What is management consulting? How can we do a good job in consulting? These are some of the issues that deserve our consulting practitioners to think deeply.
I joined McKinsey&Company in the United States in 1988 and worked in the San Francisco office. I just got my MBA degree at that time. I read some introductions about the management consulting industry when I was in school, and I felt very interested. After McKinsey offered me an offer, I resolutely quit my job as a civil engineer and joined the consulting industry. I was lucky that when I joined McKinsey, although Marvin Bower, its long-time leader and enlightenment, had retired, he still tirelessly promoted McKinsey's values and culture. Many of the things he said at that time I still remember very clearly and have become my motto in consulting work.
In fact, what Mr. Bauer advocates is a complete set of values. Of course, it originated from the West, more specifically, from the United States. Its values and views (at least some of them) are unfamiliar or even non-existent in the East or in the traditional Chinese value system. For me, an engineering student who grew up in Hong Kong and studied in American universities and research institutes, wandering and colliding between the two value systems is sometimes shocking, and sometimes it is a good learning opportunity. Nearly 30 years have passed. Looking back, I cherish the time I worked at McKinsey from 1988 to 1992, which was the time when I was enlightened.
Mr. Bauer has put forward some main concepts, which I would like to share with you here:
1. An excellent consulting company should be institution
What is an institution? The simple translation is "organization". However, "organization" does not mean its difference and importance. In the Oxford dictionary, it is interpreted as "an organization established for religious, educational, professional or social purposes", and its other interpretation is "a formal organization that plays an important role in society, such as the church or parliament", so its status in society is detached and influential. This is the position of an excellent consulting company.
2. Consulting is a profession, not a business. When facing customers, it is natural to seek profits. Of course, enterprises want to know who customers are and what their needs are; However, customers are all living beings, and enterprises may not be able to understand each of them thoroughly. Professional services have no customers, only clients. The customer relationship of professional service providers is a symbiotic relationship. The former has a very deep understanding of the latter and puts the interests of the latter first. Of course, professional service providers also need to obtain economic returns from their work, but this is the result rather than the premise.
3 The consulting "company" should be firm, not companyFirm. The best translation is "firm", which is claimed by professional work such as lawyers, accountants and consulting companies. Behind it is the partnership system that forms it. Of course, most of these professional organizations are registered in the form of companies, because the partnership system is unlimited in American laws. To avoid this problem, consulting organizations are generally registered as "companies". However, within the "company", it is operated by the partnership system. The organization established by partners is a firm, not a "company".
4. The culture of the consulting company is that when college and non hierarchical first came into contact with the word college, I thought it was an adjective of college. Intuitively think that the consulting company is "academic". Later, I gradually learned that "collegial" means "to share the same responsibility with a group of colleagues". Generally, it is translated as "collegiate", which is a little taciturn. In fact, the concept of shared responsibility echoes with the above concept of institution, that is, excellent consulting companies have a pursuit, and it is the purpose and motivation of all employees of consulting companies to aspire to this pursuit and strive to achieve this desire. On this premise, the consulting company should be non hierarchical. Of course, when I first got to know this word, I already felt it, because I was familiar with China's mainstream culture, which was hierarchical and bureaucratic. Suddenly someone said that we can "de grade", and immediately felt very fresh, and a bit of ideological struggle. What is "de classification"? After all, there are still different positions in the consulting company. Later, I came to understand that "non hierarchical" means that when we pursue our goals together, we are regardless of rank and seniority. In an excellent consulting company, everyone has the same responsibilities and obligations in this regard.
5. The work of the consulting company and the client is engagements, not projects. The Chinese translation of projects is "projects". Previously in Hong Kong, its translation was "plans". Later, it was also called "projects" by the mainland. At present, Taiwan still seems to be called a "plan". Whether from large-scale infrastructure construction of hundreds of billions to very small work, they are all "projects". It contains the definition of the work to be done in any space-time. Engagement is a special kind of projects, which means "participation", "participation", "commitment", etc. Therefore, the work done by consulting companies for clients cannot only be viewed from the perspective of consulting companies, but also requires the consulting companies and clients to jointly participate, solve problems and undertake. Interestingly, the Chinese translation of engagements in the dictionary is "engagement", which is correct, but it is too narrow and technical to explain the meaning behind it. Strictly speaking, the "project manager" of a consulting company should be the engagement manager, not the project manager. Of course, in today's consulting industry, most practitioners are not clear about the difference between the two, and many ignore it.
In the process of working in the top international consulting company, I learned a lot. Not only in terms of technology and skills, but also in terms of culture and values. Behind the excellent management consulting work is a value system. This system includes many elements, among which leaders or enlighteners string them together to form an invisible but ubiquitous spiritual force in the organization. The power of this force can be very huge, and it is deeply felt both inside and outside the organization, as well as on the customer side.
In short, the focus of this culture and value system is: flat organization, openness, meritocracy based on doing the right thing, transparent decision-making system and internal democracy. It is the partner system that supports this system. So the real partnership system is actually culture and values. This system is not easy to make, but it can promote the consulting company to a very high level and provide the most important conditions for the future.
An effective partnership system also has its disadvantages. The most common problem is its efficiency. Because the partnership system is flat, collegial and transparent, its efficiency is often low, and the required leadership style is more persuasive. The top to bottom leadership style of the military type must not work for the partners.
Orange grows into trifoliate orange. Many western consulting companies encounter strange cultural systems after they come to China. The cultural system of China is very different from the above consulting cultural system in many aspects, but there are also some similarities. Western consulting companies did not fully realize this problem and did not deal with it alertly, which resulted in "acclimatization". Moreover, their initiators may no longer exist in the organization. They have not adhered to their original values in the global scope, and they are at a loss when they come to China. More consulting companies, whether from the West or sprouting in China, fundamentally do not know the importance of correct culture and values. They do consulting as a business and lack a real partnership mechanism. Management consulting is the accumulation of cultural heritage. There is no shortcut. You must settle down and build up the heritage step by step to become an excellent consulting company.