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Consultancy, the balance between doing your job and doing the right thing.

Writer's picture: john snelljohn snell

The dog eared NMTeaB card
The dog eared NMTeaB card

If you haven't deciphered the NMT(ea)B acronym, despite the heavy clues provided by font and text on my biz card, then let me enlighten you. The Sex pistols album "Never Mind the Bollocks" was a disruptive artistic statement in it's time and the sentiment behind the punk movement is one that resonated with me then and now.

Don't be afraid to be contrary and disrupt the status quo (not the band) , if you believe something!

Decades later (and a few hairstyle and colour changes on), I consider the epitaph of punk to be "Honest Bravery" and quite foreign to the world of consultancy where established norms have a habit of being followed, expected and accepted, muting this rawer approach to change.





We should first ask why companies employ consultants? Herewith a few


1.A new venture or an existing entity exploring a new business direction


2.The internal skill set does not exist within a company to analyze internal/external conditions to remediate issues of their current activities..


3.The internal skillset exists but there is disagreement on the analysis and/or the direction forward


  1. A 3rd party has been tasked with a complex body of work, for which many external cross-functional capabilities are required, not all of which exist internally.

These occasions may "happen" to a Government an NGO, a commercial entity, a cooperative or, in fact, any singular person or body that is engaged in any activity, commercial or otherwise.


These are reasons why consultants may be hired but what about the aim of the consultants in plying their trade? One could suggest the existence of a sacred trinity:


1.Win the bid!


2.Fulfill the contracted obligation satisfactorily; your reputation demands it!


3.Complete the project within the budget, time and other resources costed.


Based on the above, there is, conceivably , an incompatibility between the needs of customers and that of consultancies as the needs of the latter may lead to a distortion of the best outcome, as the Bid, Win, Execute and Get out cycle drives towards pathways of least resistance.


Built into the Consultant's DNA is the reuse of models built over the course of consultancy history. sold validly as"Best practice" but this can be dangerous: It is not the quality of experience that is the issue, merely the insistence that these successful prior conditions and prior knowledge trumps a customer's specific conditions.


The requirement to enhance the reputation of a consultancy, demands a positive outcome. This can lead to the building of theoretical models that for expediency's sake do not fully ask, grasp or invest in the local conditions but do show positive outcomes in isolation.


In the field. Consultancy at work
In the field. Consultancy at work

So, where does that leave us tea consultants and industry customers?

Like others in my shoes, I have been involved in every variant above and can safely say that I have lived by the NMTB acronym BUT it has not made me rich!

I have blown off work, particularly when someone wants a reason to plant out more tea, and I have repelled borders when it comes to getting involved with schemes that pay well but are, either, disingenuous or misplaced in offering long term viability to those individuals and entities relying on a positive outcome for their livelihood.


I would like to think that honesty pays but saying "No" instead of "Great idea and here's how" is not very helpful or appealing. So how to strike a balance?


As consultants and, let's ditch this noun for another, "S.M.E" (special matter expert) we need to be more imaginative and understanding of what is being asked of us. You may disagree but, for the most part we are employed for our experience and/or access in a specific field. that the client wants to enter, leave or optimize.


I feel strongly that to abuse this trust, for that is what it is, by not resolving to be honest, irrespective of the impact to the sacred trinity, is akin to flying a passenger plane towards a mountain and jumping out (with parachute) prior to impact.

Overly dramatic?

Pretty unlikely?

Yes but having responsibility for directing industries that impact many more lives, than a passenger plane can hold, is just as responsible and requires that honest bravery or is it simply imagination and empathy.

Despite the many exemplary projects undertaken by consultants, how can things go wrong for the industry when consultants are driven by the sacred trinity rather than acting in the best interests of it?


Increased productivity in isolation. It may be the ask but honest evaluation of the market would have cultivated a more nuanced approach; utilizing increased productivity to manage diversification of land use, without loss or increase of crop, maybe?


The insistence that market access relies on one certification or another, rather than that the access to market for a specific production has to be proven to exist before compelling anyone to expend/expand resources on the onerous requirements of certificates, irrespective of our bottom up beliefs.


Managing costs through the introduction of mechanical harvesters without consideration for the loss to labour or potential changes to quality that may or may not invalidate the output from existing customers.


If you take offence to any of the above, good! I would like to think that I have not given any consultant enough credit and that we are all doing our absolute best. For potential customers, consultants are worth consideration too: fresh eyes, variable expense and experiences beyond your horizon are valuable assets to consider bringing in help for but clarify your intentions and consider the ripples of that action, rather than leaving that to your contract hire.

Finally, irrespective of your thoughts on the above, it doesn't hurt to remind we consultants/SMEs of the contract of trust and the legacies that we leave behind.


Good people, great trade. Worth preserving!
Good people, great trade. Worth preserving!








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