How do you know if you are with your Client and they are with you?

A couple of years ago I was sitting in an evening board meeting. The consultant was telling us their perspective on our organization’s future based on their interpretation of data we collected.

They had a curated template that was populated with all the right levers for success or failure: expenses, revenue, liabilities, assets, capital, hidden assets, etc., etc. The product was handsome, even cheery with its colorful bar graphs, moveable scatterplots and quick enhancements in response to adding and removing information. A wow factor that caught my eye.

The consultant read through the colors and shapes and told us a story we had hired him to help us address. He was telling us about us. As a Board we understood a lack of funding could mean having to close our doors. Now, we had an entire color scheme to prove it.

I looked around the room to observe how the others might be connecting with this information. Some board members were scrolling on their phones, there were some doodlers, and floor gazers. A few board members were staring at the presentation and nodding. I wondered if they were understanding the data, trying to understand the data or being polite and just listening.

The consultant scrolled through the graphs. His voice meandered like a country western ballad rather than the dynamic jazz we needed to capture our attention. “Any questions so far?” The question felt abrupt. We lifted our eyes to the screen with cheerful attentiveness. “No, this is great, keep going, amazing.”

In retrospect, as I think about this experience of being told where we are and the factors that got us there, I wonder if the consultant understood his role? Had we been clear about what we needed in his help? Had he asked us the right questions to understand our needs and aspirations? Did we talk about outcomes beyond, “WE NEED HELP!” I honestly don’t remember.

In our work as Process Consultants, we pride ourselves in walking alongside the client, in a manner of listening, helping and learning. We develop Agreements with our clients that outline outcomes based on their “why” not ours. Through Humble Inquiry we explore what the client thinks they need and reflect back what we are hearing. As a consultant, if I ever hear, “this is great keep going…” I have to ask, what does great mean for you? How is this process serving you and does it match where you want to be now and going forward? The vagueness of “this is great” or “interesting” feels like oxygen has been removed from the room.

In my colleague Kevin Eastway’s blog about Withness, he uses the metaphor of how Sherpas model “World Class With-ness”, coupled with our dilemma of understanding the help we need in our asking for help and accepting help. As Process Consultants, our role is to ask open-ended questions and test what we have heard for the client’s understanding and feedback.

“To help shoulder the load, to carry the complexity next to our Clients, to climb the sometimes-steep-and-rocky path of leadership as a trusted advisor, as the winds shift and conditions change overnight, adapting as we go, pointing out obstacles, and transforming our collective future, together.”

As a consultant, how do we know we are with our clients? What is the evidence that we are carrying our client's complexity and adapting to what they need?

I wonder if the Board consultant in my example walked away from our agreement thinking they had really helped us to find our way.

What were his criteria for success and were those that engaged with the consultant informed of those criteria? Did our Board tell him what we were seeking in his support? Had we been clear about what we needed and how he might support us? What does success mean in a client/consultant relationship and who decides what that looks like?

How do we design and test for success in partnership?

Going back to the Sherpa metaphor – as Process Consultants, our Agreements are our maps and because they are designed and co-created, the client and consultant are invested in the process of the journey, not just the outcome. Kevin uses words such as, safety, authenticity, transformative partnership and love to co-create the path forward and demonstrate the ways of supporting our clients.

Our Agreements are based on exploring the “Why, Who, What, Where, When and How” of our co-created experience on behalf of our clients.

WHY Design this process with Design Group International?
WHO is involved and what role do they play in this process?
WHAT are the desired outcomes and deliverables of this process, in other words what does success look like?
WHERE does this take place?
WHEN and HOW will we proceed toward these desired outcomes and purposes?

Through designing the process and identifying outcomes of our Agreements alongside our clients, they are transparent and transformative. We create a safe path forward together to share the load of help and support. Our clients know we are alongside them because we ask, we reflect, and we learn together.

So, yes, a trip to an outdoor store for an article of warm clothing is well advised and know it is not the brand but the fabric and material that make the experience comfortable and safe.

I hope for your safe journey and welcome a conversation with you about your packing list, destination, and how I might support you along the way.

Written by Lukie Wells

Senior Partner, Design Group International

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