How to Best Leverage Consultants in Your Transformations

In today’s ever-evolving and fast-paced business landscape, transformation is no longer a choice but a necessity. Organizations must consistently adapt and reinvent themselves to remain competitive, whether prompted by technological innovations, changing market dynamics, or economic disruptions. However, the process of change is inherently complex. Research from McKinsey reveals that 70% of transformation initiatives fail to achieve their objectives. This striking figure underscores the challenges of business transformation, often rooted in misaligned strategies, inadequate leadership commitment, and cultural resistance. Engaging a business transformation consultant can be a critical step in navigating these challenges and ensuring successful outcomes.

To overcome these hurdles, many organizations turn to consultants from large consulting firms to bring expertise, structure, and an external perspective. Consultants can play a critical role in driving change, offering best practices gleaned from across industries, managing large-scale initiatives, and accelerating execution. However, there is a common pitfall: overreliance on consultants.

Too often, consultants stay longer than expected, leading to rising costs and diminishing returns. In some cases, the very goals of consultants and organizations are at odds—consultants aim to extend their engagements to maximize billable hours. In contrast, organizations seek to implement change efficiently and cost-effectively. The unintended consequence? Organizations may depend on external support, failing to build their internal capability to sustain the transformation.

The key to success lies in understanding when and how to use consultants while prioritizing the development of the organization’s “transformation muscle”—the skills, mindset, and processes needed to lead change from within. By striking this balance, organizations can leverage external expertise strategically while building internal resilience to drive and sustain their transformations.

The Value Consultants Bring to Transformations

Consultants bring specific strengths to a transformation effort that organizations can benefit from, particularly in the early stages when clarity and momentum are needed.

• Expertise and Best Practices: Consultants introduce frameworks, methodologies, and best practices proven successful in other organizations.
• Objective Perspective: Their external, unbiased viewpoint can help identify blind spots, challenge internal assumptions, and push for innovation.
• Accelerating Execution: Consultants offer the skills and capacity to quickly implement projects, particularly in time-sensitive initiatives like system rollouts or mergers.
• Change Management: They design structured approaches to communication, employee engagement, and cultural shifts, critical for gaining buy-in.
• Temporary Capability Gaps: Consultants bridge short-term skill or knowledge gaps, such as digital expertise, agile transformation, or process redesign.

These contributions are most effective when used to address specific needs, create momentum, and complement internal efforts rather than replace them.

The Risks of Overreliance on Consultants

While the benefits are clear, organizations must be cautious not to fall into the trap of overreliance. Some common risks include:

• Prolonged Engagements: Short-term mandates can stretch into long-term dependencies, leading to spiraling costs.
• Misaligned Goals: Consultants may be incentivized to prolong projects, whereas organizations need efficient execution.
• Lack of Knowledge Transfer: When consultants lead everything, internal teams fail to develop the skills needed to sustain changes independently.
• Cultural Disconnect: External solutions may not always align with the organization’s unique culture, leading to execution gaps or employee resistance.

To avoid these pitfalls, organizations must approach consultant engagements strategically, keeping internal ownership and capability building as top priorities.

Building Your Organization’s Transformation Muscle

The key to a successful and sustainable transformation lies in developing the organization’s “transformation muscle”—the ability to lead change from within. This involves empowering leaders, middle managers, and employees to take ownership and develop the skills and processes necessary for lasting change.

How can organizations build their transformation muscle?

• Leadership Ownership: Transformation must be driven by leaders at all levels. Executives, middle managers, and team leads should set the vision, communicate priorities, and actively participate. When leaders take ownership, they set the tone for the organization, signaling that transformation is a shared effort.
• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Encourage collaboration across departments to break down silos and ensure alignment. Engaging employees in co-creating solutions fosters accountability and ownership.
• Invest in Learning and Capability Building: Provide employees with the training and tools to lead change. Develop skills in agile methodologies, digital technologies, and change leadership.
• Prioritize Knowledge Transfer: Treat consultant engagements as learning opportunities. Consultants should work alongside internal teams, providing hands-on training, workshops, and coaching to build internal capability.

Example: At Nordea Bank, the leadership team prioritized building internal capability by training facilitators from within the organization to lead cultural change. This approach reduced reliance on external consultants, increased ownership, and strengthened internal resilience.

How to Use Consultants Strategically

Organizations must approach consultant engagements with a clear strategy to get the most out of consultants while avoiding long-term dependency.

• Clearly Define the Scope and Objectives: Set clear expectations, deliverables, and timelines for the engagement. Align consultants’ contributions with organizational goals.
• Focus on Short-Term, High-Impact Tasks: Use consultants for specific challenges or expertise, such as diagnostics, specialized training, or framework design. Avoid allowing consultants to lead the entire process.
• Mandate Knowledge Transfer: Consultants should leave behind more than deliverables—they should transfer skills, processes, and knowledge to internal teams. Require playbooks, training materials, and structured handovers.
• Measure Success by Capability Development: Evaluate the engagement based on how well internal teams can sustain and build on the changes after the consultants leave.

Sustaining Transformation from Within

Transformation is not a one-time project; it is an ongoing journey that requires continuous adaptation. Organizations that focus on building their internal transformation muscle today will be better equipped to navigate change tomorrow. While consultants can serve as valuable guides, true ownership of transformation must reside within the organization. Leaders, managers, and employees are the ones who bring transformation to life, embedding new behaviors, processes, and ways of working into the fabric of the organization.

By striking the right balance—using consultants strategically and investing in internal capability—organizations can achieve not only immediate transformation goals but also long-term resilience. Transformation is about more than external solutions; it is about empowering people, fostering collaboration, and developing the confidence to lead change from within.

In the end, the ability to transform is not something that can be outsourced. It must be built, nurtured, and strengthened by those who are at the heart of the organization’s journey. Organizations that focus on building this muscle will not only succeed in their current transformations but will also gain the agility and resilience needed to thrive in the face of future challenges.