In response to popular
demand, this is my fourth “Ninja” article. This is the
second of four related articles that are being released
weekly. To recap, in my original article “Interim Managers,
Ninjas and a Road Map in a Downsized World”, I introduced
the terms “Ronin” and “Ninjas” in the context of the interim
management industry. The “Ronin” were temporary soldiers,
called in to bolster troop numbers; the “Ninjas” were highly
skilled and professionally trained individuals, capable of
exceptional specialist services.
The series of four articles introduces four archetypes: “Ronin”,
“Ninjas”, the “Independent Consultant”, and the “Executive
Interim Manager”. This article looks at the Independent
Consultant.
Based upon some of my earlier, published research, I
introduced a four-state model, linking cost reduction models
to organisation context. I have adapted this model for
interim management industry segmentation.
The Interim Management Industry Four State Model#
The horizontal axis of my
earlier research dealt with Weak Market Orientation and
Strong Market Orientation. This is simplified to degree of
Innovation. Similarly, the vertical axis of my earlier
research deployed “No Turnaround Need/Successful” and Strong
“Turnaround Need/Unsuccessful”. Again this is simplified to
degree of Improvement.
Definition of an Independent Consultant
An Independent Consultant
is an established, self-employed, specialist professional or
technical expert, offering his/her services, either directly
to prospective clients or by way of an intermediary. The
service is primarily specialist professional or technical
advise and increasingly this is qualified by market sectors
served.
The Profile of an Independent Consultant
Typically the Independent
Consultant will have an established track record, as a
senior consultant, in large, well-known organisations,
before becoming an Independent Consultant. An Independent
Consultant will be able to demonstrate exceptional
professional or technical expertise, in designated
industrial sectors, supported by up-to-date accreditations,
courses and publications. Fashions change but the following
are examples of expertise currently in demand: Business
Intelligence,
Change
Management, CRM, e-Business, e-Government,
Infrastructure, Implementation, IT Procurement, IT Strategy,
Microsoft, Oracle, Project Manager,
Programme
Manager, Regulatory Risk, Sarbanes-Oxley, SAP, Strategy,
Transformation. To
become an established Independent Consultant, he/she will be
able to demonstrate numerous big name “cameos”, where he/she
had “hit the deck running” and went on to achieve his/her
“deliverables”, on time, within budget, without negatively
impacting other stakeholders. Increasingly, successful
Independent Consultants will be able to highlight strong
stakeholder manager expertise. To recap, the emphasis is on
specialist professional or technical expertise, in a
particular sector, with focus on deliverables and
stakeholder satisfaction.
Finding an Independent Consultant (Caveat Emptor – let
the buyer beware!):
The most effective sources
for finding an Independent Consultant are strong personal
recommendation/endorsement. alternatively, a specialist
intermediary in Independent Consultants is a safe solution.
The specialist intermediary will know the proposed
Independent Consultant well, with regular meetings and will
be able to vouch for references and the integrity of the CV.
However, one should not rule out the “broad line
intermediary”, especially when they work with a “hot list”
of say one hundred trusted, favoured and tested interims.
The acid test for the Independent Consultant intermediary is
being able to produce a short list of say three candidates,
in under forty-eight hours, from Independent Consultants
that they know well. When choosing an intermediary for an
Independent Consultant, the quality of the intermediary’s
service offering is critical. It would be prudent to ask the
intermediary to provide three high profile references that
would confirm the quality of their service offering.
Challenges for the Future:
Established Independent
Consultants and intermediaries of Independent Consultants
need to constantly promote the niche status of the
Independent Consultant market. This is an important and
rapidly growing sector of the market. With the proliferation
of the internet, low cost intermediaries have abounded and
this has led to much of the independent consulting market
becoming commoditised. The challenge is to keep the
Independent Consultant sector differentiated.
The interim management market
is maturing quickly, with recent endorsement from the UK
Deputy Prime Minister’s Office. Changing models of
intermediation, absence of robust research and industry hype
are driving the market towards maturity and commoditization,
at an ever increasing pace. This has prompted me to write
this series of four articles, highlighting one commodity
sector the “Ronin”, and three premium, differentiated
sectors: “Executive Interim Manager”, “Independent
Consultant” and the “Ninja”. It is only fairly recently that
industry analysts have associated the Independent Consultant
market as a sub-segment of the interim management industry.
Today, interim manager intermediaries are the largest
providers of independent consultants. Some intermediaries
have set up specialist divisions and are providing dozens
and dozens of consultants to individual blue chip clients.
This is in response to the recent structural changes in the
consulting market. Large numbers of highly accomplished
consultants, with big firm track records (including former
Big 5 partners), have lost their jobs in recent years and
are looking to the independent consulting market which is
already overcrowded with specialists by function, industry,
technology etc.
Personal Insights:
Because of my own formal
background in research, I have been heavily influenced by
the Japanese approach to cost reduction. Japanese buyers
look at products or services from three dimensions: (1)
functionality; (2) quality; and (3) cost. Buyers of
Independent Consultant intermediary services would be wise
to focus upon: services offered (functionality) and quality.
My own specialist area of expertise as an Independent
Consultant has permitted me to develop the Financial
Performance Improvement Programme.
The Financial Improvement Performance Programme (FPIP):
An Independent Consultant
diagnostic tool is the first step in the
Financial Performance Improvement Programme (FPIP).
FPIPs deploy leading edge research tools to clarify
stakeholder requirements and structured planning to achieve
stakeholder satisfaction. The methodology includes iterative
analysis and intervention.
FPIPs have been successfully deployed in some of the World’s
most complex organizations. Based upon research and
successful deployment, I have developed a simple
questionnaire to see whether an FPIP is appropriate to your
organization:
1. Has there been a
pan-functional or pan-organizational record of failure?
2. Have ten of millions of Dollars been invested without
benefit realization?
3. Have major consultancies been deployed and failed?
4. Is the situation potentially embarrassing to senior
management?
5. Are reputations at risk?
6. Are there multiple stakeholders to satisfy?
7. Do line executives have conflicting views on solutions?
8. Is the issue multi-functional?
9. Is there a strong financial dimension?
10. Is there a critical IT or systems involvement?
11. Is there a need for change at the house-wide level?
12. Do other options not stack up?
If you have scored a yes
to eight or more questions, you definitely need to contact
me via alf@alfoldman.com.
Also, I am always on the look out for other Independent
Consultants, especially if they fit the Archetype!
