How Would You Do It?

My job isn’t to show up with all of the answers, although I sometimes have experience with a previous client who was also trying to do what you’re trying to do. Usually, and counter-intuitively, my job is to show up with questions – frame the discussion, define the problems, and coordinate the solutions.

The projects I’ve had of which I’m most proud have all started with the client trusting me enough to give me the leeway in determining how I could best add value. They let me discover where their staff was experiencing pain, what processes were broken, and what was being overlooked. It’s not that they didn’t know what was happening in their companies; it’s that they had enough confidence in their colleagues and in their own leadership to let an outsider poke around. They knew that a little extra investment up front would pay dividends at the end of the project. If they had wanted someone to come in and simply perform a set of tasks, I’m guessing they would have hired a temp.

I know that this has a strong whiff of arrogance, but I mention it because you could, right now, be getting a lot more out of your vendors by simply asking them, “How would you do this?”