The driver, a young man in a Paul Smith suit and Raybans, leans out and asks: "If I tell you exactly how many sheep you have in your flock, will you give me one?" The shepherd looks at the man, then at his peacefully grazing flock and calmly answers: "Sure." The chap parks his car, whips out his IBM ThinkPad and connects it to a mobile phone, surfs to a NASA page on the internet where he calls up a GPS satellite navigation system, scans the area, and then opens up a database and an Excel spreadsheet with complex formulas. Eventually, he prints out a 150-page report on his miniaturised printer and declares: "You have 1,586 sheep." The shepherd says: "That is correct: take a sheep." He watches the young man select an animal and bundle it into his car. Then the shepherd says: "If I can tell you exactly what your business is, will you give it me back?" "OK, why not," answers the young man. "Clearly, you are a consultant," says the shepherd. "That's correct - how did you guess?" says the besuited one. "Well," answers the shepherd. "You turned up here although nobody called you. You want to get paid for an answer I already knew, to a question I never asked, and you know bugger all about my business. Now give me back my dog."
Okay I'm sorry, more than half of what is supposed to be a review taken up with a joke. Quite possibly one you've heard before. But consultants don't have the greatest of reputations in youth work. Even when they are more beard and sandals than suits and spreadsheets, people see money going away from delivery, out of their service and into the pockets of unregulated private outsiders. But if you're going to do it, you might as well take all the measures you can to make the process a useful one. This book will certainly help you do that.
Written by consultants for public sector commissioners and other consultants, it clearly comes from within the industry. But the authors are clear that "there are occasions when using consultants is not the right thing to do". Their interest is to improve the quality of consulting by helping both sides of the equation move towards best practice and avoid expensive mistakes. To that end, the book takes you through types of consultancy and their uses. You'll also get guidance on how to buy consultancy and how to manage the process.
Our shepherd was clearly a step ahead already - for others this book might help avoid sharp suits and sharp practice.
Commissioning Consultancy By Helen Kara and Paul Muir; Published by Russell House Publishing, 2003; 160 pages; Price 16.95; ISBN 1 903855 29 2.
