One of the saddest things I find about consultants is that they rarely get to associate with other consultants outside their own practices, or if they're independents, any consultants at all, except sometimes when they run into each other on client projects—which can be a little fraught. Personally, I always enjoy talking with consultants—there's nothing like a bright person with a butterfly mind and a head full of ideas to keep you entertained for an hour or so. It's also amazing how often I find myself seeing a link between the ideas I've heard from separate consultants—yet these people rarely get to meet and take things to the next level. How sad is that? So what happens when you do get a bunch of consultants in a room together?
Consultancy Skills Training have been running open consultancy courses for some time now, and their recent "Summer School" brought together over 50 consultants from various backgrounds. I talked to course organiser Calvert Markham and some of the attendees about their experience.
"It isn't a one way flow," he says. "People get a lot from each other. For example, we have a fairly big client which elects to send people on public courses because they like the networking aspect, the notion of getting ideas from other practices."
While the School is aimed at experienced consultants, the actual level of experience among attendees varies from one to 20 years.
"The variety can make it difficult for the course organizers, but I don't mind sometimes going over stuff I'm familiar with," says Graham Leggett, principal consultant at Troika. "The dynamics in the group are always different. As a strategy and change consultant you can often use a technique and then not get a chance to use it again for a long time—this can make it fresher, help you reapply it."
Leggett also appreciated the chance to try things out in front of peers in a "risk-free environment."
"You don't want to screw up in front of other consultants, but at least you're not in a client environment," he says. "It gives you the opportunity to experiment a bit more."
The opportunity to watch other consultants "at work", even in role play can be highly instructive.
"Many of the cases that we discussed when learning about theories or solutions, were real life examples that consultants brought to the group", says Anita Prabhu, Senior Consultant at Impact Plus. "We found that the issues and dilemmas that we face were relevant for many others in the industry. Because of the number of people involved, there were lots of varied perspectives on how best to deal with situations-it was useful to debate the different perspectives."
As a member of the IMC, independent consultant Avril Lucas has a commitment to professional development and also contributes to networking groups such as the Richmond Group and Women in Consultancy.
"It's good to meet colleagues in an informal environment," she says. "I was very aware of people's different experiences based on their different ages and skills. You don't often get the chance to mix with people who work with different industries and skill sets—it opens up questions on how one does things in one's own industry and professional area."
v So why don't consultants do more of this sort of thing?
"It's a dilemma," says Lucas. "You're giving up fee earning time to do something developmental."
This of course creates a vicious circle—consultants are reluctant to give up their time, and any space marked out in the diary is always vulnerable to urgent client requests. Setting up open courses for consultants is thus a big commercial risk, and this in turn limits the opportunities.
Nevertheless, CST have been encouraged enough by the response to the Summer School to repeat the exercise in January, and are offering "early bird discounts" for Top-Consultant readers who apply in November.
Markham is convinced that the simple act of getting consultants together in a room is of value, even before you add the course content.
"Consultancy can be very lonely," he says. "If you're off on a project by yourself very few people see you at work."
As a result it's quite easy for consultants to get stuck in a rut.
Markham insists that the schools are not a "silent retreat" something that's practically impossible to organize with consultants anyway.
"Consultants are stimulus junkies and we need to recognise that," he says. "What are the results—new ways of looking at things, ideas you wouldn't have had."
But as the poet said, "What is this life if full of care, we have no time to stop and stare?" I'm all in favour of a bit of reflection now and then, and as for consultants sharing ideas—who knows where that might lead?
