The missing backbone

Just Words – a sceptic’s glossary defines a consultant as 

“a con-artist who behaves like a Sultan”  

which is not an unreasonable way to sum up the attitude of those consultants who arrive in countries whose language they don’t speak - and whose brief is to “modernise” systems in countries which were previously imperial or communist outposts.

I was – for more than 20 years – a consultant in capacity (or institutional) development – in ex-communist countries. And I didn’t like the term. When required to complete forms, I would describe myself as a “writer” – after all that’s what most of my work involved. Initially reports – but increasingly books and lectures. 

That soon brought home too me the importance not just of words – but of concepts which were enormously difficult to translate. And, in some cases, went beyond mere language. It was, after all, only in 2003 that Richard Nisbett produced his “Geography of Thought” which argued that easterners and westerners look at the world in very different ways – with the latter focusing on detail and the former on the context. Richard Lewis’ “When Cultures Collide” (which doesn’t quite go so far) first came out in 1996 and simply looks at national differences in behaviour

For at least 20 years my most important team appointment was that of the individual who could convey the subtleties of the exchanges between myself and the “beneficiaries”. For an entire decade – in Central Asia and Bulgaria – I was extraordinarily fortunate but, in 2010, my luck ran out (in China) and I soon left not only the project but consultancy. When I had to use people I didn’t know (for example at Conferences) I would find the interpreters to give them a short summary of the main points I would be making and take the time to discuss it with them in advance – to make sure they understood the concepts

Many of the countries in which I worked were very proud (Hungary) and/or fairly rich (Azerbaijan with oil). For whatever reason, its leaders felt they needed some “modernisation” – at least of an institutional sort. Too many of the consultants who accompanied me, however, had a superior attitude to their hosts – spouting the latest fashions in their particular country and conveniently forgetting that most of it was of very recent vintage.  

There are tens of thousands of books about development – of both the “how to” and more critical sort. Since the new millennium, there has actually been a bit of a “mea culpa” mood – with the latest fashion known as “Doing Development Differently” or DDD in the acronyms beloved by technocrats.

Humility is a rare quality in this literature – but can be found in the writings of people such as Robert Chambers (“Can we know better?” 2017) and in the very powerful “Helping People Help Themselves” (2006) which explores what might happen if people actually took that phrase seriously.

One of my friends (another consultant!) has this great ability to smoke out bullshit. He goes into a project with open eyes; spots the nonsenses; and will then not just point out that the Emperor is naked but present practical solutions. In other words, he uses his mind – whereas most consultants seem to have the attitude that this is a dangerous thing to do. Better to follow the letter of the contract – no matter how irrelevant to prevailing conditions.    

For just over a decade I thoroughly enjoyed my work – particularly in Central Asia. And one of the things I really appreciated there is that I was working with people who didn’t have to pretend they were seeking membership of the EU - and therefore took the projects on THEIR terms….For example, for reasons best known to themselves, one regime had landed itself with a Civil Service Law but really didn’t want to venture any further into this unknown territory. Instead of twiddling my thumbs, I decided to use the accident of my office being in the Presidential Academy to work with a couple of their staff and some other individuals who spoke the language of reform - to produce not only a result which took everyone by surprise (a Civil Service Agency) but the first 3 books in the local language about public admin reform and HRM. 

I made firm friends in such work but hope that I also set an example. Of what a few people can achieve if they have a vision, energy and commitment. Margaret Mead put it beautifully – 

Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed individuals can change the world. In fact, it's the only thing that ever has 

Sadly, that group will never contain a consultant – they watch their backs too carefully! Which is why it’s odd that, in 2009 the EC produced a new “Backbone strategy” in response to a (fairly critical) assessment by the EC Court of Auditors of the EC’s programme of development assistance to developing and ex-communist countries. Interestingly it’s almost impossible to find the “Backbone Strategy” now but you can get a sense of it from this short paper I wrote in 2011 as I prepared a longer critique for a NISPAcee Conference in Varna (called The Long Game – not the logframe)   

It’s ironic that the post which attracts the largest number of hits (by far) is a short one I did on “strengthening the backbone” more than a decade – which I try to warn people off! If there’s one thing which consultants don’t have, it’s backbone!!!