Our consultant is a variation of Yoda -- he has more questions than answers. Since I have been known to ask a fair amount of questions myself, some people wonder why I continue to use him.
Certainly he qualifies for the "50 mile rule", the old joke about how someone coming in from more than 50 miles away has more credibility saying the same thing as on-site staff. But mostly I bring him to campus for two reasons. First, it forces us to dedicate time for long-term planning and analysis. I can guarantee that we would not have spent two days reviewing our situation and making alterations if Bill had not been on the calendar. (And we are better off because we did.)
Secondly, I look at Bill as sort of the general education component of my professional development major. Bill helps my staff learn how to think about the issues that we face. He builds capacity in my team by asking those pesky questions and pushing us to craft the answers ourselves.
No matter what field you are in, it is easy to become insulated and to take things for granted. I encourage you to find a muse who can act as a provocateur to your thinking -- challenging things in a realistic way -- but doing so in a manner that makes you less dependent upon them instead of more. You should bring your consultants back by choice, not because they are the ones who hold your secret formula.
-- beth triplett
leadershipdots.blogspot.com
@leadershipdots
leadershipdots@gmail.com
No comments:
Post a Comment