Unemployment is the biggest economic problem we have right now, and consultancy is the obvious solution. Anyone can set up as a consultant on just about anything, apart from the great monopolies of medicine and law. You can buy the skills of an ex-architect or an ex-computer programmer, an ex-banker, or even an ex-executive for a tiny fraction of what they would have cost when they had real jobs.
There are at least a million professional consultants in the United States, many of them victims of downsizing, mergers, or corporate collapse. "Doing some consultancy work" sounds better than "unemployed," but it seems like an awful waste of talent. On the other hand unemployment is moment of opportunity, a chance to break out of the concrete-and-glass strait jacket, and do something interesting with your life at last. Karl Marx was all set for a quiet academic life as a professor at the University of Bonn when he was thrown out in 1841, after which he had a long and satisfying career as chief consultant to the International Communist Conspiracy.
A consultant, by definition is a superior kind of person, who has special knowledge that other people want. Sherlock Holmes was not just a detective, but a "consulting detective," which enormously increased the prestige of that irregular profession. In the British health care system, the Consultant is the highest form of medical life. He even drops the "Doctor" from his name and reverts to plain "Mr." as a sign that he is beyond the need for titles. In Britain, if the doctor gives up on you, the chances are you will be fine. If the Consultant says your case is hopeless you are as good as dead. His dignity requires it.
Consultants exist to fix all the things in our lives and businesses that don't work, or that we don't understand. There are consultants on garden design, beauty, interior decoration, educational choice, what to do about your cat's bad habits, resumé writing, child discipline (a bit of a lost cause, that one), computers, financial planning, and just about every frustrating problem of everyday life. Indeed you can consult a consultant about yourself by hiring a so-called “life Coach” who will tell you how to live your life properly, although if you had listened to your mother you would know how to do that.
A consultant will probably tell you what you could figure out yourself in five minutes. But consulting brings reassurance and relief from responsibility. When your hard disk has gone a bit floppy, or when it turns out that your idea for a great American novel about a crazed sea captain chasing a white whale has been done already, it's better to hear the bad news from someone else. It’s a lonely trade, every man and woman for him or herself and nobody to ask when they have to make those fateful decisions about other people’s lives or businesses. Or perhaps consultants have their own networks where they can consult with other consultants, although that must be a bit embarrassing.
This is clearly the economic model of the future. When productive work has vanished and everybody is a consultant we will have access to an inexhaustible fund of advice on every possible subject. The rest of the economy may collapse, but at least we will have plenty of experts to consult about that.
Copyright: David Bouchier
