One of the questions I’m asked most frequently: What does your company actually do?
I share how ADDO exists to inspire people today to impact tomorrow. And then I’ll talk about the way we help build brands from the inside out.
That is usually followed by: “Ohhh, so you’re a consulting firm?” And I absolutely hate that.
No offense to my consulting friends, but there are some stereotypes that go along with that industry. Sure, they are smart and strategic, but there are some negative perceptions as well. Some of which are well warranted.
This term isn’t limited to big business. There are also church consultants, non-profit consultants, education consultants, and many more.
I’m not anti-consultant, but I do believe there are some fatal flaws in many consulting engagements. If you’re a leader looking to drive real, sustainable change, pay close attention to avoid these four pitfalls.
1. Fixated on Focus Groups: If your only ideas come from focus groups, you don’t have any original ideas. Look, I get it – you want to understand your audience. Here’s a secret: people may know their problems, but they seldomly know the best solution. They can tell you what’s not working, but that doesn’t mean they know the best way to fix it. As Steve Jobs once said, “If Henry Ford had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses.” Focus groups might give you a laundry list of issues, but they’ll never give you the best results.
2. Inflexible Methods: “This is the way we have to do it.” No it’s not. That’s just the way you’ve been told you have to do it. My team knows one of my least favorite reasonings for why we should do something is simply because “that’s how we’ve always done it.” We should be stubborn about our goals but flexible about our methods. Guess what – the world is changing fast, and if you can’t adapt your methods to meet the moment, you’re dead in the water.
3. Too Far from the Customer: Last week, I ordered my son a Happy Meal at McDonald’s. The app wouldn’t let me add cheese to the hamburger. I either had to forego using the app, or order the burger without cheese– which wouldn’t fly with my 6 year old! I shared my frustration with one of my friends who is a leader within that business. Remarkably, within a couple of days, he had solved the issue and created the customizability on the app for hundreds of restaurants in my area. But the average consultant, bless their hearts, is not the end consumer. In fact, they usually aren’t close enough to know the true issues. If you want to solve real problems, get closer to the people experiencing them.
4. Focused on the Wrong Things: Have you ever been pulled into an hours-long meeting on something seemingly insignificant? It can be easy to think that a 4 hour meeting about the font you should use is a good use of your time. But let me ask you this – does that meeting bring you any closer to producing the right product or service for your customers? Sometimes, we get so caught up in the little details that we lose sight of the big picture. Many spend more time building the powerpoint presentation than they do innovating new ideas.
Look, it doesn’t matter if you are a consultant, you hire consultants, or you don’t care about consulting– anyone, anywhere can fall into the trap of these four things listed above.
Difference makers must be willing to do things differently. Ditch the focus groups, stay flexible, get closer to your customers, and keep your eye on the prize. When you do that, you’re far more likely to change the world.
