Consulting Journal: Words

Words: 'Perception'

by David Blakey

My perception allows me to perceive. Which is better than guessing, I suppose.

[Monday 27 October 2003]

Imagine that a consultant is writing a report for a client. Imagine also that the consultant is a member of a consulting firm. The consultant has noticed that the client conducts its own market research and that the quality of the results is poor. The consultant believes that the client could get better results from its market research if the research was done by a specilaist market research company. In a conversation, the consultant would probably say ‘I believe that you would get better results by using a market resarch company’.

A written report by an independent consultant could state this belief.

I have not studied your market research operations in depth, although I believe that the results of your market research are of a lower quality than you would expect if you employed a professional company to do it.

A consulting firm may shy away from this. First, it contains an admission that the later conclusion lacks firm supporting evidence. Second, it contains a recommendation that is also unfounded. A consulting firm may prefer to use the following sentence.

We have perceived that the results of your market research are of a lower quality than you would expect if you employed a professional company to do it.

The word perceived implies that the firm may have seen an incomplete picture or that its vision of that picture may have been obstructed. It is as if the firm has peered through a mist and has been able to make out the shadowy shape of the client's market research operations. If the client disputes the firm's view, the firm can argue that it was not able to see these operations clearly. If the view was wrong, then it was not the firm's fault.

For some consulting firms the word perceived is still too strong.

Our perception is that the results of your market research are of a lower quality than you would expect if you employed a professional company to do it.

Now the firm has not even peered into the mist. Instead, it has merely noticed some shadowy shapes through the mist.

There are two problems with this sentence.

First, any intelligent client will see how weak it is. So they may ignore it. There may really be a problem with the client's market research, but the client will tend to ignore it also.

Second, any literate client will how that the consulting firm is gabbling. The noun perception is either an ability or an act, not a result. As an ability, my perception can be applied to a situation. As an act, my perception will result my having beliefs about the situation. Perception is a cause, not an effect.

All of this is, of course, just a way of saying to the client that I believe that there is a situation and that I have no real empirical evidence to support this belief. So, if I really want to report this to my client, I should say it directly.

I believe that the results of your market research are of a lower quality than you would expect if you employed a professional company to do it, although I have no empirical evidence to support this belief.

If my client trusts me, they can pursue it. If my belief is justified, the client can make improvements. If my belief is not justified, the client has the satisfaction of being able to prove that its market research is effective.

If your client does not trust you, or if you do not know how your client will react, then omit your beliefs from your report. Do not attempt to cloak your beliefs as ‘perceptions’. You may be able to mention them in conversation, but leave them out of your report.

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