Bridging the Gap: Integrating Lessons from Practitioners and Business Consultants

In modern business administration, a business “practitioner” is someone who has practical experience -and expertise- in the field of business administration. A practitioner may work in a variety of roles, usually responsible for managing resources, developing strategies, and implementing procedures to help organizations achieve their goals. By contrast, a business “advisor” is usually a management consultant who provides expert advice and guidance to organizations on how to improve their management practices and achieve their goals. Management consultants may have knowledge in areas such as strategy, operations, finance, or human resources, and they work closely with clients to identify opportunities for improvement and implement solutions to complex business scenarios.

By virtue of life, I have been fortunate enough to be both a formally educated, theoretical Business Administrator (MBA) who enjoys consulting, business mentoring and corporate coaching, while also building a career as a hands-on leader, the accountable person responsible for delivering; a real-life business practitioner. In this post, I am not ranting or raving at “practitioners” or “advisors”. I am also not taking sides on being a professional “generalist” versus a “specialist”, both roles are needed and much respected in modern organizations. But having said that, I do feel each professional and “role angle” to management can learn very important lessons from the other. Here, I want to lay out some key differences I can identify, distilled from my experience on both sides of the field. Let's see what my “consultant” and “practitioner” selves can teach each other.

Business administration practitioners and entrepreneurs may have a diverse range of skills and knowledge, including finance, marketing, human resources, operations, and information technology. They may also have specialized expertise in particular areas, such as supply chain management, project management, or data analytics. In order to be successful in modern business administration, practitioners must stay up-to-date with the latest industry trends and best practices, as well as have strong communication, leadership, and problem-solving skills. They must also be able to adapt to changing market conditions, economic trends, and technological advancements to help organizations thrive and succeed. However, sometimes business practitioners loose perspective on the wider picture, falling prey to the problem of focusing on the trees and not noticing the forest.

Business practitioners can learn a lot from business consultants by adopting their analytical thinking, communication skills, strategic thinking, project management skills, and commitment to continuous learning. Let's take a closer look at these:

• Analytical thinking: Business consultants are trained to analyze complex problems and develop data-driven solutions. Business practitioners can learn to apply data to inform their decision-making and identifying the root causes of problems.
• Communication skills: Business consultants communicate their findings and recommendations clearly and effectively to clients. Practitioners can learn how to explain complex concepts in simple terms and present information in a compelling way. Kudos for those amazing slides!
• Strategic thinking: Business consultants help organizations develop and execute their strategic plans. Practitioners can learn to think more strategically by focusing on long-term goals, anticipating future trends and changes, and identifying opportunities for growth, instead of having a short-term “survival mode” vision and mindset.
• Project management: Business consultants often work on complex projects with multiple stakeholders and tight deadlines. Practitioners can improve their project management skills, by applying agile business practices, setting realistic timelines, and communicating effectively with team members on progress.
• Continuous learning: Business consultants are constantly learning and staying up-to-date with the latest industry trends and best practices. Practitioners can adopt this mindset by seeking out new learning opportunities, attending conferences or networking, and continuously improving their skills and knowledge. Of course, regardless of the role, you still need to be naturally curious and interested in learning.

In turn, consultants can learn a lot from business practitioners by gaining practical insights based on experience, improving their collaboration skills (specially in agile organizations), developing cultural awareness and acknowledging its influence in boosting organizational spirit, developing sound implementation expertise, and focusing on practical solutions, delivery and go-to-market sense of urgency. By learning these skills from practitioners, consultants can understand better their clients and develop the rapport that helps them provide more effective and valuable services. Let's dive deeper:

• Practical experience: Business practitioners have direct experience in their field and understand the day-to-day operations of a business. Experience cannot be improvised.
• Collaboration skills: Business practitioners often work closely with team members, clients, and stakeholders. Consultants can learn from this by improving their collaboration skills, building relationships, facilitating group discussions, and moderating consensus around solutions.
• Cultural awareness: Business practitioners often have a deep understanding of the cultural norms and values of their company or industry. Consultants can develop the understanding of the nuances of culturally diverging approaches to work, and the unique challenges faced by businesses operating in different regions or countries. By the way, if you haven't, please don't miss reading "The Culture Map" by Erin Meyer.
• Implementation expertise: Business practitioners are often responsible for implementing solutions and driving change within their organizations. Consultants can learn from this by accruing implementation expertise, identifying potential risks, and developing mitigation strategies to ensure successful solution implementation.
• Practical solutions: Business practitioners often focus on practical, hands-on solutions that can be implemented quickly and effectively. Consultants can learn to offer practical solutions that are tailored to their clients' specific needs, and that can be implemented quickly and with minimal disruption to their business operations. Consultants should be more adaptable when faced with organizational challenges.

In modern enterprises you do not need to rely or address exclusively practitioners or consultants to solve specific business problems and challenges. These roles are not “mutually exclusive”. In my view, practitioners should become better internal organizational advocates and change promoters by embracing a “consultant” mindset. Conversely, business consultants, should be more practical while understanding the real-world implications of dealing with “real-world” people who are ultimately the ones responsible for driving change and business transformation.?

Are you a business practitioner or business consultant that is willing to risk looking (and trying) at the other side of the fence? Rapport and empathy, paired with a genuine disposition to learn and experiment with the other “role angle”, can be capitalized by stronger, engaged, and more conscious leaders that are able to better understand and positively impact organizational development. Who says you cannot take the best of both worlds?

This article is part of a series of documented reflections on agile transformation and digital business. If you liked this article, please comment and share. Thanks for reading, you can find me as @gamorocho on Twitter.