Flawless Consulting, 4th Edition

CHAPTER 9The Internal Consultant's Dilemma

MOST OF THE WORKSHOPS WE CONDUCT ON CONSULTING SKILLS are for internal consultants, and the participants sit patiently and listen to us talk about “Saying ‘No’ to a Manager,” “Confront Problems with the Manager as They Happen,” “Make Your Own Wants and Demands Clear,” and “Deal Directly with the Politics of the Situation.” Eventually, someone in the back of the room raises a hand and says, “That's easy for you to say. You're an outside consultant. You don't have to live inside the organization you are consulting to. We are internal consultants. If a line manager gets mad at us, we are in trouble. You just don't understand what it's like.”

I used to resist. I would say the issues are the same. They have to do the same things I do with clients, and on and on and on. The group would then lean back, I would announce a coffee break, and they would talk excitedly to each other and ignore me. I don't resist anymore.

Here are some ideas about how internal and external consulting are in some important ways different.

Distinctions between Internal and External Consultants

As an internal consultant, you are at every moment embedded in some part of the culture and hierarchy of the organization. You have a boss you must satisfy (at least to some extent). Your own department has certain goals it must achieve. Technical departments have a new process they want to introduce to the operating units. Financial groups want new control procedures adopted. ...