What I’m Learning About Consulting

September 20, 2008 | Tagged Consulting, Doctor-Patient, Expert, Internal Consultant | Leave a Comment

Clearly, my view of consulting prior to taking this course, was primarily the doctor-patient model whereby the consultant swooped in and because of his/her expertise, told the client what was wrong and how to fix it; end of story. In hindsight, however, I see that I have observed, and even participated in, examples of that as well as the pair of hands and collaborative models.

I still contend that there is a time and place for all three models and often for all three within the same consulting experience. Sometimes, just because of the level of knowledge required, we call upon experts to sift all of the information available into a form that the owner of the problem can understand. When an ill patient sees a specialist to try to make sense of a medical problem, that specialist can serve as expert. He can also serve as collaborator as they work together to formulate a treatment plan that the patient has confidence in and will comply with.

Sometimes, an organization truly needs more staff but for one reason or another, the funds are not available but funds are available for a consultant. Even though this person is really well-paid temp staff in disguise, it works out for everyone. The organization gets needed help and the consultant gets a paycheck.

My favorite “ah ha” moment so far has been the notion of the internal consultant. This was new to me and provides great insight into how I can be more effective in my current role as training specialist within a midsized suburban police department. Clearly I cannot serve in an expert role regarding specifics of police work, but I can serve as collaborator when we design training events and/or activities. It has been in that role that I have felt most useful and found the greatest level of job satisfaction.