Ethnography is the study of a particular human society. The important point for consultants is that it is almost entirely based on fieldwork and uses both quantitative and qualitative methods. It involves the person carrying out the study (usually an anthropologist) to immerse themselves in the culture and everyday life of the society they are studying. That’s why effective consultants use ethnography.
Here’s where so many consultants go wrong. The real things they should be looking at in an organisation do not happen in the board room based around coffee in the best cups, they happen where the action takes place. Effective consultants need to embed themselves on the shop floor, in the call centre or on the construction site etc.
There is a whole area of ethnography known as business ethnographic research. This is usually used to identify the true market demands of customers, but good consultants realise that to be effective they must use the embed technique every time. Numbers on reports, at best, tell a tiny percentage of the true situation. There is no substitute for actually being there and seeing for yourself.
Next time you are involved with a consultant check very carefully how much time is actually spent in the area being considered. We need effective consultancy not just more of the same old theoretical stuff. Consultants must understand the thing on which they are consulting. One size does not fit all.
Make sure that your consultant “gets their hands dirty”.
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