Developing a Consultant’s Perspective

When examining an organization you know well, one of the challenges is achieving sufficient distance to ensure you are being as objective as possible. One thing that can help is to think about what you would expect of an outside consultant if one were hired by your organization. Then imagine yourself in that role, assuming those same responsibilities and needing to meet the same expectations. This is what we mean by developing a consultant’s perspective.

We expect consultants to have the expert knowledge required to address a particular project or task. We also expect and need consultants to be skilled at recognizing how their own experiences, beliefs, and/or values, as well as those of others, can influence thinking and decisions. When thinking about situations at work, it is typical for us to have ideas about why they are as they are and, sometimes, how they might be made better. When a consultant is brought in to look at the same situation s/he may have some good hunches/preliminary ideas thanks to expert knowledge, but will need to conduct a careful investigation before reaching and/or offering any conclusions or recommendations. This is what you will want to do for this project. In other words, you will need to develop the required expertise and make every effort to ensure your approach, findings, conclusions, and recommendations are sound and supportable.

One thing that can be helpful in achieving sufficient distance is to imagine that you are a consultant for another organization that is similar to yours but that you do not know. Another thing that is helpful is to actually write down your beginning assumptions, ideas, and possible biases and then figure out what you can do to avoid being influenced by them. Depending upon the situation you might imagine what would happen if the organization accepted your initial hunches, analysis, or recommendations and the situation was made worse. In other words, take the time to imagine the harm you might do if your initial ideas are wrong, and then take the necessary steps to limit this possible outcome. Discussing any issues or concerns with your professor is also important.