Connecticut Business Group

There are profound differences between experts and consultants. An expert is generally regarded as one who has specialized knowledge of a domain or discipline. This knowledge may be validated by widespread acceptance by others with similar knowledge or by users of this knowledge. This resident ability may come from experience, training, education apprenticeship or a combination thereof. We generally seek out experts to help make decisions or acquire knowledge for ourselves. Recognized expertise often takes years of applied effort to achieve.

A consultant is one who uses knowledge, perspective, ability or a process to resolve a problem, suggest a course of action or create new knowledge and empowers the business owner to make a 'correct' decision. In contrast to an expert, in whom usually resides information that may serve as an answer to a problem, a consultant brings a suite of attributes and abilities to create a solution. These attributes may include expertise, but also extend to independence, objectivity, analytical processes, extensive skills in pattern recognition, communication, and emotional intelligence. The value of a consultant is to be able to clarify, correctly diagnose and effectively transform an often ill-defined problem and apply information, resources and processes to create a workable and usable solution. Some experts are good consultants and vice versa, some are neither, few are both.

Tip:  Being a good management consultant, just as acquiring expertise, takes a long time of applied effort. Having developed expertise in an industry or subject matter domain, some individuals consider it an easy step to become consultants. Broad and solid working knowledge, but not necessarily expertise, is an essential foundation for successful management consulting. Consultants who expand their understanding of many domains are among the most successful, just the opposite of experts, who seek to deepen their understanding and command of a specific area of knowledge. Rather than focusing on one particular industry or discipline, 21st century consultants are increasingly finding their greatest value in being able to apply their skills to evolving and entirely new industries, often identifying and applying the critical capabilities of experts as needed.

What is the best way to advise a client to help navigate people through change?

A lot has been written about the change process, and the nature of change introduced will determine how you advise your client. Because the client will probably have more contact and influence with staff than you do, your helping them understand how people see change and how to prepare for it is a good idea.

At its simplest level, there are three aspects of resistance to change that should be addressed.

These are rational, emotional and personal.

    - The first is understanding what the change is, how it will be managed and what the effects will be - very left brain.

    - The second is how we react to news of change, how we feel about it during the change, and how it will affect the culture of the organization when complete - very right brain.

    - The third is grounded in trust in organizational leadership and, even if I don't understand the change and don't like it, I may still accept it if I trust the leadership.

Tip: Leaders need to attend to all three. Often, when staff resist change for emotional reasons, managers redouble their efforts to explain the rational basis of change. Or, leaders may say, "trust me" and not address either rational or emotional aspects. Part of your charge is to help clients understand each of these types of change resistance and coach them on messaging and behaviors that address all three. Talk through some of the key aspects of resistance with staff and, if needed, prepare talking points for your client to help them stay on message and more effectively deal with resistance.

Change is hard for both organizations and people. But despite all the logical assessment, process improvement mapping, and employee buy-in, why is it still hard to make change stick?  

Some change efforts are quite successful, many never gain much traction and some fail spectacularly. A lot of research has been conducted about why this is so and the conclusions are as varied as the approaches used to attempt change. One of the most logical arguments, confirmed by interviews with staff from organizations that have undergone change efforts, is that employees never really believed in the change. Most understood the rational arguments for change. Most accepted, even if it was not in their best interest, the inevitability of change. And many supported, at least nominally, the agent of change, often the chief executive.

What is often missing is the fundamental belief, a gut feeling, that this change can and must succeed. This feeling is borne out of bad experiences with change efforts that never bore fruit and a comfort with the status quo, no matter how ineffective it might seem. What is missing is often the confidence that comes from experience with successful change. If the organization has not experienced effective change then the way to create this confidence is through small productive forward steps. After a brief diagnostic phase to confirm direction, the consultant facilitates change efforts to produce quick wins. These small steps, involving as many staff as practicable, creates an understanding of change, visible results and the confidence needed to take on broader and more complex change tasks.

Tip: Even in an organization whose change effort requires substantial and careful planning, a series of preliminary change activities can create a more favorable change environment and culture. It will also reveal those individuals most able and committed to the larger change efforts. Finally, it provides the quick wins to show the entire organization's stakeholders that change, done right, can be both comfortable and productive.

When you or the client says "I've tried that before. It doesn't work."? Is it worth pushing a recommendation uphill against this kind of attitude?

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