Trials and tribulations of a life in education consultancy

This short note outlines some of the rewards and frustrations that have arisen during my 40 years as a consultant in education – mainly, but not entirely, in higher education. It is a personal picture, with no pretence to be an academic paper. It is illustrated by references based on my own experience rather than references to the work of others. The note considers consultancy projects in two parts: first, the set up stage before the work really begins, and then the analysis stage. A primary problem in the set up stage is to determine with true clarity who is actually the ‘client’ for the work and who is the ‘decision maker’ about it. This is often no easy task and the answer is rarely simple – especially for projects that are commissioned and paid for by one party, but with the claimed intention being that they are for the benefit of another. During the work, conflicts of objectives can appear that were not apparent at the start, sometimes between the parties, sometimes within them. Difficulties can also arise from being a ‘foreign’ consultant, in terms of needing to understand – and to take into account, the local culture and ways of doing things – not least, interpretations of corruption. Sometimes an attempt is made to ‘import’ a solution developed for one country into another, which in my view is a disgrace. A very rewarding ‘result’ for any consultancy work is for the ‘client’ to think that the answer developed is ‘obvious’. The note also reflects on the frequent uselessness of so-called ‘hard data’. The paper concludes by drawing on the 40 years to say a few brief words about the world of higher education and the importance of leadership both by and within universities. This is followed by four examples of issues in education more generally which, in my view, have not yet been satisfactorily resolved. It concludes with a brief note on my views as to whether it was all worth it. It was!