The penguins and the acacia trees of Middle Eastern thought leadership

By Jodi Davies

Thinking about the state of the thought leadership market in the Middle East recently, I was reminded of an analogy we used in one of our recent reports to describe the differing approaches of consulting firms to the region: the penguin and the acacia tree.  For those who haven’t read the report, the penguins are the tourists within the Gulf; alien and unsuited to the harsh desert conditions of the peninsula and only surviving thanks to a fragile and artificial eco-system constructed within Ski Dubai. Should that system fail it seems safe to assume that the fate of the penguins would be sealed.The Acacia Tree, meanwhile, has adapted itself slowly and steadily to the regional climate and natural eco-system.  It has learnt to live within the harsh desert conditions, establishing firm roots to extract moisture from the ground and has adapted the position of its leaves to protect against the burning rays of the sun.  It has survived by adapting and by committing itself to the region and it is likely to be a long-term survivor.

The penguin represents consulting firms which treat the Middle East as an opportunity for a quick win; for which the aim is to get in and out with little investment in the region. They fail to put down roots or to adapt their businesses to the demands of the local consulting environment and much like penguins, should the favourable conditions change then these firms would find themselves exiting the region as quickly as they entered.    The Acacia tree, on the other hand, represents those firms that have adapted best to the region and shown a true commitment to it from many perspectives: understanding the local culture, markets and people, investing in growth within the region, investing in national talent, and having a longer term plan for development. They’re the firms which may be grappling with challenges in the short term but which are set to survive and thrive in the long term.

The same analogy can be applied to consulting firm’s approach to thought leadership in the region.  In this respect Middle East is populated by a colony of penguins and startlingly few Acacia trees.  For too many firms here (even those which have a committed global thought leadership programme) there is scarce commitment to producing thought leadership specifically for the region.  It’s a measure of the lack of investment that more than half of the thought leadership in the Middle East is produced by a single consulting firm.

Why is this?  I think there are many reasons: the relative immaturity of the consulting industry in the region, the fact that many consulting firms have been in the region for months rather than years, the mistaken belief that clients want global rather than local insight (when what they really want is both) and even  uncertainty about whether demand for thought leadership really exists yet in the Middle East (which may have a lot to do with the absence of local insight).

Whatever the reasons for a lack of investment are, the fact remains that the Middle East consulting market is growing fast and ,without serious commitment, thought leadership runs the risk of falling behind.  We believe that would be a mistake: the Middle East still represents a huge opportunity for consulting firms to stake their claim to parts of the market, through the development of intellectual capital, in a way that is far more difficult in mature markets. It might even be what turns penguins into acacia trees.