Yesterday, in a conference call with my London Client, I shared with them the outline of my recommendations to address the issues of the consulting assignment.They were quite pleased with the proposed solution, which I now have to write it down (Grrrrh). I am, obviously, very happy that I was able to solve the problem but most importantly I was proud that my proposed solution was elegant ie simple and effective.
As I reviewed the journey of how I arrived to the solution, a very useful habit that helps one understand and learn from his mistakes and successes, I realised that the cracking of the problem of this assignment was primarily due to clearly defining and restating the problem that needed to be solved. Once the correct problem was defined and articulated, free of "noise" and confusing interpretations, the solving part of it was a cinch.
The key skill a consultant needs to posess in understanding and defining client's problems and issues is attentive listening. The ability to be ignorant, create an atmosphere of trust that the client feels comfortable and doesn't hold back, ask a few questions, hear what the client is saying, interpret what you are hearing and what the client is feeling and try to see the world with his eyes. In other words first establish the relevant "dots" and then "connect" them. No rocket science here.
PS: I am sure some people of the top team of the client will be reading this. What a great way to mentor your client, because I always believe that the quality of the work of the consultant depends on how good his client is.
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