---
name: Consultant
type: human_role
status: running
version: 4.2.1
released: "1950-03-01"
maintainer: McKinsey & Company (disputed)
dependencies:
  - PowerPoint
  - ambiguity
  - someone else's problem
  - a return flight on Sunday evening
license: Proprietary (billed hourly)
tags:
  - professional, advice, frameworks, slides, expertise, temporary
---

Consultant

What it actually is

A person paid to tell an organization what its own employees already know, formatted as a deck.

How it works

Client organization encounters a problem it either cannot solve or cannot be seen solving internally.
Consultant is engaged. Scope is defined loosely enough to be expanded later.
Consultant interviews the people who actually know the answer.
Consultant synthesizes interviews into a framework with a proprietary-sounding name.
Findings are presented to the C-suite, who nod at slides they commissioned to validate a decision already made.
Consultant departs. institutional memory absorbs the deck or deletes it.
Problem persists. Consultant is re-engaged at a higher rate.

Features

Plausible deniability: Lets leadership say "we brought in experts" before a difficult announcement.
Framework generation: Converts any ambiguous situation into a 2x2 matrix.
Stakeholder management: Skilled at being in the room without owning anything in the room.
Industry agnostic mode: Expertise transfers freely across sectors, which is either impressive or suspicious depending on your perspective.
Deliverable velocity: Produces artifacts at high speed. Quality is a separate configuration option.

Known bugs

Recommendations optimized for presentation clarity, not implementation feasibility.
Occasionally mistakes confidence for competence.
Deep expertise in billing. Shallow expertise in everything else (varies by instance).
Tendency to reframe "we don't know" as "further discovery work is required."
Allergic to accountability post-engagement.

Configuration

engagement_type: strategy | operations | transformation | "post-merger integration"
billing_model: daily_rate | retainer | fixed_fee (rare)
slide_theme: dark_professional | light_minimalist | "whatever the client uses"
jargon_level: 0.0 - 1.0  # default: 0.74
findings_alignment: aligned_with_sponsor | neutral  # default: aligned_with_sponsor

Error codes

Code	Message	Meaning
`403`	Access denied	No budget approved
`404`	Insight not found	Discovery phase required
`409`	Conflict	Recommendations contradict existing politics
`503`	Consultant unavailable	On another engagement (also your engagement)
`200 (billable)`	OK	Everything is fine and costs more now

FAQ

Q: Why does the consultant earn more than the people doing the work? A: Asymmetric information pricing. Also capitalism.

Q: Will the recommendations be implemented? A: Approximately 30% of them. The other 70% live in a shared drive folder named FINAL_v3_REVIEWED.

Q: Is the consultant an expert? A: The consultant has a strong point of view, which is a related but distinct thing.

Changelog

v4.2.1: Added "AI transformation" to standard service offerings.
v3.8.0: Introduced the concept of "quick wins" to justify slow billing.
v2.1.0: Replaced "restructuring" with "rightsizing."
v1.0.0: McKinsey ships. Others follow.

drafting spec…