The Dangerous Company Checklist (Dangerous Company by Charles Madigan):
- Why are you doing this? The more clearly the goal is defined, the greater the chance of reaching it.
- That being achieved, ask yourself, do I need outsiders to help reach this goal? Don’t forget to assess the brilliance within your company before you go trying to buy some from outside.
- If I hire a consulting company, which characters will they send? Be ruthless in this part of the process.
- What will it cost? (And how long will it take?) Avoid open-ended arrangements and vague promises.
- Never give up control. The best consulting engagements do not take over operation, they complement them.
- Don’t be unhappy for even a day. Consultants do not answer to boards of directors, you do. At these prices, happiness should be assumed.
- Beware of glib talkers with books. Insist on tailor-made consulting engagements that recognize the unique nature of your business.
- Value your employees. Long after the consultants leave, your staff will be on board. How they feel about the outsiders has a lot to do with whether the engagement will work.
- Measure the process. Make certain you have your own internal measure of how a procedure is progressing. Find someone you trust who knows what a devil’s advocate is and let him monitor the consulting process.
- If it’s not broke, don’t try to fix it.
Summary: Here is an infallible rule: a prince who is not himself wise cannot be wisely advised…Good advice depends on the shrewdness of the prince who seeks it, and not the shrewdness of the prince on good advice. – Niccolo Machiavelli, The Prince
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