Advice
Consulting: what to expect, and what to refuse to pay for
Good consulting leaves you with something you can run yourself. Bad consulting leaves you with a dependency and a slide deck.
Consulting in business means bringing in expert analysis and recommendations to solve a problem the business cannot solve from the inside — usually because it is too close to it.
The good version is specific. It defines the problem in a way you recognise, works with the numbers you actually have, and hands back something you can implement without the consultant in the room. It has a scope and an end date.
The bad version is broad, permanently ongoing, and measured in reports rather than outcomes. It talks about transformation and alignment. It cannot tell you what will be different in ninety days.
Three questions cut through most of it. What specifically will be different when this finishes? How will we both know whether it worked? And what happens if it does not?
If a consultant cannot answer those in plain language before you sign, the engagement is unlikely to get clearer once they have your money.