When You’re Hiring a Consultant, Does Education Experience Matter?
“We want a fresh perspective, so we selected a consultant who has never worked in education before.”
That’s something we occasionally hear from someone who is calling to tell us that they hired another firm. They believe a consultant who works with other kinds of clients will deliver a different solution, one that they wouldn’t get from us or other firms who work primarily with schools, colleges, and universities.
Pardon me, but I’m skeptical.
It’s true that some consultants who work in .edu do seem to crank out work that looks very similar (though most don’t). But much more importantly, I haven’t seen a whole lot of evidence of fresh thinking or new perspectives in the websites, viewbooks, brand work, and other products emerging from the partnerships with consultants with that vaunted experience outside education.
Why is that the case? Here are some hypotheses:
- Schools, colleges and universities are complex institutions. So consultants who haven’t worked in .edu need to learn the business. But more importantly, they need to understand the culture. And it’s not easy to understand how to operate within the unique culture of an institution where power is diffuse, decision-making is often unclear, and relationships can be complicated. Even with a firm grasp on these dynamics, it can be hard to move the needle. So consultants that don’t understand colleges and universities have a pretty steep learning curve.
- By their nature, colleges and universities are conservative institutions. Most are unwilling to step too far out ahead of their peers—to take too many chances. So even when some people at an institution say they want something different, when it comes down to final decisions, they’ll likely opt for the safer option rather than the riskier one.
- Even if institutions are willing to sign off on a risk, key constituents aren’t. I can think of many examples in our own work where edgy designs-
considered front-runners by the staff members we were working withhave been rejected after testing with target visitors and constituents. Or the college staff who told us “No purple on our web design!” and changed their minds when alumni missed their school color. And despite all the talk about the changing needs and interests of web audiences, there are certain standards and practices that work-and our testing shows that people want those standards maintained.
So, does experience in education really matter when you’re hiring a consultant? I believe it does. Here are some ways in which consultants with .edu experience bring value to a project:
- A consultant’s experience in working in education will help you avoid mistakes of regression specific to independent school, college and university projects. Having a history of what’s been done before and how best practices have evolved-
especially on the web and in print-can save you a lot of time and money. - A consultant’s experience provides you with cover. You may know what you need (or think you do), but there’s a big difference between having the right solution and selling it to the people whose support you need to make it happen. Fair or unfair, hearing feedback or recommendations from a consultant with years of experience in education may hold more weight with your colleagues, helping you lay the groundwork for positive change at your institution.
- The consultant’s past work helps them to understand the culture of education and the challenge of building consensus in an environment where decisions are influenced by, if not determined by, many voices. A consultant with experience in education will be familiar with the way things do (and don’t) get done in an environment like yours and can be a strong ally helping you to navigate your institution’s peculiar obstacle course.
What do you think?
I think it depends on the project, but in large part wholeheartedly agree that hiring a consultant who has worked with other higher ed organizations - the extent of which - is critically important when deciding what firm I go with for a particular project.
In addition, many university’s have “experts” on their own staff, but it takes an outside “expert” to drive home particular points. Having extensive knowledge and experience in higher ed to go along with that expert advice/opinion carries a lot of weight with administrators.
We’re a beast of our own here in higher ed-land and it takes being in the industry to know how to work well within and manage the nuances along the way.
Posted on September 30, 2009 by Rachel Reuben
I think that there needs to be a commitment to understanding the higher ed culture. I think non-higher ed agencies might be able to figure that out, but without a commitment and a concerted desire to actually learn it, there’s not going to be the sort of knowledgebase necessary to really succeed working with institutions.
There is a need for fresh perspective, blood, ideas, etc., but that comes from understanding what’s been “done before” and how to take those experiences and build on them to create something game-changing.
Posted on September 30, 2009 by Ron
This is spot on. We worked with a consultant and were overall very happy with them, but ultimately decided they lacked that extra understanding of higher ed that we needed for the project to be most effective.
Posted on September 30, 2009 by Anthony Bosio
Rachel, I’ve often said to clients that one of our roles as consultants is to enhance their credibility with their colleagues and bosses so they can “own” the solution we’re creating. We won’t do that when we disagree, as we sometimes do; but it’s much more often the case that they’ve had keen insights about something, insights that we can validate via our experience with other institutions. And you’re right: outsiders frequently miss the nuances that someone better-acquainted with institutional culture will pick up.
Ron, the commitment you refer to is essential—and it costs money. That means that an agency is going to have to charge their client to learn their culture. It’s one thing to do that on a consumer products account, where an agency is looking at millions in revenue. But the budgets for our projects is a little smaller—well, a *lot* smaller. I agree that fresh blood and new perspectives are essential, though. One thing I’ve always appreciated about mStoner’s client mix is that it’s very diverse, which means that we have to solve different kinds of problems for different kinds of institutions. One size doesn’t fit all. I hope that’s one way we bring new perspectives to our projects.
Anthony, thanks for your comment!
Posted on October 1, 2009 by Michael Stoner
Very true. I once saw a non-edu marketing consultant try to brand a university with a new six-color logo that showcased the “parade of colors seen in academic regalia.” Let’s just say that there was a lot of pieces to pick up from that experience.
Posted on October 1, 2009 by Anonymous
Great post Michael. Speaking for those who give our lives to consulting colleges and universities, this is an eloquent articulation of our value. I would add that for many of us the main reason we work in higher ed is that we believe in the product. Whether I’m working with a major public university or a small Baptist college with 1,000 students, I never doubt the value of what I helping them sell—as I might if I were dealing with an athletic shoe company. Higher education offers inarguable value and is a cornerstone of American culture. As consultants we get it wrong sometimes—we are only human, after all—but we’re always honored to play a role in moving higher education forward.
Posted on October 2, 2009 by Fritz McDonald
Anonymous: Ouch. That interesting, painful, and expensive experience.
Fritz: it’s true, we work for great clients, don’t we? It’s always terrific getting up in the morning knowing that our work has an impact on organizations that do important work and have such a significant effect on people’s lives.
Thanks for your comment!
Posted on October 2, 2009 by Michael Stoner
Another thought about this: I’ve asked via listservs, Twitter and blog posts for leads about “schools” that are doing interesting things with social media. In the comments and emails I’ve gotten are ones from vendors touting work they’ve done for a college and two universities.
I suppose that I could have been more specific in my request, but most people understood that I was asking for information about “independent schools” and not using “school” as a generic term for “colleges and universities.” I don’t quite understand why institutions work with vendors who can’t even categorize them properly.
Posted on October 8, 2009 by Michael Stoner