How Open Are Blue Chip Consulting Firms
June 30, 2009
I found ReadWriteWeb’s article “Becoming An Open Enterprise: Five Lessons from Booz Allen Hamilton” a thought starter. The hook for the article was Booz Allen Hamilton’s winning an award at the Enterprise 2.0 conference. Awards are good. These help attract exhibitors and generate news about an organization or person who otherwise may not be on the radar.
The thought starter part was the idea that open and blue chip consulting go together. I think that is a stretch. The use of technology in controlled situations is one thing. The way in which blue chip consulting firms’ operate is quite another.
I would assert that ReadWriteWeb is not in touch with the closed nature of the top tier consulting firms. For example, Booz Allen has had a contentious history among its partners. The most recent version of the venerable firm is that its partners agreed to divide the company. The “real” consultants with MBAs and a McKinsey envy went one way. The technology and government consultants went another. So, consulting mitosis and the discussions about this split are and probably never will be “open”.
Second, the Booz Allen receiving the award does work for various governments. That work – even if not covered by the plastic wrap of security – is not likely to be discussed widely even within the firm. In fact, in blue chip consulting companies, power is information. Access to information, therefore, is not open. Partners husband information to protect the client, the method, and their bonuses. Some of the implicitly security makes Apple look positively chatty.
Third, the technology on display and available for “voters” or “judges” to review is designed to make sales. The idea is that a blue chip consulting firm sells by being perceived as a thought leader. Whizzy new technology presented with an “aw shucks” it was nothing along with dollops of “we know how you can use this to succeed” makes sales. Remember. The fees for this blue chip wizardry is high, even in government engagements.
Recycling the five precepts makes for a good news story. That was the purpose of the entire exercise. Openness is controlled. Openness is not part of the way in which blue chip outfits work. I think ReadWriteWeb is helping the Booz Allen consultants make sales.
I was a laborer in the BAH vineyard, and I think more folks covering the high end firms should dig into the methods of these outfits.
Stephen Arnold, June 30, 2009
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