About sense and value in consulting

Maybe it's a New Year coincidence, but I see more and more often the question of the sense and the value that pops up. What is that within a consultant's life, the purpose of what we do, as economic entities, is so popular nowadays? Why (in a sudden?) the reason of what we do became so important (not that I ever considered the question as not important, but those topics seem to be more popular today). And, indeed, why and where a consultant can bring value into the society?

First, I would argue that value as concept is pretty vague and large; and that even a very small fraction of value should be taken into account (if you want to make the maths). For example, how can we assess the impact of a new corporate governance in a private company? what is the value of my contribution as a board member of a non-profit organization? If you help coordinating the deployment of new technology (conducting change management and adoption of a new product), you increase the level of understanding, you give a new information stream that could facilitate the daily life of your colleagues. But not only that.

By promoting the right technologies and information (and taking the right decisions, without oversizing your investment), you help to avoid   wastage of money, wrong or over sized purchases and you made, at the end, a difference between a decision and an excellent decision. This is where excellence, sense and value meet.