You know who is better: a consultant or a designer?

You might wonder, what does a designer have to do with a consultant?

Let me tell you, I’ve never believed that consultants are the ones to truly solve and innovate. I worked at a prominent consulting firm. And saw firsthand how they approach problem-solving.

Companies often seek consultants to help address their business challenges. My goal here is to help you understand which type of professional to turn to when you face a challenge.

Here is how it all started:

Early in the 19th century, consulting firms began to emerge. In response to the growing complexity of industrialization. Early focus was to help businesses improve efficiency and solve problems. Related to management and organizational structure.

Over time, they expanded their services to include finance, auditing, and market research.

With advancements in technology and the economy, consulting practices remained the same.

Relying on best practices. Using their past experience and industry-specific expertise to solve problems. Is a problem in itself. If you consider the meaning of 'consultant'.

It involves seeking an formed opinion. Based on someone's expertise. In a specific field, such as finance, manufacturing, or healthcare.

Because of the goodwill consulting firms have built over the last 100 years. Companies still seek their help. This is another problem—companies often don't know who to turn to for help.

Not every problem is solved by simply knowing the ins and outs of an industry. Yes, information helps in understanding a specific sector. But distinguishing between different types of problems is crucial to avoid wasting resources.

When companies hire a consultant for the wrong challenge. these projects often end up failing or going over budget.

This will result in:

• misalignment between stakeholders

• competing priorities

• wrong clarity and directions

• scope creep

This means not understanding which needs to address, the functional requirements, and the risks to avoid.

Implementation issues create chaos among stakeholders and teams. Causing confusion over roles and responsibilities. Under pressure to deliver within tight schedules and budgets. They ignore issues. And focus on delivery, resulting in broken solutions with a laundry list of problems.

The project either fails or goes over budget. The latter due to time and resources spent on figuring out where things went wrong.

Project Failure Rates

Source: pm360consulting

In my observation and experience. Consultants are not meant to innovate or create value

They lack design skills, mindset, and tools. Instead, they rely on what worked before or best practices based on business theory.

Solving a problem shouldn't be in the form of a recommendation; it should be tested and iterated. The solution should be ready to build and deliver.

Many companies don’t buy into the idea of using a designer to solve problems. They have a misconception about design. They often think of design as limited to graphic design, furniture, or interior design. But, business is also design.

By using designers, a company can save itself from losing market share and becoming irrelevant. It saves resources by achieving desired outcomes. Such as improving operations, products, and capabilities to meet customer needs. This helps differentiate the company from others, think different, and enhance its brand.

Learn to differentiate between the two so you know which one to hire based on your needs.

• A consultant is bound by a specific sector,

• while a designer is sector-agnostic.

• A consultant uses past best practices and domain knowledge to solve a problem.

• A designer uses research, understanding, analysis, and insight to uncover solutions.

• A consultant is business-centric.

• Design is human-centered, business-centric, and system-centric.

• A consultant is heavily focused on what has worked and what hasn't worked in the past.

• A designer considers barriers to avoid and prioritizes needs.

• A consultant focuses on pain points, efficiency, and finding solutions.

• A designer considers internal and external environments to tailor solutions that address both

If you need information specific to your sector, hire a specialized consultant.

If you want solutions that drive a confident future, hire a designer.

Thank you for reading. We’ll talk in the next letter.

Ahmed

P.S three things I can help you with:

1. High-level Discovery

A rapid, big-picture approach to set direction and align stakeholders. Ideal for: Projects needing quick alignment or initial direction-setting.

2. Guiding Discovery

Offering expert guidance and strategic recommendations. Ideal for: Projects seeking expert guidance to address specific challenges.

3. Deep Discovery

A comprehensive, in-depth discovery for complex challenges. Ideal for: Projects requiring thorough understanding and detailed planning.