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SuccessfulConsultant

I would define a SuccessfulConsultant as one who:

• Successfully influences people,
• At their request,
• And is appreciated for that influence,
• In fluffy stuff and RealDollars,
• And enjoys consulting, as part of their calling.

But that's just me. I could be wrong.

- JimBullock 17-Sept-2002

I agree.

I also think this description could easily map to a good manager or mentor. Of course, there is a shift in the recipients of influence and the source of RealDollars for the different roles. Artists of all sorts fit here.

One entry I contributed to the BookListPage was Orbiting The Giant Hairball in which a creative type at Hallmark fights the gravitational pull of creative deconstruction in a corporate environment.

So, there may be another element that belongs on your list:

• Thrives on challenges and learning new things

- BeckyWinant Sept 17, 2002

Thanks Becky.

I suspect that there's a general pattern for successful transactions between people, of which consulting is a specialized subset. I am discovering that it is often useful when dealing with people to make a distinction between process and content. So I suspect that there is a successful transaction process or template, and successful transaction content which varies by transaction type.

I better be careful here. I'm in danger of making a class diagram.

Sometimes, when I talk with people about that distinction, it becomes a consulting interaction, for which I get thanked. A lot, lately. I haven't figured out how to get RealDollars for that one yet. In fact, I generally get paid for making stuff, with influencing people as a side benefit, for them and me.

- JimBullock, 18-Sept-2002

Becky, could you bring Orbiting The Giant Hairball to AYE? I'd like to see the book.

KeithRay 2002.09.17

My list from a client's perspective --

• Like
• Trust
• Value

Like and trust are by far the most important qualities. I've seen lots of consultants who get paid well for having nothing more than those two qualities, which directly produces value.

My list from a consultant's perspective

• Learn
• Income
• influence

I put learning first on my list because it's why I like to come out and play.

SteveSmith 2002.09.18

Interesting distinction, client and consultant, Steve. I think that's bang on. (Practicing my Canadian there - eh? I might have a gig in the Great White North sometime soon.) I was thinking symmetrically when I wrote that list. Process like this:

• What does consultant want?
• Oh, there's another person there.
• What does the client want?
• Now use less words.

I also used a common transition, one that's nearly automatic for me. I went from general "a successful consultant" to operational "successful consulting". A successful consultant is one who engages in successful consulting. So I changed a descriptive definition into a process or activity definition. I do that a lot when I'm working from ignorance, which is most of the time, actually. I don't know what a successful consultant is,. But, maybe I can get there by looking at what a successful consultant does.

So, now that I realize that a successful consultant must engage in successful consulting (as a trial definition, at least), which is a relationship. So there's three components floating around: client, consultant, and the engagement or transaction. A great many things are relational like that - only exist in terms of a relationship - that we tend to discuss in terms of one element or another.

So, my list in terms of the transaction for a successful consulting engagement is something like:

• Is an exchange of value where:
• - Consultant gets something valuable, which includes RealDollars for a professional consultant.
• - Client gets something valuable, which in the specific case of consulting is being influenced.
  
  
• Process (interactions) itself at least doesn't suck.
  
  
• There's some common understanding of what was delivered (in both dirctions.)
  
  
• There's some common understanding of entry and closure, setting some boundaries around "the engagement.

This is interesting to me because I know a number of people who call themselves consultants who actually spend their time making stuff. I think that's a different gig. And I know people who are convinced they have a very compelling something to offer, but they can't seem to get paid for this great thing. And finally, I know situations where there's influence and RealDollars, but the arrangement persists indefinitely, or is assumed to by one party or the other. Or some such.

I may need to make that class diagram, and see what falls out where when I do so.

- JimBullock, 18-Sept-2002

I will bring Orbiting to AYE. It's the kind of book that inspires you to pursue what you really want and believe in.

BeckyWinant Sept 18, 02

OK, I'm sucked in. Here's some ideas for your class diagram, based on my imagined context of a business consulting relationship.

• 2 classes - client and consultant
  

I separated these because I think they are distinct roles and have different attributes of interest.

• 3 associations - agreement, transaction and deliverable
  

Each is governed by different rules and policies. It can also accomodate the possibility that a consultant might not participate in a deliverable.

• 2 state models for association classes to model the processes for transaction and agreement ( their conditions and actions)

I'm not sure where this analysis would lead and how to capture the interactions that are non-deterministic other than through goal statements and descriptions.

What might I be missing or misreading from your idea?

- BeckyWinant