In the Forbes article, “What Happens When the Strategy Consultants Leave”, the author presents this scenario:
“The strategy consulting firm you’ve hired has just delivered its final presentation after months of work. They identified insights about the market, your competitors and your organization, all of which provided clarity for your senior leadership team about how to move your organization forward. They also identified some key things your organization needs to do differently to successfully implement this new strategy. You bring this strategic plan to your board and you get the nod to move ahead. Now the strategy firm turns the process back over to you to execute, with some ongoing help and oversight from them.” (emphasis in red is mine)
This is a typical scenario for organizations that hire Big Consultants (BCs). First of all, the BCs do all the work. Months of it. Which means big money for them.
They identify the insights.
They identify things your organization needs to do differently.
They hand it over to you to execute.
It’s all about them.
As the client, you’ve just spent a fortune for a fancy presentation that –the scenario leaves this step out– has to be sold in to your organization to get alignment and execution.
And did I mention your organization is no more capable of overcoming these kinds of challenges than they were before you spent a zillion dollars?
No wonder, as this article points out, 70% of these large scale strategic initiatives fail to achieve their goals.
They give you a fish.
They take your fish.
They eat your fish.
Time to consider a different approach.
