But, how do you measure the success of your consulting approach?
“How do you measure success?” is one of the most raised questions when we give a talk or podcast about Conscious Consulting. The way this question is phrased suggests that success can’t actually be measured: because the approach is based on intangible values and principles, people can’t wrap their heads around how to measure it or prove that it works—as if it were something airy and immeasurable.
Well, here is the answer: you measure success of this our consulting projects like any other project. It is very simple and straightforward.
When clients come to us, they have a problem and, hopefully, a goal. If they don’t, we work with them to make the goal more specific. We define criteria to guide the process, track the project’s progress, and measure results in the short, medium, and long term.
The criteria depend entirely on the nature of the project, the question, the goals.
So if, for example, the goal is to work on a new governance and organizational structure of a law firm, that has outgrown its founding governance, has now 50 partners and wants to create broader participation and empowerment in its governance, we can measure the success like that:
- is there a new governance?
- does it meet the criteria?
- is it working?
The simpler, the better. Simplicity is one of our core principles. We can’t beat complexity with complicatedness; only simplicity, in terms of reduction and “essentialism” as we call it, can do it.
When I work with a team on communication patterns and efficiency, we begin by establishing a baseline in the areas they consider important. To quantify qualitative topics, we sometimes use a 1-10 scale and ask people to rate, for example, the quality of their interactions. We track changes throughout the project and use these data points for long-term evaluation.
If the challenge is innovation, speed, and performance against major competitors, we’ll measure market outcomes: sales, customer feedback, and quality.
When discussing improvements to leadership culture, we’ll regularly talk with employees and owners, review feedback data and employee satisfaction surveys, and create our own online surveys.
During a change project, we build in feedback loops, such as short online surveys called “Change monitoring,” with qualitative and quantitative questions.
Just because it’s called Conscious Consulting doesn’t mean we don’t care about the impact we have or the outcomes we deliver for our clients—quite the opposite. We’re very conscious of how funds are used and what results they achieve. Treat consulting like any other investment: examine the return on investment and assess whether it’s worthwhile. Sometimes success can be measured in profits, but only if that was the goal. Other times, the goal might be fewer fluctuations, improved wellbeing, or greater effectiveness governance.
An improvement in profits should be a side-effect in most projects that will show up over time, if not immediately.
When we work with our clients, we look at their situation from a holistic perspective and define broader criteria rather than relying on narrow definitions. Because our approach addresses complex situations rather than linear problems, our measurements need to be more complex too.
Consulting should have a defined exit scenario
However, a clear starting point, goals, and criteria are necessary to define and create a meaningful consulting process and project. It needs a beginning, a middle, and an exit point. This doesn’t mean we can’t return over time to continue the work, but we don’t create never-ending processes. At some point, clients need to be left alone to do their work.
I could go on and on, but I trust you get the point. Measurements combine hard facts, quantitative and qualitative data, and feedback we didn’t even realize we were measuring. Feedback like, “The qaulity of our conversations have massively improved” hints at higher levels of trust, deeper connections, and a shared sense of meaning.
So, yes, we not only can measure success of Conscious Consulting, but we do measure success.
Is Conscious Consulting the “better” approach? Well, it depends.
It depends on the situation and the questions being asked, but I can’t prove it—and I’m comfortable with that. Clients are free to choose what and who feels right for them. I believe we have the greatest impact when our values and intentions align with theirs. In some contexts, we may far outperform other consulting approaches; in others, we may not.
In the context of complex and uncertain situations, where the first step in a consulting project is to define the problems and key questions, we believe we have a “better” approach because we create deep transformations that last, not superficial changes and adjustments.
The foggier and more complex the situation, the more value Conscious Consulting can contribute.
