B y  D o r o t h y  A a r o n

How often are we consultants askedwhether we have “directly relevant experience” in the industry or on theissue of a proposed contract? People responsible for engaging consultantsseem to have a sense of security in finding someone who has already doneexactly the same kind of thing onexactly the same topic in exactly thesame field. But are they getting thebest “bang for the buck” when theyhire such a specialist? Many peoplethink not.

Process vs. Product

In a recent interview, Dr. Karen Mock, former ExecutiveDirector and CEO of the Canadian Race Relations Foundation and newly appointed chairperson of the Hate CrimesCommunity Working Group for the government of Ontario, discussed why she might hire a person with diverse experiencerather than directly relevant experience to work on certain projects. “When I’m hiring someone to conduct extensiveresearch on best practices, to facilitate a planning exercise, or
to evaluate a program or the impact of current practices, I prefer someone with broad experience and good generic skillsrather than someone with primarily directly relevant experience. What I want is someone who is detached enoughfrom the specific area of focus that they aren’t favouring one
particular model or point of view.”

Dr. Mock was particularly adamant that, if the need is for a consultant to take the organization through a process, ratherthan provide specific “product”  familiarity, then there’s nopoint in hiring someone “in your own area of knowledge whenyou already have the expertise.” Especially for evaluation, and sometimes even for training purposes, she says, “You want aresearcher or consultant from outside your industry because you need someone to take a much more objective approach,which is the essential underpinning of the process.”

Benefits of Broad Experience

Why do some of the most successful businesses look for both employees and consultants with diverse experience? Why dolarge corporations so often bring in top executives who have no experience in their particular industry? Over and over,newspaper accounts of new executives report how their “diverse experience” will benefit the organization.Nick Sutton, the founder of a successful car leasing business in the UK, says in a Fleet NewsNet  report(http://www.fleetnewsnet.co.uk/news): “At the time of launchwe didn't want to take on the leasing industry's established players. It was a mature market. My background is financial –I was managing director for a company that specialised in foreign exchange debt – and I spotted a niche opportunity. I
had no industry experience, which was probably a bonus.”

One consultant explains on his website the advantages of  is broad experience in this way: “Rob Commings looks infrom the outside, offering insight and helps to identify opportunities, define objectives, clarify procedures, reducerisks and liabilities, and ensure positive outcomes in all respects. In the way Rob solves problems, it is often best if hehas no experience at all with your industry. His experience as a consultant to business since 1979 enables him to look at thingsfrom a broad perspective, without the narrow focus of specialists who may be biased by their background in law, oraccounting, or your industry.”

Consultant William Goldberg (www.consultgoldberg.com)  notes that the “benefit of seeing your company from the outside is that we notice things that those in the company's day-to-day operations might miss (the ‘Can't see the forest forthe trees’ syndrome), and we have no emotional investment in any particular current function, policy or procedure…Ouradvice doesn't replace the knowledge and experience of your management, it provides a synergy that uses your managementwith our experience and knowledge to give an enhanced result.”People who have seen my own CV sometimes exclaim about the broad range of clients and topics that I have addressed during my career as a consultant. “But what area do you really specialize in?” they may ask. “Health care?Telecommunications? Education? Financial services? Race relations? Retail? Broadcasting? Business to business?Government services? Non-government organizations?” The answer is that I specialize in a process – helping organizationsenhance their success by learning how to meet the needs of
their stakeholders – rather than a product or industry. Indeed, I have often been engaged as a consultant to be the objective“third party” when there are disparate viewpoints among stakeholders as to how to proceed. Many clients comment onhow quickly I have picked up “the essentials” of their particular organization or issue.So the benefits of hiring someone with diverse experience
can be summed up as:
  -Fresh perspective, open to insights others may not see;
  -Transferable skills: experience and contacts gained
working in one field can be transferred to other fields,
allowing a broad experience base to be brought to bear on
client concerns;
  -More innovation: a cornerstone of creativity is diverse
thinking and experience; people who have worked in
different fields often follow events and developments in
many fields and areas of endeavour simultaneously, and
apply these in new ways;
  -Customized approaches and solutions;
  -A track record of learning quickly in new environments;
  -A synergy with, rather than replication of, other internal skills and knowledge.

On the other hand, clients engaging a consultant with only
directly relevant experience may be getting:

  -Assumptions about the issue or the industry which may or may not be true for their particular organization;  -A narrow focus which is not open to differences or
surprises;
  -Someone whose knowledge or point of view matches that of their own staff,  so there is no opportunity for a freshperspective; 
-“Canned” methods or models which may not fit their particular circumstances;  -Similar solutions to others in the same field, meaning a solution with no  competitive advantage in cases where thismay be important.Perhaps the  following observation from Jon Linton, aconsultant and Director with Toronto’s TCI ManagementServices, best sums up the issue: “Clients may hire us for our
directly relevant experience, because they’re so risk averse, but it’s our broad diversity of experience which enables us to do agreat job.”

But what if it comes down to a choice between a consultant with directly relevant experience and one with more diverseexperience? Many  decision-makers, like Dr. Mock, arerecognizing the added value that the latter will bring to theirprojects and problems.

Dorothy Aaron uses Stakeholder Action Research to help organizations identify the needs of their employees, members, sponsors, or clients. The result is detailed direction for the development of successful programs, communications,
marketing and other action plans. Contact her at 416-782-6758, or dorothy.aaron@sympatico.ca.