Conspiracy in Complexity LO15672

Benjamin B. Compton (bcompton@enol.com)
Thu, 6 Nov 1997 20:01:10 -0700

Replying to LO15666 --

Winfried,

I enjoyed your post. You describe quite a dilemma, one which I've thought
about more than once.

Since being laid off I've had a number of people call me for business
advice. Some are former colleagues; others are companies I worked with
while I was at Novell. I've given a little "advice," mostly in the form of
questions. I haven't billed any one.

I began to realize I could probably make a living as a consultant. That, I
reasoned, would be a great way to work the ideas I believe in into the
fabric of a company. But as I have participated on this list I've noticed
something that has concerned me about consulting: Consultants don't always
agree with one another. The advice you get depends on who you hire. Why
should I think that my advice is better or more accurate than anyone else?

I decided against consulting. Instead I want to use my knowledge to help
build an organization from the inside. That way I have a perpetual
research laboratory that will allow me to refine my theories as well as
constantly explore new ones. And it will provide me with a wonderful set
of meaningful relationships that I enjoy so much!

I read an book review on the plane in Sky Magazine (Delta's magazine) for
"Dangerous Company," which looked very interesting. If I were more
concerned about the effectiveness of the consulting industry I'd buy the
book. I'm just too ambivalent to spend the money.

For what it's worth, I've worked with a few consultants in my previous
employment. And I thought most of them had their head up their ass! There
was one company from Ireland that I was really, really impressed with. But
that's because they were blunt. They didn't last long. And the question
follows. . .

-- 
Benjamin B. Compton
bcompton@enol.com

Learning-org -- An Internet Dialog on Learning Organizations For info: <rkarash@karash.com> -or- <http://world.std.com/~lo/>