As a musician, I hear colleagues often - if not constantly - lament how difficult it is these days to survive. As a consultant, when dealing with clients, it is my job to assist organisations with the hurdles they are facing. In all, there is hardly a difference between the 2 spheres, except that in the former case people treat me as their fellow brother-in-arms (thus being their equal), in the latter case, I am considered as a kind of an outsider, who has hardly any ties to them, which sometimes is a bit of a barrier (regarded as not being their equal) in our communication. As a colleague they are extremely frank and open, as a professional consultant there is apparently a professional distance.
Nevertheless, as I can draw a much wider picture of the things people tell me, it is hardly a problem, to grasp my clients' needs, as well as (and very important indeed) the way they feel and think. Understanding the psychology which goes along with their need for change, in other words "looking beyond the statistical data, graphs, economic forecasts" is a very essential aspect, that you have to keep in mind, and is instrumental for the solution searching and strategic planning. Equally, a much quicker confidence is created between yourself and the customer. To be open about their concerns or fears and making them comfortable in discussing this is a must in this business.
Even though, to the readers of my blog (hopefully most, if not all of them) this given is probably taken for granted, but I am amazed, to witness a trend - either within my group of colleagues, or with my clients - that people tend to focus so much on what they cannot or may not do, instead of investing more energy and creativity of what is feasible. On numerous accounts, suggested innovations are immediately opposed by responses like "that's difficult to do", "no money", "there's this bureaucracy", "we already tried five years ago". If I start calculating, how much time it takes to find a solution compared to how much time I need in order to convince the client to accept the fact in the first place that change is necessary for his survival (as the present situation is causing him problems anyway)... I alway tend to say: "If you don't shoot, you always miss the target".
Culture is experiencing a bumpy ride (and in fact... has almost always been in that situation) but if you see all the innovative technologies around - faster communications, better quality technologies, skilled people, why not positively make use of this all instead of constantly sticking our heads in the sand? - besides, we hardly have enough sand-pits for that anyway.
MS
Nevertheless, as I can draw a much wider picture of the things people tell me, it is hardly a problem, to grasp my clients' needs, as well as (and very important indeed) the way they feel and think. Understanding the psychology which goes along with their need for change, in other words "looking beyond the statistical data, graphs, economic forecasts" is a very essential aspect, that you have to keep in mind, and is instrumental for the solution searching and strategic planning. Equally, a much quicker confidence is created between yourself and the customer. To be open about their concerns or fears and making them comfortable in discussing this is a must in this business.
Even though, to the readers of my blog (hopefully most, if not all of them) this given is probably taken for granted, but I am amazed, to witness a trend - either within my group of colleagues, or with my clients - that people tend to focus so much on what they cannot or may not do, instead of investing more energy and creativity of what is feasible. On numerous accounts, suggested innovations are immediately opposed by responses like "that's difficult to do", "no money", "there's this bureaucracy", "we already tried five years ago". If I start calculating, how much time it takes to find a solution compared to how much time I need in order to convince the client to accept the fact in the first place that change is necessary for his survival (as the present situation is causing him problems anyway)... I alway tend to say: "If you don't shoot, you always miss the target".
Culture is experiencing a bumpy ride (and in fact... has almost always been in that situation) but if you see all the innovative technologies around - faster communications, better quality technologies, skilled people, why not positively make use of this all instead of constantly sticking our heads in the sand? - besides, we hardly have enough sand-pits for that anyway.
MS
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