CEOs pay consultants by the thousands only to turn around and waste their time
After you, the consultant, has gone to great lengths in preparing a detailed proposal, provided copious notes, and reiterated your concerns a million times over, your client is dissatisfied with progress, or lack thereof. Here’s the kicker; the lack of progress is related to the client’s inability to provide information in a timely fashion. In those instances, I like to share an analogy of the Butcher’s $23-a-pound filet mignon.
On your way home from work you decide to yourself, “I’m going to treat my family to filet mignon.” You swing by the butcher and all you can think about is sinking your teeth into some Grade “A” Beef. You can barely contain yourself as you enter the store. Sam the butcher is brimming ear-to-ear as you order 3-pounds of his amazing filet mignon. Sam wraps up your meat, and you’re out the door. You get home, fire up the barbecue, and throw on your filet mignon. As soon as you do, the kids want to play, the phone rings, you come across a cute cat video on YouTube. These are all important aspects of your life, but you’re forgetting… you’ve got a couple of expensive filet mignon on the grill. After all these distractions you go outside only find your beautiful filet mignons are on the north-side of ‘Hockey Puck.’ You bring your hockey puck filet mignon back to Sam and bemoan, “Do you think these shriveled-up pieces of meat are worth $23 a pound?”
The moral of the story is that when you drag your feet, your consultant’s ability to fill your belly with yumminess decreases expeditiously. Every time you overlook an action item, you’re burning your filet mignon. So, let’s be honest; when you don’t get that beautiful, medium-well, just the right color of pink inside, piece of Americana in your mouth … you are the only one to blame. Results are the children of progress, and progress is nurtured through diligence.
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