Blogs In Management (Also Management Consulting Blogs?)

I just discovered the blog of management guru David Maister, acknowledged as one of the world's authorities on the management of professional services firms. I particularly like David's Fast Company article from 2002, "Are All Consultants Corrupt?" because it touches on topics that one needs to address regularly as a management consultant, particularly about how can one ensure that one produces services that one can be both proud of from an ethical point of view and a quality of product perspective. To this, all I can say is that one should leave the management consulting profession if ethics and quality can't be met.

But the real purpose of this post was to point to David's post on internal blogs as a management tool. His text here gets at a real pain point linked to diseconomies of scale in management:

As firms get larger, more dispersed and more complex, the disaffection of partners (in professions and businesses of all kinds) is becoming more evident. I get calls all the time enquiring about my availability to consult on the issue of partners’ unhappiness and their feeling that they are treated like employees in an increasingly corporate culture.

I am a believer that blogs can help with this sort of thing (essentially flattening the communication structure associated with complex organization structures). That said, blogs are not a panacea for organizations and managers that do not know how to 1) use written communications to complement the management style and 2) deal with the semi-structured and dynamic nature of the blog medium. These latter items are table stakes in my opinion, but they can be easily underestimated.

In the comments section of David's post, I was also encouraged to learn of a tip that Ernst & Young may be using blogs internally. I have blogged before about consulting firms using/not using blogs (e.g., here, here, here). It's good to hear of more activity in the consulting area and to learn of consulting/management blogs like David's.

Comments

[William]

I just found a blog from CTO of Cap Gemini, here is the link:
http://davidmaister.com/blog

[William]

Sorry, this is the right link to Cap Genimi's blog: http://www.capgemini.com/ctoblog/index.xml

[Steve Shu]

Thanks for the link!

[Ashutosh Bose]

A Good Post!!

[Ole]

I think the remarks made by Steve are relevant. May I make a reference to what I to day commented to another blogger, who wonders why so many consultants in UK are out of business:

I have read this article with great interest. I have been in this business for many years and have been working in many countries. It is no wonder to me (now living in Thailand) that the consulting business in Europe and maybe especially for the UK is facing hard times. The reason is simple. Too many of the so called consultants have a very impressive degree from a respectable university and they know a lot about nothing because they only learn from books and from professors, who have deep insight in the theoretical world but they lack the knowledge about the real world. Many owners need assistance but from persons, who can fully understand them and speaking their language. Example: The banks only see the world from their own views having very little insight in the circumstances under which many of the customers are working. They pull the break when the figures get red, but why not start constructive dialogues with the client before this happens? The lack of this simple exercise has been the cause of many looses on both sides. No party benefits. All consulting companies ought to have this as a condition for employment: 3 years of practical experience in the real world.

[Alfonzo]

How true, practical experience in the real world would provide greater understanding and learning that any book or university will ever deliver. I find too often that the consultants out fresh out of studies struggle to interpret human behavior, human actions, project movements and reasons for situations arising without having closed Chapter 5 of the text book guide.

So my full support and appreciation for wanting to enforce practical training in the syllabus of becoming a Management Consultant.