Answering the “So What” Question

I have read and reviewed countless consulting reports and sat in on way more consulting sessions than I can count, and I think the biggest issue I have seen in them, besides the poor grammar, is the level of information assumed by the author (the consultant) on behalf of the reader (the client). We assume the reader knows what the chart on page 2 is telling them. We assume the reader knows what the “obvious” next step is based on the information provided. In the end, we produce documents that are often well-written but don’t actually say anything actionable.

Years ago I took over a small consulting group at a software company. The consultants on the team were tasked with analyzing large quantities of data to help their clients understand the current state and, presumably, how to address problems. The first iterations of these reports were often full of beautiful pie charts, bar charts, and line graphs meant to articulate the current state of a series of key performance indicators (KPIs). I was new to the space and just learning myself. So I was actually the perfect reviewer of these docs. Why? Because I had almost as much knowledge on the subject as our average consumer of the report on the client’s side. If I couldn't understand what was being said, chances are they could not either. So, when I reviewed these docs with their beautiful graphs and charts and no description by the author of what the charts represented (is it good or bad and what steps could the team take to improve the resulrs), I broke out my red pen (or turned on Track Changes in Word). The most common comment I made was a simple “So What?” around the words or images that seemed to me to say nothing on which I could truly act, because I really didn’t know what the author was saying, or more often, why she was saying it at that time.

As a consultant, you are also an educator. Your customers often hire you because you have a breadth of knowledge that they don’t have. Maybe they have their own corporate perspective, but they are looking for you to shed light on the industry perspective, the competitive landscape. Maybe the challenge at hand is brand new to them - they are greenfield and need some serious hand-holding. Maybe, still, your day-to-day contacts are just as knowledgeable as you, but they need an “independent third-party perspective” on the subject, and the ultimate consumer - their boss or their boss’ boss - knows very little on the subject.

In any case, you need to provide the proper context on the problem:

1. What is the problem?
2. Is this problem unique to your customer or something you’ve seen before (some how it is comforting to know you are not alone in this, after all)?
3. If it is something you’ve seen before, what aspects of the problem and/or solution are unique to your client?
4. What evidence exists that supports the existence of the problem?

As you provide evidence that support your thesis, explain what you are seeing (or showing) and why it is relevant, but don’t stop there. Make clear and actionable recommendations to your client with regard to what they should consider doing next. Where possible, cater your recommendations to what you believe will work in their organization. (I prefer to see the recommendations in line with the problem statements and evidence, and I tend to highlight the main recommendation statement in bold to make all recommendations easy to find. I always summarize all recommendations in the conclusion of the document for those interested just in the Cliff Notes version of your report.)

Before you ship your deliverable off for an internal review or to the client, especially the client, read every line and review every chart, graph, table, picture, icon...you get the point. Ask yourself, “So What?” but ask from the reader’s perspective: Given what I know about the ultimate consumer of this material, have I made it clear to her/him why I made this statement or have presented this chart? If not, you have more work to do. Do not leave the information in your report to interpretation. Make it clear what you are saying and why you are saying it. Your client can certainly debate your theories and recommendations, and they should, but first they need to understand them.

Using the “So What?” litmus test consistently on every report, slide deck, and even in all of your conversations with the client will ensure you are truly being clear with your intentions, ideas, understanding, and perspective. Only then can your client think intelligently about and challenge your perspective and, ultimately, make the best possible decision about next steps.