Distilling experience into platitudes – beware of the gurus!: What do consultants really teach us?

In his best selling book, The 7 Habits of the Highly Effective, Stephen Covey suggests that developing the following characteristics is the way to become highly effective: 1. be proactive; 2. begin with the end in mind; 3. put first things first; 4. think win/win; 5. seek first to understand; then to be understood; 6. synergize; and 7. sharpen the saw. All good advice you may think, and worthy of investing a few dollars to buy the book – or even hiring Covey to impart further wisdom to your company. However, just consider what the opposite advice would be: 1. do not be proactive; 2. begin without any idea about the end; 3. put first things last; 4. think lose/lose; 5. seek to be understood before you understand; 6. avoid synergy; and 7. operate with a dull blade. No management consultant in their right mind would advise you to adopt the latter characteristics but they suddenly make Covey’s advice seem glaringly obvious.