How to Spot Incompetence and Secure the Right Consultant for Your Needs
Last Updated on 16 June 2025 at 18:30
Back in the winter of 2012, after I sold my marketing agency, E-GRAPHICS, I found myself at a crossroads, deciding on the path my career would take for the next decades.
The idea of becoming a head of marketing within a multinational or even a local family SMB, leading strategic communication initiatives while benefiting from the professional-life equilibrium with a constant flow of income, was very strong. Driving revenue growth for the business and brand recognition was a vision that fueled my ambition — because I knew my hands-on skills and experience would be useful for such companies.
Fast forward to today, and I’m here, making a living through consulting in a field no one would pick otherwise, which is crisis management and turnaround.
The dream of leading marketing strategies in a corporate boardroom in downtown Geneva or Lausanne seems like a distant memory. The decision to update my certificates and have a professional skills assessment might not have been the golden ticket I had hoped for, but it is something I am very happy about in today’s work and interesting mandates and projects.
During my previous life, before coming to Switzerland in 2001, I was exposed to a myriad of complex recovery and crisis management mandates that shaped my understanding of marketing and business as a whole. I clearly remember my younger me absorbing the wisdom shared by senior partners in the PE and VC sector. They had decades of industry experience. Their anecdotes and insights provided a real-world perspective that textbooks simply couldn’t offer.
However, despite the invaluable knowledge gained during my time, the reality of the job market in Switzerland was a stark contrast to what I had envisioned. The majority of job opportunities available were as administrative staff alone — which didn’t align with my aspirations of becoming a head of marketing.
So here I was in 2012 when I found myself joining several non-profit organisations because the outplacement company advised me to offer “free consulting” and “show” my value. The multiple programs, often seen as mandatory steps for all foreigners in Switzerland, provided me with a unique perspective on the Swiss market and its real aptitudes.
The experience was eye-opening, to say the least.
I witnessed firsthand the professional hypocrisy, which is less pronounced within a multinational setting and abroad.
The lack of resources, be it financial or human, coupled with economic factors and strong internal politics, created an environment where the odds were stacked against the success of local businesses.
Yet, despite those difficulties, I saw those companies presenting themselves as innovators and having a lot of skills and “expertise” to sell for a high price. Those experiences also exposed me to the realities of the Swiss education system and the impact it has on shaping the future of the workforce. It highlighted the importance of providing quality education to all, regardless of their socio-economic status — which is not always the case.
Realizing the powerful combination of my academic and professional background, I decided it was the ideal foundation to launch my own consulting firm. The knowledge and experience are not just personal achievements but valuable assets that helped the success of my own venture in the competitive consulting industry. So here I was.
Of course, during my whole career since 1990, I have had the opportunity to interact with various consultants and self-experts, each claiming to have the magic formula to solve complex business problems. However, as I delved deeper, I realized that most of them were simply good at pretending to provide value. How can someone know how a strategy would work if those individuals never had a line-management responsibility and knew nothing about the work itself ?
I recall one particular instance when I was working with a young consultant from a big consultancy.
The client was a brewery looking to expand its reach and increase its market share. During one of the meetings, the consultant asked, “So, do you guys post on social medias ? You have to, and here is how we can help you”. The question was so basic that it left my team members all dumbfounded — especially since I knew this consultant liked one of the company posts. It was heavy because that individual discovered someone could actually analyse the social media statistics. The company did not know about the existence of such data they paid for years.
In another instance, I attended a class to obtain a high-level certificate about advanced competitive strategies. The majority of students were MBA people. One of the assignments was to conduct a SWOT analysis of food retailers in Switzerland. The conclusion was that the majority of teams arrived after four hours. The major strategic observation of a majority of teams was that “everyone needs groceries.” That is all.
While the statement is true, it was a superficial analysis that lacked depth and insight. For instance, answering the question “Which kind of groceries for customer segments ?” — such an approach is more serious to the consulting act and creating advanced strategies.
The reality is that consultancies are often brought in by executives and founders to provide some kind of legitimacy to their decisions.
Whether it’s laying off employees, pivoting the business strategy, or recovering failed business operations and projects, consultants are seen as the experts who can validate these tough decisions.
However, the truth is that these consultancies are often staffed by individuals with elite degrees but little to no practical experience. They may be armed with theoretical knowledge, but when it comes to real-world application, they fall short. In specialised sectors, the experience is mandatory.
All business leaders should keep in mind that the world of consulting is not as noble as it claims to be. This world is filled with individuals who are skilled at pretending to provide value, while in reality, they are simply regurgitating buzzwords and furthering their own interests, be it in financial or visibility gains. The world of consulting, like any other industry, has its stars, its hidden gems, and its charlatans.
It’s time for business leaders to see through the illusion. To recognize that while consultants can offer value, it’s essential to discern the genuine experts from the pretenders. Engage consultants who have walked the walk, not just the ones who “talked the talk”.
Seek out those with a track record of tangible results, not just theoretical prowess.
Elena Debbaut is a strategic execution expert to boards and executive teams. She leads and advises on complex transformations when governance barriers, internal politics, or structural fragmentation prevent organizations from executing critical decisions.
Specialities:
• governance-constrained transformation
• operational restructuring
• strategic recovery & execution