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American astronaut Scott Kelly holds the distinction of having spent an entire year aboard the ISS. His book, Endurance, contains recurring passages that take place the ISS’s cupola, a section of the space station where he and his crew-members were offered panoramic views of the Earth and the cosmos. From this perch, one could reflect on the smallness of our little blue marble against the infinity of space.

Such parallels come to mind when we’re asked to describe how management consulting fits into the greater realm of “professional services.” From our cupola, we can look down on a very defined set of services that are as familiar to us as the continents and oceans of Earth. Gaze in the other direction and we see a black void that takes in everything from tax and legal, to engineering/infrastructure, construction, and beyond.

For years, management consultants enjoyed a certain smugness when being compared to the greater professional services world. They were “management engineers” and “advisors” who “recommended” solutions to vexing problems. Note the characterizations all contained a certain slipperiness that deflected a level of accountability.

Now we have a universe where ecosystems connect, and “results” have become management consultants’ mantra. What does that mean? Well, much like our little world connects with millions of other galaxies, management consulting must connect more directly with the broader world of professional services to remain relevant.

Larger firms have been adapting to this in certain areas (re: the rise of Digital agencies). And we’re seeing the same from engineering companies that want to advise on the business case for building bridges and roads. Worlds are colliding with often mixed results.

Clients, meanwhile, want us to tell them the differences between providers purporting to offer the same service. You can hear more of these thoughts in our February 16 state-of- the-industry webinar “The Changing Face of Management Consulting.” Likewise, our research that rates and sizes consulting markets is becoming more inclusive to non-traditional players.

There are limits in management consulting, and not everyone can lay claim to being an expert. But our world has expanded considerably, and those who don’t see the same must not be looking out the right windows.
Note: An eagle-eyed reader noted in last week’s column that it was DA Harvey Dent who assumed the alter-ego of Two-Face. My memory stands corrected!