While our clients often refer to us as consultants, and while there is no SIC code for anti-consultants, that’s how we think of ourselves at BMGI -- as anti-consultants. Similarly, we believe there is a distinction between training and education. So, instead of being thought of as "trainers" and "consultants" we much prefer to be thought of as educators and coaches – as anti-consultants.
Consultants versus anti-consultants: It used to be that consultants were 55-year old men who had 30 years of experience in their field. They were accountants, or salesmen, or marketing experts, and they espoused their wisdom gained from decades of experience. Today, most consultants seem to be 28 year old MBAs, often led by a "partner" who is responsible more for driving sales than anything else. At BMGI we don’t have 28 year old MBAs. In fact, the average age of an "anti-consultant" at BMGI is 48. While our people do have extensive experience, they haven’t grown up in a consulting firm; most come out of industry. So they can say, "I’ve been there, done that, and have lived in your shoes." They can relate to the challenges of internal politics. They can help manage change, one process and one department at a time. And they can solve problems based on both a strong proficiency in tools and an extensive experience base. And ultimately, they are much more interested in seeing their clients learn, develop new skills, and become self sufficient than they are in creating long-term dependencies and making the next sale.
Training versus education:
We think of training as learning to use a machine, or a computer, or some other task-oriented device. Or you might be trained to perform a specific task such as filling out an expense report or putting out a fire. But in general, training means that when faced with a certain situation, or a certain set of parameters, you respond in a certain way. To get a job done you follow a procedure. Education means learning to think, and problem solving is all about thinking. When we educate someone we move from a position of us as teacher, to that of the student as learner. Our focus becomes to facilitate the learning process so true learning can take place.