In Search of Simplicity …

Showing ROI

In consulting, you often are faced with a dilemma where you feel pressured to prove your “analytic value” to the client by delivering complex techniques and in-depth opinion based on copious piles of data. You feel you need to prove your worth to the the client and the connected business case for your cost to the organization. Sometimes this sort of pressure drives you to better answers and deeper analysis … but most of the time it takes you away from what the client really needs.

What the Client Really Wants

The irony of this situation is that the client really just wants a way to cut through the complexity of their job and the decisions required to move an organization along. Buried in detail, data, and problems, clients are searching for patterns, explanations, priorities, and next steps.

Painting a Better Picture

As a consultant, are job needs to be what the challenge requires for our clients. Oftentimes, the real client needs focus on clarity, simplicity, and patterns. They actually seek explanations for their problems; however, often they are simply looking for the next best step to take as leader.

You can find this great art from Harold Davis here. Order from Chaos – Your Ultimate Value Instead of working to show the complexity of our methods and proposed solutions, consultants need to focus on simplifying the current environment for their client. The balance between clarification and over-simplification is a fine one and it takes real experience to know when each approach works best. However, modern organizations are flat, under-funded, under-staffed, quick-paced, under duress, and short of cash. Clients are looking for ways to prioritize what they have and order what they need to do next. The luxury of granular processes and in-depth analysis need to make way for simple messages and big-picture patterns for issues. What is Your Real Deliverable? So, ask yourself as a consultant what you really bring to the table. What can you deliver to the client? What challenges are they facing right now? Is your value in complex deliverables or simple solutions and clear pictures of complex environments? Will your simple approaches and understandable takes on highly intricate situations drive up your value? Will you bring something to the table that the client really needs as a leader? Stop trying to impress with over-wrought deliverables and focus on the solutions you bring to the client. Be less object and more idea oriented!