The New Business of Consulting

Foreword

I will always remember Johnny Smith. Johnny was my very first supervisor in my very first full-time, salary-paying job.

I had returned from two years in the Peace Corps and was fortunate to find work in a consulting firm that had landed a contract from the U.S. Office of Economic Opportunity. I was part of a team that traveled from city to city in the southwestern United States to conduct training programs, facilitate team-building sessions, and consult on organizational issues to newly formed Community Action Agencies. Our group was made up of mostly young, inexperienced, but highly motivated behavioral scientists who wanted to change the world. It was a perfect kind of job for us, but without Johnny we most likely would have gone broke.

Johnny was a Texas Instruments manager who had decided to take on the temporary assignment of leading this small band of do-gooders. He, too, wanted to do good, but from his years at Texas Instruments, he also knew that to be of service we had to stay in business. Johnny brought a discipline that was absolutely essential to our survival.

I vividly remember one consulting gig in Dallas, Texas. We had a meeting with the director of an agency to talk about the goals and roles for the assignment, and the director was called out for a few minutes. Johnny said to us, “This guy is very organized.” I asked, “How do you know that?” He said, “See all those file folders lined up neatly on the credenza behind his desk? That’s how.” And, he was ...