Cowardly consultants

Scott Berkun is a guru, an author of three business bestsellers (most notably ‘Mindfire: Big Ideas For Curious Minds’) but he is brave and generous enough on his website (www.scottberkun. com) to help companies assess the consultants and gurus who promise to transform businesses.

His bullshit detecting method is simple. Berkun says just ask the advisers some straightforward questions. Have you done this yourself? How do you know what you know? When does the theory you are advocating not apply? And when did you last make a mistake and why? As Berkun says: “If they’re so smart and they’ve never failed, it means they are a coward.”