A Quick Glimpse at S.O.P. in the Consulting Industry

Over the last few days I've noticed several snippets that remind me for the umpteenth time of the mindsets and practices that characterize much of the consulting industry's emphasis on solutions at the expense of thinking, dialogue and the intelligent use of tried and true principles.

First off, I noticed a Globe and Mail article on performance management, performance reviews and the HR consulting industry in particular (the article is not online, so I'll work from memory).

The article noted the long-standing and growing dissatisfaction with annual performance reviews (the vestigial use of the report card metaphor from primary and secondary education, but for adults in corporations).