Monkeys without bananas
Consulting firms are suffering the most from the current crisis of confidence. In the future, success will come only to those who sell their own topics to (media) companies.
Column Consulting firms are suffering the most from the current crisis of confidence. The consulting business is complaining about overcapacity, image problems and an unprecedented level of mistrust. What has happened? Let's take Switzerland, a country that has experienced severe corporate crises, the worst of which was undoubtedly the Swissair grounding. Of course, consultants also played a part in the suicidal expansion strategy of this company and the serious strategic mistakes. The Swiss tabloids made a living out of this for a while when they demanded that McKinsey pay back its fees. However, it makes no sense to blame the consultants for wrong management decisions. However, there is no doubt that such crises tarnish the image of the once booming industry. The bursting of the new economy bubble has created deep mistrust. Of course, the euphoria did not come about without consultants. Which is why the economist Fredmund Malik correctly observed: "Most of the e-business apostles were dreamers and fantasists. People who took part in the start-up competitions and blathered on about business models, business angels and money-burning rates are ignoramuses. Anyone who advocated the nonsense of an eternally rising stock market is simply stupid, historically illiterate and latently fraudulent." Many a consultancy firm needs to put these words behind its ears. Some university faculties too, by the way.
There is a third element: the unhealthy mixing of auditing, consulting and investment banking. The walls that traditionally separate these areas were obviously often too low. This has led to the well-known restructuring of large firms.
Companies in the media industry also often lacked good advice. As a result, communications companies spent far too much money on websites, traditional newspaper companies senselessly bought up book publishers and telecommunications companies ran up huge debts when buying UMTS licenses. Occasionally, consultants should just brush their clients against the grain if they want to stay in business in the long term.
The central problem, however, is that people are freaking out about companies (and consultants, of course). People's lifestyles are becoming historically exemplary. Many lives are experimental lives, so to speak. Every consultant has to take this into account. He has to be an anthropologist, so to speak, someone who knows people - as clients - inside out. Today, this is more important than trendy terminology.
Only those consulting firms that set their own themes will continue to grow. However, such activities require upfront investment. You have to be able to afford people who do more research than consulting. You have to follow the political and social discussions. In short: if you want to earn money, you have to invest pro bono in this profession too.
The famous monkey experiment shows how necessary advisors sometimes are and remain. In this experimental set-up, an entire group of animals is punished with a cold shower of water if one of them reaches for a banana attached to the top rung of a ladder. The monkeys soon "learn" this and leave the banana alone. If you now send a new test animal that has never experienced the water hose into the cage, it naturally wants to get the banana. The "experienced" monkeys prevent the newcomer from doing so. The point of the story is that you can replace all the monkeys that have been sprayed with water with "inexperienced" ones: The fear of the hose is also transferred to these animals. Result: The banana remains untouched. It is therefore the consultant's job to encourage his clients with the motto: "Take the banana, they don't have a hose anymore."
Peter Glotz was Federal Secretary of the SPD and a member of the German Bundestag until 1996. Today, the professor teaches media management at the University of St. Gallen.
There is a third element: the unhealthy mixing of auditing, consulting and investment banking. The walls that traditionally separate these areas were obviously often too low. This has led to the well-known restructuring of large firms.
Companies in the media industry also often lacked good advice. As a result, communications companies spent far too much money on websites, traditional newspaper companies senselessly bought up book publishers and telecommunications companies ran up huge debts when buying UMTS licenses. Occasionally, consultants should just brush their clients against the grain if they want to stay in business in the long term.
The central problem, however, is that people are freaking out about companies (and consultants, of course). People's lifestyles are becoming historically exemplary. Many lives are experimental lives, so to speak. Every consultant has to take this into account. He has to be an anthropologist, so to speak, someone who knows people - as clients - inside out. Today, this is more important than trendy terminology.
Only those consulting firms that set their own themes will continue to grow. However, such activities require upfront investment. You have to be able to afford people who do more research than consulting. You have to follow the political and social discussions. In short: if you want to earn money, you have to invest pro bono in this profession too.
The famous monkey experiment shows how necessary advisors sometimes are and remain. In this experimental set-up, an entire group of animals is punished with a cold shower of water if one of them reaches for a banana attached to the top rung of a ladder. The monkeys soon "learn" this and leave the banana alone. If you now send a new test animal that has never experienced the water hose into the cage, it naturally wants to get the banana. The "experienced" monkeys prevent the newcomer from doing so. The point of the story is that you can replace all the monkeys that have been sprayed with water with "inexperienced" ones: The fear of the hose is also transferred to these animals. Result: The banana remains untouched. It is therefore the consultant's job to encourage his clients with the motto: "Take the banana, they don't have a hose anymore."
Peter Glotz was Federal Secretary of the SPD and a member of the German Bundestag until 1996. Today, the professor teaches media management at the University of St. Gallen.
