Re: Consultants as learning stewards,etc. LO1348

Keith Cowan (cowan@pci.on.ca)
Mon, 22 May 1995 09:40:23 +0000 (WET DST)

Replying to LO1019 --

> My view is that consultants should not tell clients what to do to
> solve their problems, but create the "right set of conditions" for the
> client to learn how to learn to discover by themselves. In many
> situations, consultants act like medical doctors, who come in, check, and
> recommend solutions, and the patient (client) does not learn anything
> about how to do it him/herself. I believe that we should go in with the
> clear idea that, after we complete our job, the client will not need us
> anymore or at least for similar problems! I guess that my bottom line
> question here is: Do consultants promote learning among their clients?

I have been advising the president of a company for twenty months and we
were on the right track but did not progress quickly enough. Now I am
acting president and look at all those recommendations with a renewed
skepticism. Yet I have an imperative to move quickly. I believe I would
have served him better by presenting fewer recommendations with more
context (as in 'distinctions' defined).

-- 
Keith Cowan       Phone: (416)565-6253           FAX: (905)858-7131
Toronto        Internet: cowan@pci.on.ca  Compuserve: 72212,51