Consulting is like Inception

 

Today I was having a chat with my sponsor at ThoughtWorks. We were discussing the fine nuances of consulting, in particular how to tiptoe the line between pushing for your opinion to be heard and acknowledging when to concede or just to let the client do what the client wants to do, even if you know it's not the best practice at the end of the day. 

Him: yeah we see the problems
Him: and we know how to solve them
Him: but that's not how the world works
Me: *sigh* sadly not
Him: you gotta play their game just enough to get inside it and change it
Me: like inception

This "consulting is like Inception" concept is definitely not a novel one (I know because I Googled it and wiser consultants than me have ruminated the comparison all over the internetz), but it's an analogy worth restating. A large part of being a consultant is getting situated and comfortable within the client site before you're able to even attempt to enact any influences or changes. This includes everything from building trust from the client to getting used to their cafeteria food, and it is only after such a foundation solidifies that consultants can then effectively well, do their job.

Just like Leonardo DiCaprio and co. worked so hard to plant the tinest nuance of an idea in their target's subconscious, so do consultants dig themselves into the client site and attempt to enact change within its confines and limits. And just like the characters of Inception encountered unexpected obstacles and risks and had to pull out from time to time, so do consultants have to deal with letting go of their own ideas, as right as they may seem, for the greater good of keeping the peace and maintaining trust with the client.

(Gap analysis: their obstacles were cool, like avalanches and cars falling into water, and ours are significantly more banal by comparison. Also I haven't met anybody who looks like Joseph Gordon-Levitt on the job yet, which in my personal opinion is totally unfair.)