Beware Specialists

A cynic is a man who, when he smells flowers, looks around for a coffin. H.L. Mencken

It seems I’ve spent my entire career being sold specialists. Every investor, advisor, analyst, friend and enemy has spent an inordinate amount of effort to council me on using and introducing me to some kind of specialist. Sales specialists, Marketing specialists, Fund Raising specialists, Operations specialists, Office décor specialists, and so on. Unfortunately most of them share a couple of common elements. One, they’re usually tied somehow to the person recommending them, either through blood, greed or bondage; and/or two, they’re unemployed.

Now, you have to be careful about arbitrarily blowing off the recommendation of an investor/board member/ally but at the same time you have to protect your budget and your time. My experience is these “specialists” can be very time consuming and expensive. They can disrupt the office and stall momentum. Worst of all they either perform the “pigeon ritual” or jockey for a full-time position you don’t need.

Here’s what you need to do when presented with an unrequested specialist. What “problem” is the specialists suppose to fix? Is the problem real? If it’s real is it a serious problem or a nuisance? If it’s a real problem with serious ramifications and you do not have the talent on staff to address it then it may be a good idea. It’s also a good way to “test drive” an individual who you feel might be a good fit.

But, if it’s pretty apparent that someone on the outside of the daily operation is just trying to find a payday for one of their cousins it’s time to carefully but directly deflect this distraction.