In the press, time and again one or the other consultancy task has been acclaimed to be the best performance of the year. Quickly the impression arises, that management consultants know more or have better skills, than their clients. I usually come to the conclusion, that this is not the case. However, the question arises, what distinguishes the management consultant from the client? Or to put it differently, what distinguishes both of them to come to a successful solution of the task at hand?

Which criteria have to be fulfilled in order to work successfully as a management consultant?

Management consultants worth their money have to have most of all time and distance, if they want to produce results that reach the set goals.

Time and distance! Only he has plenty of time who can overcome agitation, who can separate the essential from non-essential, he who does not attach too much importance to himself, he who prefers tranquillity to restlessness. Because time goes by slower, when we are not rushed. “Nimm Dir Zeit, wenn es eilt” is a popular saying in Germany and it means ‘to take your time, when you are in a hurry’. And there is a lot to it. To be in charge of time, to have time, offers the ability to think things through and this is exactly what management consultants have to offer. It is absolutely instrumental to have a certain distance to the problems. Distance sharpens the edges. Distance allows us to see something in all of its dimensions: For the solution of consultancy tasks, this is absolutely imperative.

For me, before starting a new task, the question has to be answered: “Do I have enough time and sufficient distance?” The required knowledge and the skills can be retrieved at any time, if I have enough time and can keep my distance. And the question of knowing more or having better skills will no longer come up.