| Topic Name: |
Consulting explained PLAIN english |
| Message Name: |
miguel is right |
| Date Posted: |
01/10/2003 |
| In Reply To: |
The guy is probably intelligent enough to figure out on his own, he may have just wanted to hear it from an honest source. |
| Message: |
Miguel has been frequently on these boards and usually offers good advise. He's right on this point too.
One of the basic skills of a consultant is the ability to come into a situation about which you know nothing and get up to speed quickly despite the jargon, esotericness, or complexity of the situation.
Example - When it's Day 1 and I sit down with a logistics manager who starts talking about cross-docking a yellow 53-footer with an APL at the Mobile RDC, I should be able to figure out (eventually) that he's talking about pulling stuff off one semi-trailer owned by shipping company Yellow and putting it on another owned by APL at a regional distribution center in Alabama. That requires raw intellectual capability, poise, humility, and (most importantly) confidence despite your uncertainty and ignorance. I would never go into the meetingand say "so, what are logistics?"
If I can't handle a client throwing non-plain English at me, I'd not last long as a consultant. One of the best compliments a client ever gave me was "how did you learn so much about how my business operates so quickly?"
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