Consultants very, very rarely bring any genuine novel insight. In my experience, their prime contribution is simultaneously their most cynical and most useful: they navigate sclerotic bureaucracies, locate the people who know the answer, and then present the answer to decision-makers in a way that cuts through organizational politics and saves executive face.

Small orgs don’t need consultants. Not because they can’t afford them, but because small orgs don’t have the dysfunctional communication patterns of large orgs, which is the prime driver of demand for consultants.

The client already has the answer within their possession. The client should already be able to surface that answer and execute on it. But they just can’t. They are institutionally incapable of finding the already-existing answer within themselves.

The old adage says the consultant will borrow your watch to tell you the time. This quip masks the fact that clients don’t know how the big hand relates to the little hand, or where their watch is located.