It is quite common to be asked, “What exactly IS consulting?” There are many ways to answer this question and it would be dishonest to suggest a single definition. Webster’s dictionary defines consulting as the act of “providing professional or expert advice”. This definition is accurate yet fails to provide the depth and context of the world of consultancy. Consultants vary greatly by industry, project, geography, expertise, and the diversity of client needs. Therefore, I will speak about my experience in hopes that it will illuminate the multi-faceted nature of this profession.
Having worked and studied at higher education institutions for over 20 years, there is something that makes my spine chill every time I step on a college campus. College campuses are history. As Slosson (1910) stated, “It is impossible to ignore history… All the walls are covered with it. The buildings are genealogical museums. Paintings, bas reliefs, inscriptions, windows, relics, manuscripts, and similar memorabilia catch the attention of the visitor wherever he goes.” For me, it represents learning, growth, culture, hope, innovation, change, resilience, and history. The list of influences of higher education are infinite. Throughout history, higher education institutions have responded to societal demands with a “remarkable display of imaginative adjustment, academic soul searching, and sound educational thinking… [and] have often led the way in an organizational transformation that is consequential to American Life” (Thelin, 2011). Therefore, I have been thrilled to be a part of an institution that touches so many lives and globally interacts with the world in a plethora of ways.
Every stage in the history of higher education has been viewed as a critical time. Decisions made today are critical not only for today, but for tomorrow’s educational landscape. Higher education is continually tasked with responding to outside influences and trends occurring in the world. Demands from technology, shifts in learner profiles, adaptation to real-world demands on faculty, administrators, students, stewards, and donors… all of these factors are critical. For this very reason, consulting in the educational arena becomes an exhilarating endeavor. As a consultant, I have the opportunity to engage with higher education in a new way that is not limited by a department, college, functional area, or position. Each time I step on a campus, I get to meet new stakeholders, partner with new clients, and learn from some of the best minds on the planet. I get to assess situations and landscapes, collaboratively determine paths of action, and implement solutions. I get to reflect on history, examine the current state of an institution, and be an impetus for change, growth, and innovation. As I float across campuses, I constantly snap photos of mascots, icons, historical buildings, people, and one of my favorites, campus trees, to fuel my thinking and understanding of the campus, its history, and organizational culture.
When I mention that I am a consultant, I am often met with eye-rolling, shifting body language, or sarcastic musings about the generic nature of consultancy. My experience is all but generic! As a consultant at Transforming Solutions, it means being a dynamic change agent. It means being a transformation partner, collaborator, thought partner, and leader. The outcomes of our work include improving efficiency, growth, quality, and performance through the examination of processes, technology, and the use of people. Daily, I am tasked with pulling from my prior experiences and knowledge to apply concepts to new contexts. We work with clients to target gaps, problems, challenges, or ideas in order to scale with efficiency and strategic alignment, identify and implement key improvements, and maintain a “high challenge”, results-, solution-, and client-centric approach to our work.
I was once told, “If it doesn’t work, stop doing it.” Though this is a seemingly simplistic statement, it is quite complex in implementation. As consultants, we consistently seek ways to help others achieve meaningful change. We are often hired to first illuminate that “something that doesn’t work” or identify where a gap or opportunity for improvement might exist. Then we uncover why it doesn’t work, why the gap exists, or the reason the opportunity is needed. Finally, we find possible implementable solutions to make it, or something new work, evolve, change, or develop. At times, we are not given the it, the context of why, or the how. This is the brilliant challenge of being a consultant. We get to take the unknown, the unliked, the difficult, or the feared and mold it to something manageable, adoptable, usable, and functional. We are privileged to be creative, solve problems innovatively, resolve conflicts, listen, find answers, build foundations, lead transformations, grow cultures, establish balance, and find methods to put square pegs into round holes or create new pegs and holes altogether. I get to thrive in a world of creation, innovation, learning, and transformation, a world my colleagues and I like to refer to as the world of rainbows and unicorns. We get to illuminate processes, technology, and environments that could be with our help. Being a higher education consultant is being a creator. Welcome to our world!
To learn more about Transforming Solutions, the types of projects with which we engage, or inquire about how we can help you or your organization, please visit TSI’s website or contact our team! There are many reasons why using a team of consultants can benefit you. We at TSI are always eager to do what we do best… provide consultancy focused on people, processes, and technology!
Works Cited
Slosson, E. (1910).Great American Universities. New York: Macmillan.
Merriam-Webster. (2019). Retrieved from https://www.merriam-webster.com/
Thelin, J.R. (2011). The History of American Higher Education. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.
