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1/2 of a nice article. Anyone here hire management consultants? Here are the issues that I've found: 1. Sometimes they are hired to solve a problem. For th

1/2 of a nice article. Anyone here hire management consultants? Here are the issues that I've found: 1. Sometimes they are hired to solve a problem. For this case, they do not have to live with the mistakes that they made which arise after they're gone. 2. Sometimes they're hired for political cover. When they recommend tough medicine, the existing management team thinks they have confirmation about tough decisions, or worse, lessened guilt. Run, do not walk, from such teams. I'm trying to think of a third reason why they get hired, and can't come up with one.

swombat 15y ago
Worth pointing out I was talking about managers, not management consultants, which are a whole different kettle of fish.
- jpdoctor 15y ago
  Was your background not management consulting?
  - swombat 15y ago
    Sure, so? That doesn't mean that I'm conflating the two terms.
    - jpdoctor 15y ago
      Do you think your background is interwoven in the article content and recommendations?
      - swombat 15y ago
        Of course it is. I was lucky to have several managers that I would call "good", and even a couple of "great" ones, so that before I jumped into the startup world I got to see what a "good" manager does for a project. Those were sometimes Accenture people, sometimes people who worked to the client. The fact that they worked for a consultancy was irrelevant, but the fact that they were managers was obviously relevant. How could my background not be "interwoven" in the article content and recommendations? Are you suggesting I should make things up instead of basing them on experience?
        jpdoctor 15y ago
        > Are you suggesting I should make things up instead of basing them on experience? No. I am saying, now explicitly, that the shortcomings of the article are directly related to 1 & 2 in my original comment.
        swombat 15y ago
        You never specified what those alleged shortcomings are. Nor have you established a believable link, since, once again, the article is not about management consulting, but about management. I'm not going to continue this game of cat and mouse with comments. If you can't express yourself clearly and concisely, I have better things to do with my time than try to decipher your criticism.

swombat 15y ago

Worth pointing out I was talking about managers, not management consultants, which are a whole different kettle of fish.

jpdoctor 15y ago
Was your background not management consulting?
- swombat 15y ago
  Sure, so? That doesn't mean that I'm conflating the two terms.
  - jpdoctor 15y ago
    Do you think your background is interwoven in the article content and recommendations?
    - swombat 15y ago
      Of course it is. I was lucky to have several managers that I would call "good", and even a couple of "great" ones, so that before I jumped into the startup world I got to see what a "good" manager does for a project. Those were sometimes Accenture people, sometimes people who worked to the client. The fact that they worked for a consultancy was irrelevant, but the fact that they were managers was obviously relevant. How could my background not be "interwoven" in the article content and recommendations? Are you suggesting I should make things up instead of basing them on experience?
      - jpdoctor 15y ago
        > Are you suggesting I should make things up instead of basing them on experience? No. I am saying, now explicitly, that the shortcomings of the article are directly related to 1 & 2 in my original comment.
        swombat 15y ago
        You never specified what those alleged shortcomings are. Nor have you established a believable link, since, once again, the article is not about management consulting, but about management. I'm not going to continue this game of cat and mouse with comments. If you can't express yourself clearly and concisely, I have better things to do with my time than try to decipher your criticism.