Skip to content

Resilience

When consulting lost its meaning

Sometimes I wonder when it happened. When consulting stopped being about solving problems and turned into selling time. When curiosity was replaced by sales targets. When advice became product. When relationships became strategy. Somewhere along the way, the craft disappeared.

It shows everywhere. Meetings filled with talk about rates, not value. Decks that promise more than they understand. Sales cultures hiding behind words like partnership, transformation, and innovation. The reality is simpler: it is not partnership, it is expansion. One consultant earns trust, and then more arrive. Not because the customer needs them, but because the model demands it. The more consultants in the room, the better the quarter looks.

What happens when pride and ideology stand in the way of progress and learning from history?

We like to think history teaches us. That every mistake leaves a mark deep enough to make us wiser next time. But I’m starting to doubt that. Watching the world today, in politics, in business, and in our own lives, I see the same pattern repeating: pride blocks learning, ideology blinds reason, and ego drives us toward collapse. This isn’t a rant. It’s an observation. Maybe even a confession. Because I see it everywhere, in leaders, in companies and in myself.