The Uncertainties of Consulting

Abstract

In this article the author scrutinizes the texts of theoreticians she finds most instructive in matters related to consulting and uncertainty. The list includes Niklas Luhmann, James G. March, Gabriel Tarde, Karl E. Weick, and Ludwig Wittgenstein. Obviously, not all of them were interested in management consulting, but they all offered profound insights into social life and organizing. The conclusion to be drawn is that the consultants' role is to aid organizing, but not to remove uncertainty. Management consultants can both reduce and increase uncertainty, and both reduction and increase can have positive or negative consequences for their clients. The failure or success of the consultants' interventions depends not only on their skills, but also on the right diagnosis of the degree of present uncertainty formulated by their clients.

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