This is a guest post from Robby Slaughter, who runs a productivity consulting firm in Indianapolis.
You might have read Kyle’s recent blog post about hiring young consultants. There’s a big discussion on that post, as well as on Doug Karr’s original post. Here’s the core of the argument, cribbed from Doug’s post:
Companies that are investing in marketing consulting help need to identify consultants with experience working through diverse, cross-media marketing strategies that leverage each medium and maximize their investment and impact. That takes a consultant with much more experience [than a dime-a-dozen social media consultant].
And here’s Kyle’s response:
There should be a case made that results are paramount not experience. If a company hires someone with no experience and the person delivers… shouldn’t that be the only thing that matters?
I love Kyle and Doug both, but I gotta take this down a notch. Neither of these points of view represents a comprehensive and balanced philosophy.
For Doug: You don’t need to have a “diverse experience” to provide value. Heck, world-class marketing agencies and marketing departments bring in outside contractors to assist with execution all the time. The word “consultant” here just means that these hired guns do more than just implement—they are also expected to give opinions and come up with interesting ideas.
For Kyle: Yes, results matter. But whoever did JC Penney’s SEO earlier this year WAS wildly successful…until they got caught. The Titanic was the greatest ocean liner ever built…until it sank. Jayson Blair was a promising, up-and-coming reporter for the New York Times with several dozen national stories to his credit….until his blatant plagiarism came to light.. Results are important, but process is important too. In fact, process is more important than results.
So why are we having a fight? I think it’s really this word “consultant”, which is kind of a stupid word. I think “consultant” has this connotation of a genuine, top-notch expert who has vast knowledge in his or her field. Kyle’s own six-point list ends with “I do not implement and I am not a developer”, which further reinforces this definition. And Doug clearly thinks what makes for a consultant is the range of knowledge, which pretty much has to come from loads of practical work. I’m betting Doug will love this quote:
Good judgement comes from experience, and experience comes from bad judgment.
I gave away my advice to solve this problem in the title: Hire Young Expert Assistants, Hire Old Experienced Advisers. If you’re looking to bring in a consultant, ask yourself this question: Do I want someone to assist me with what I’ve already started and already somewhat understand, or do I need someone to advise me in an area where I have no real knowledge?
If you need just need assistance, hiring young is probably fine. If you need advice, hiring a grizzled veteran might be your best bet. Does that mean you shouldn’t hire Kyle Lacy for social media consulting? I would say he’s probably not quite as inexperienced as he might seem. After all, Kyle reported in his last post:
I worked my butt off, failed a ton (and I mean… a ton), and delivered some value to clients.
The chances are good that most of his tremendous client failures are out of the way. Kyle’s made lots of bad judgment calls, which means he’s got better judgment now! And as for Doug: well, you should absolutely hire his new media agency if you are looking for comprehensive strategic marketing advice. If you just need someone to schedule Tweets you’ve already planned: then a young assistant is just fine.
Battle over!
bellamarketing
Smart man Robby. Very balanced and very wise!
robbyslaughter
Thanks Bobbie!
twalker123
I think you make strong points on the term "consultant" you should check out my blog http://twalker123.wordpress.com/
Douglas Karr
First, you made the same mistake as Kyle – injecting the word "youth" into a conversation that had nothing to do with "youth". Second, I never said those without "diverse experience" lacked value… I am saying that those WITH DIVERSE EXPERIENCE have more. The problem with specialists is that they often miss the bigger picture. They fix one problem at the expense of another.
Understanding the entire ecosystem is key… especially in a market where all the marketing we do impacts the other marketing channels we have. If you 'lack the experience' to understand that, you can be pushing companies into some severe problems.
Case in point… social media folks are often telling large companies to 'jump right in' to social media. If you have a company that has a large volume of customer service issues and you have them dive into social media, you've just compounded the issue by providing a path for customers to expect service in PUBLICALLY that they may not have the infrastructure to support. As a result, the very medium which was going to hurt their marketing efforts is no proving to be a nightmare.
I really wish folks would stop paraphrasing my words and throwing their own spin on it. I would have gladly joined this conversation… you guys know how to get a hold of me.
viznry1
Not sure I agree with the "either or" strategy. Yes, I agree that experience is a key asset. Yes, I agree that there is no substitute for a young entrepreneur's creativity & "no holds barred" approach. There is no greater combination than old school & new school. Contrast the age gap between the majority of social media users & realize quickly that what has worked in the past will not always work in the future.
The Titanic was built with the greatest technology of that time. Would you ride in it today? How many die hards want to hop in an Amish buggy because it has a proven track record.
My recommendation – Hire both and you will gain the best of both.
Adiana
This is way better than a brick & mortar estabslihemnt.