Hmmmm. As a consultant who routinely delivers many times the value of the fees I charge, I think your take on all of this is pretty off.

I'm one of your followers, and I usually enjoy (and agree with) most of what you write, but on this one, I must disagree, and here's why.

1. "Such is the way of consulting..." So incredibly misleading (and disrespectful) -- there is more than one kind of consultant. Like most consultants, I sit in meetings, interview people, review documentation (when it actually exists), and create what you might consider reports, but that's FAR from all that I do.

I work closely with internal teams to create business and technical designs that those internal teams themselves have not (and might never have) created themselves for a wide variety of reasons. I create prototypes and proofs of concept that illustrate the possibility and viability of what my reports recommend. I suggest ways to leverage and extend new and existing capabilities into new sources of revenue. A lot of what I do is the result of my 30 years of experience + my discipline for not only KNOWING but consistently DOING the right thing + my ability to see through the noise and to the root causes of problems + my creativity in imagining practical solutions.

I'm actually very good at what I do and therefore a fairly rare and valuable addition to an organization, even on a part-time (or "fractional") basis.

Q: Are you seriously taking a "swipe" at all the experienced professionals out there, who are helping organizations that desperately need their assistance?

Also internal teams enjoy and learn from working with me. Et voila! A good part of what I do could actually be considered training or at least setting a good example and demonstrating what's possible, above and beyond the day-to-day status quo.

2. Like most false dichotomies, the one you present here (consulting vs training or coaching) isn't really an either/or. Most organizations would benefit from effective examples of both.

3. There are bad/ineffective trainers and coaches just as their are bad/ineffective consultants. Training and coaching is hardly a "silver bullet".

4. Many organizations need the kind of results I can help to delivery NOW, not years from now when their own employees have had time to learn from training and coaching.

5. You acknowledge that consultants may "rehash advice that your own people are already giving", but I don't think you really understand the psychological dynamic at play here.

There's an old saying about a prophet having no "honor" in his own country.

Why do you suppose that organizations ignore the sound, valuable advice that their own people are giving them? Why do suppose that those same organizations pay hefty fees to outside experts who deliver the same advice? Give up?

I became a consultant in large part because I was tired of having the sound, extremely valuable advice I offered as an employee ignored by my employers over and over again. Now, I am listened to far more and am far happier, simply because I decided to make myself an outsider. Same exact advice, entirely different reception -- I didn't create this weird dynamic. It's a built-in human characteristic.

If organizations paid more attention to the wisdom of their own people, resulting from their own experience and initiative and/or from company-provided training, I'd be out of a job. But they don't. And don't seem likely to start any time soon.

6. "Outsiders Don't Solve Problems" A swing and a miss. 100% incorrect. Just pure wrong. I've solved a BUNCH of problems just this week. I've also IDENTIFIED important problems that organizations weren't even aware that they had ... and then solved them.

Isn't an outsider who identifies and solves problems what we call ... a coach? Ouch!

Player: "Why do I keep shanking the ball like that?"

Coach: "Because you keep dropping your right shoulder when you swing. Here watch this video of you that I just took."

It's a coach's external perspective that enables a quick, accurate diagnosis of a problem and a coach's experience that enables an effective solution.

Could the player just watch training videos and eventually reach the same solution? Sure, but what about the rest of THIS season? Time is money, after all.

Well, I think I've done enough damage to your thesis to demonstrate that it might need to be re-considered, but don't worry. No charge. ;)