Lessons Learned
Outside parties may have very little knowledge in the diagnosis process, and so be driven to make judgments accurately, and quickly use feelings and information gathered regarding how the organization works, boundaries (internal and external), and how the different parts of the organizations work with and relate to each other. A crucial aspect is then figuring out how to deliver information, services, etc. in a HELPFUL manner to the organization as part of a learning process. Key stakeholders need to be identified to “receive” the information and, essentially, the “consulting.” It’s important to make sure the right people are involved and ask, honestly, “does the group that [the consultant] is working with have the power to enact change?”
One potential issue in the process occurs if the client organization feels that they have already diagnosed the problem, and won’t really allow the consultant to do their job outside fixing what the client organization has already decided the problem is. The organization cannot, alone, diagnose the problem because of their bias and limited perspective; instead, they need to be involved in the process of identifying the problems, settling on the solutions, and enacting the process of change in conjunction with the change professional. The client must have a degree of autonomy, as the biggest waste is from untapped human resources. The biggest issue, often, is the complication resulting from the presenting problem vs. the real problem (the client organization will frequently SAY they know what the problem is – whether out of deception or ignorance – but in reality, it’s something else). The main issue here is finding out why the organization is not aware of the real problem, and “leading them to water” so to speak to allow effective change to occur.
