The Role of the Strategic Planning Consultant

I have been challenged more than once by the question, “Why would anyone outsource their strategy to a consultant?” This feels like one of those deal-killer objections that should end the conversation, since we are management consultants who focus heavily on strategy. The truth is, you should not hire someone to do this for you.

That’s right; you should never outsource your strategy. Your strategy is the core of who you are as a company and where you are going. Strategy should only be developed by insiders, preferably the managers who are going to implement it.

But your strategy, like your post-holiday exercise routine, may be greatly improved by using a good consultant. A strategy consultant can help you to:

• Develop fresh information about your market, your customers and your company to encourage innovative thinking
• Structure a process that encourages continuous learning and performance improvement
• Provide focus and discipline to ensure that the process works the way you would like

In some companies, this is the job of a specific position or a department. However, this function serves as an internal consultant and still should not be developing the strategy. Whether internal or external, a good consultant can help the managers on the line (who should be forming the strategy itself) create a good process and keep it on track.

- Michael Oleksak     2005