Leadership in Consulting – Based upon the Theme for this October’s International Management Consulting Conference “Management Consulting 4.0” concepts and the blogs of Jac van Beek; here are some questions for you to ponder.

Q 1 – What is the basis of your personal management consulting value proposition?

  1. Reputation of the firm, partner or senior consultant you work for.
  2. Technical, academic, or specialty knowledge expertise.
  3. Hands-on experience & success in one or more organizations and proven competency across multiple years, initiatives and /or organizations.
  4. Personal research & application of best practices.
  5. Particular methodology, process or model that gets applied/adapted to each client’s unique circumstances.

Q2 – How do clients see the management consulting service(s) provision you provide?

  1. Extra resource(s) beyond what they can provide themselves. (Capacity)
  2. Unique or added capability they don’t have. (Competency)
  3. Outside objectivity or “Expert” opinion and recommendation. (Credibility)
  4. Strategic insight. (Competitive)
  5. Operational (IT, HR, Finance) excellence, innovation or advantage (Creative)

Q3 – Which, if any, of the Management Consulting 2.0 methodologies can you bring to bear with your clients?

  1. Foresighting - strategy formation driven by level of uncertainty, using options and gaming theory to explore possible shifts and changes, contingency planning to anticipate consequences.
  2. Business Modelling.
  3. Network structural architecture
  4. De-centralized control systems
  5. Experiential change  approaches

Q4 – What Management Consulting 3.0 techniques have you mastered and do you use with your clients?

  1. Simulations & Risk Assessment/Mitigation
  2. Big Data tracking, modeling and decision-making
  3. Innovation technologies, processes, facilitation
  4. Collaboration facilitation, practical experienced know-how & candor
  5. Network thinking, dynamic pattern recognition, shift harnessing/influencing

Q5 – Given potential Management Consulting 4.0 capabilities, are you exploring and/or growing your own abilities in:

  1. Facilitation of rapid adoption of unorthodox business models integrating technologies such as: sharing economy, wiki’s, experience models & social enterprise).
  2. Development/implementation of new engagement models such as: simulations, design thinking, big data/analytics, knowledge café’s/networking.
  3. Use convergence of core technologies (advanced robotics, artificial intelligence, networks, advanced manufacturing and collaborative connected platforms) to drive innovation plus force re-thinking and re-structuring of various industries.
  4. Being a generalist that is more robust as both integrator and orchestrator of solutions.
  5. Generating “sense” out of complexity & rapid change, and helping clients find a unique value-creating path forward through unchartered territory.

There are no right or wrong answers to the quiz above! However, there is a point to this quiz: to get you as a management consultant or a leader of a management consultant professional body to really think deeply about the future of management consulting and what you are doing to take your own consulting practices to the next level. If these questions raise questions or pique your interest, come join us in Toronto, October 19-21 for this year’s CMC-Global Management Consulting Conference, with our theme – Consulting 4.0 – Are You Ready?