In praise of excellence - Is there any real benefit to being outstandingly good at consultation?

Thirty years ago, an American management consultant from McKinsey became rich and famous when he wrote a series of best-selling business books, starting with In Search of Excellence. His name was Tom Peters, and he convinced a lot of people – though in later life his reputation has been sullied by allegations that some of the data in his seminal book was actually faked!

For those who believe that excellence is about values and beliefs rather than boring numbers, this may not matter too much. However, the battering taken by large organisations of all types in recent years has also taken the sheen off the excellence bandwagon, and given the priority now given to survival rather than quality, we hear rather less about it. For many managers, the goal now is to be as good as they need to be rather than as good as they possibly can be. Is there now any purpose in striving for excellence in anything?

Whatever the arguments in other fields, public consultation is one area where the case for excellence is very strong: -

• So many bodies do it badly, public trust and confidence is low. Those who demonstrably do it well are noticed and are accordingly more trusted. Let’s call this the Reputation argument.
• Pressures to take quick decisions, often without fully understanding their impact can lead to major mistakes. Effective consultation reduces the risks of blunders. One can view this as the Checks & Balances argument.
• Doing more with less – the endgame in most places by now – requires rigorous and defensible analysis, and foolproof processes for big decisions make a huge difference. This could be called the Status of Evidence argument.
• Managing change is crucially about convincing key stakeholders and motivating them to help rather than hinder! Great consultation matters here, and is the Stakeholder Confidence argument.

But why be excellent? Can’t it be enough just to be very good?

The answer is that excellence is normally a recognised standard observed by authoritative bodies who know the subject-matter and who can distinguish good from bad. Any system of recognition that has multiple grades (e.g. Good, Very Good, Excellent) leaves the outside observer unsure what’s wrong with anyone who fails to achieve the highest standard. Unlike hotels (where awarding bodies insist that ratings refer to the type of accommodation rather than its quality) business processes need to be good enough to command the respect and confidence of those who interface with them.

Public consultation is not very fault-tolerant. We can get it 95% right and still make one error that undermines the whole exercise. Nothing but the best possible standards can minimise risks sufficiently – and even then there is no absolute guarantee of success. Operational credibility needs trained professionals observing well-proven processes. If there is one over-riding reason for pursuing excellence in public consultation, it is the political advantage it confers. Ministers, Councillors, or anyone elected to anything strengthen their position if they can demonstrate a track record of genuine dialogue and constructive listening. Voters throughout western democracies have become cynical; they believe less and less of what leaders say. Increasingly they respect those who admit to uncertainties, and a skilful consultation enables administrations and the Managers they employ to take the temperature of the public mood before making controversial decisions.

This cannot happen unless they have taken the trouble and made a modest investment in developing their public engagement capability. The next question is whether what they have built is good enough, and finding an appropriate independent body or function to confirm it.

That external endorsement matters because although it is undoubtedly beneficial to perform one’s duties well, it is far more valuable if others can verify it.

Standards are inevitably rising, so what may have been good practice some years ago may not now be as impressive. A good Excellence Scheme encourages consultation practitioners to meet the latest expectations and tells everyone so ….

TRIGGER POINTS

• Does your organisation have a culture of excellence? Or is this now on a back-burner?
• Do colleagues and Managers appreciate the arguments for consultation excellence?
• Is there a political will to use consultation constructively?
• The Institute’s Partners in Consultation Excellence Scheme is available to members who are able to meet the required standards. For information, contact Jan Warner on 01767 318350

This is the 288th Tuesday Topic; a full list of subjects covered is available for Institute members and is a valuable resource covering so many aspects of consultation and engagement.