By Edward Haigh.
A common complaint among many consulting firms, in recent years, is that clients have been unwilling to commit to big projects, at least in one go. Most clients seem to prefer doing things in small, manageable chunks that allow them to assess the value being delivered along the way, and that don’t leave them over-committed at a time when they’re nervous that something unexpected might crop up. Like thermonuclear war or something.
Seeing this as a phase that’s likely to pass is looking increasingly ill-advised, as we suggest in our new report–The hand on the mountain–How assets and productisation are re-shaping the consulting industry. In fact, we posit the idea that it’s part of a trend that’s a long way from being played out, and that, far from being frustrated about projects that last one month, consulting firms ought to start preparing for projects that last one second.
To understand the rationale for this probably requires us to shake up our definition of consulting to some degree, and to see it as encompassing (though not ending with) any situation in which a client has a question and decides to buy an answer.
