I Adopted Ecosystem Thinking from Steve Jobs as a 1-Man Consultant. I Got More Deals Since.
We need the big picture to get great consulting work done
We equate Steve Jobs to Apple. Many see him as a technologist.
But I argue he is one of the best entrepreneurs of our time. In fact, he is not just a product guy. Late Steve is an orchestra conductor.
One of the many YouTube videos featured him giving a talk after returning to the helm of Apple (he was fired by the board before). Steve mentioned that he spent the first 2 weeks focusing on the following work.
- Canceling frivolous projects
- Deconstructing current distribution pipelines and radically inventing new models
- Sprinkling tender loving care to the Apple brand and telling the world what Apple is about
In a nutshell, the late Jobs worked on relevance, efficiency, and marketing strategy. And I would go on to say this.
1-Man consultants need to operate the way the late Jobs does. We need to develop ecosystem thinking.
The Age-Old Battle Between Specialist and Business Generalist is Really Stupid
Extreme specialization has been the greatest disaster of the modern academic world. It has created narrow Mandarins, ignorant of the universal nature of reality, incapable of connecting concepts from different fields to bring everything together in one ultimate, unified subject.
I am not writing this piece to criticize academia. But we can learn from the shortcomings of academia.
However, let me address one thorny issue in the consulting world before delving deeper.
1-Man consultants are, in my opinion, too caught up in the binary debate of niche specialization and business generalization. It is not practical. We should not be forced to choose either.
We need both to work to build our 1-Man consulting practice.
Let me ask you 2 questions, and I will rest my case.
- How many specialists leave their employment to start their company and fail spectacularly without knowing why?
- How many business generalists or executives would leave their employment and start successful ventures without specialized skill sets?
I know.
These 2 points sound confusing. But that is the reality we are in.
Business generalists aren’t useless bums sitting around in the office staring at a hammer, wondering how to use it better. They think about how they can get a business humming around that hammer for a profit.
That should be the mindset 1-Man consultants embrace.
This is What an Ecosystem Perspective is About
It is about the business.
Oddly, people don’t focus on it. Think about it. Our 1-Man consulting practice is a business. Our client’s organization is a business too.
We are dealing with businesses. Different people in different departments of the company have varied objectives that eventually converge on the company’s mission and progress.
Let me use an analogy. Imagine that you are the captain of a ship. You need the following people to get this thing moving.
- Seamen
- Navigator
- Sail masters
- Master gunner (ships with weapons)
- Cook
They contribute in their own ways, determined by the domains they are allotted to. And what they do impacts how others can get their work done.
The cook does not take the oar. That does not mean he is useless. Imagine if the seamen and sail masters are not fed. Game over.
The master gunners may be sleeping all day during peacetimes. Everyone else will see them as bums… only to become heroes when pirate ships arise.
The client’s senior management may see themselves as the captain of the ship. We, the 1-Man consultants, see all the moving pieces to keep the business machinery going.
An Ecosystem Perspective is Your Secret Weapon to Get More Deals for Your 1-Man Consulting Practice
Why so? Because many in our client organization are blind to reality.
The senior management in our consulting client organization focuses on the domains under their charge. They do not see how transactions and tasks flow from one department to the other.
Middle managers can see the process inputs and outputs from their department’s perspective. But they may not see the entire value stream.
Operators? They focus on getting things done. That’s it.
Having an ecosystem perspective allows us to converse with everyone in the organization.
With the operators and middle managers, 1-Man consultants can demonstrate strategy at work.
With senior management, we can show how their strategy will impact current business processes and operations. This is where 1-Man consultants produce our impact analysis.
We demonstrate length, breadth, and depth in our consulting work when we present our thinking in this manner. There is no empty talk.
The real value is presented through a thorough understanding of our client’s business.
1-Man consultants must combine our specialist and business generalist minds for successful consulting engagements. Because that is what businesses are about.
That is what we are about.
Parting Keynote
1-Man consultants running their own practice are like plumbers operating in their own capacity.
They must secure business from customers, understand their needs, perform the necessary service, and receive payment. At the same time, they need to understand pipelines and work with tools in their kit that no one else can.
We need to think this way too.
Because when we do, we can superimpose this line of thinking to our consulting client’s organization.
We can (then) see where the client organization requires more attention, fixes, and tender loving care.
Our consulting engagements will produce better outcomes.
And we get more deals from existing and new clients with more success stories under our belt.
As a content contributor, I write my observations from daily life and my business exposure. Because our life experience is the bedrock of our unique perspectives.
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