The book proposes to expose the 'reality' of the management consultancy industry, from the point of view of someone who spent 11 years revelling in its decadence and over-confidence. I found the content paticularly interesting because:
- so many of my friends from university and AIESEC have gone into this industry, but very few of them have revealed anything like these insights
- at several points during the last few years i myself considered this as a career option (not entirely unrelated to point#1)
- although the author's assertion that "one must dispose of the naïve idea that consulting involves the transfer of knowledge" is backed up by convincing arguments, I can't help wondering how many of the industry's (extortionate-fee-paying) clients (not to mention their now surplus-to-requirements employees) were fully aware of this when they agreed to pay
- it reminds me of how willingly many people accept the 'advice' of self-proclaimed 'experts' without the need for the latter to have proven their expertise. In fact the author tells us that "Wherever I was in the world, at the beginning of every consulting project, one thing was certain: I would know less about the business at hand than the people I was supposed to be advising."
"The only semblance of a theory behind modern business education is that it purportedly produces "experts" in shareholder-value maximization who are capable of forming an ideal, self-regulating market.
It's a neat theory, of course, and pretty radical, too. But not since the fall of the Soviet Union has a system of belief woken up with so many parking tickets on its windshield."
If you're a management consultant, i look forward to reading your response. If you enjoy poking fun at people who take themselves too seriously, I suggest you check out the articles =)
And finally, if you're currently saving up to apply for an MBA, I suggest you invest your money in something safer, like shares in a US missile manufacturer, copyright for "Brown wins re-term" t-shirts, or maybe Newcastle United Football Club. Of course I know what i'm talking about - I studied economics 10 years ago, and my boyfriend's mother is a tarot-reader. What more convincing do you need? Perhaps a reference from a management consultant ...? =)
posted by Rob at
2:29 AM
4 Comments:
I'd love to hear Iris Yan's thoughts on this! :-)
Loved the post! I'm reading an articles (actually a series of articles) on the failure of captalism's imutable assumptions - market's efficiency, self-regulations, etc. which is kind of related to what you've written.
One of the articles says the queen of England went to the London School of Economics to ask "the experts" why they didn't forsee the crisis, and the writer finishes the text by saying: "A crise, porém, não estancará a produção de sabichões. Uma formação que desdenha a mais abrangente e consistente teoria do capital só pode continuar a fazer o que tem feito: vender ideologia como ciência".
Oh, there's a grammatical mistake on your English!
When you write "As for the MBA article, it's appealing combination of analysis,..." it must be "its" instead of it's, isn't it?
hahahah I know I make many mistakes in English, but I am poking you because you're a native. :-)
Robsteeer :)
management consultants will probably not react to this, as they are AAAALWAYS working long hours... ;)
I find it a rather weird expectation that you will know client's business better than he does. He lives and breathes with that company every day for several years (if not decades). You come in for several weeks or months. It is like telling your Grandma that you know more about life than she does.
I think that the main role of a management consultant is to bring in a new perspective or a new solution. The main asset is the ability to identify opportunities that your client can then use into his advantage (to win the market, says the buzz word). That is why these horrible sums of money are paid - to point out an opportunity and outline the way to use it.
A propos high fees - crisis did have quite an influence in this area. Guess what were the first costs to be crossed out by the clients?
Yes, ALL the external consultancy projects.
hugs still from the office (but hopefully going home soon),
z.
Mary - i am indeed to have made such an ugly mistake. Especially ironic given that one of my most recent posts was about mocking someone else's English!
Zuzi - agree with you about the actual value of consultancy. My question is only whether the employees of the clients (many of whom either lost their jobs or had to change fundamental things about their work as a result of the consultancy) were actually aware that the consultants were there more as facilitators rather than 'doctors' (unlike a facilitator, a doctor DOES have much more knowledge than his/her patient). The way this relationship is understood then affects how the the recommendations are implemented - democratically and participatively, or absolutely and dictatorially.
But thanks for sharing your perspectives! Do you still blog these days?
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