTUAL consultant‍

As a consultant, one of the greatest benefits is working across multiple industries, departments and with different technologies. These means exposure to what works well in different business settings.

Every business is unique, has its limitations, legacy issues and political complications, so a solution in one company is unlikely to be a simple lift-and-shift into another company.

The real challenge is being able to apply learnings to a new situation, whilst carefully considering the company specific attributes.

4. No BS mentality

Don’t play the “best practice” card unless you can back it up. Consultancies sadly, but in truth often correctly, have a reputation for selling a good story based on broad industry trends but struggling to back it up with a solution. This inevitably leads to a poor outcome.

This is further compounded when people work towards pre-defined frameworks, often delivered by people who don’t have the relevant industry or business experience.  

At Intuita we have a no BS policy. We work hard to understand the specific context of each challenge and will call things out as they are – we don’t hide behind BS.