A few years ago, I wrote a post about the social work skills that transfer well to consulting. At the time, I wanted social workers to recognize that they already possessed many of the skills needed to succeed as consultants. Relationship building, assessment, communication, problem-solving, facilitation, and evaluation are all skills that social workers use regularly.
While I still believe this, after ten years of consulting, I’ve realized there’s another piece of the conversation that’s worth exploring. Beyond transferable skills, social workers can benefit from understanding how consultants think.
We assume consulting requires an entirely different mindset than social work. In reality, I think the differences are smaller than they appear. What often changes is the lens through which we approach a problem.
Consultants Start by Understanding the System
Social workers are trained to understand the environments that shape people’s lives. Consultants do something similar.
When a client presents a challenge, consultants rarely stop at the presenting problem. Instead, they ask questions about organizational structure, decision-making, culture, resources, incentives, relationships, and capacity.
For example, if an organization says it struggles to use data for decision-making, a consultant may ask:
- How are decisions currently made?
- Who has access to the data?
- What systems support data collection?
- What competing priorities exist?
- What happens when staff identify a problem?
The goal isn’t simply to solve the immediate issue. It’s to understand the system producing it.
Consultants Think About Capacity
One lesson I discussed in my recent reflection on ten years of consulting is that recommendations don’t exist in a vacuum.
An organization may agree with a recommendation and still choose not to implement it.
Why?
Capacity.
Staff may be overwhelmed. Leadership may have other priorities. Funding may be limited. Timing may be wrong.
Consultants asks “What should happen?” and “What’s realistic given the organization’s current capacity?“
Social workers often ask similar questions when supporting individuals and families.
Consultants Focus on Decision-Making
We assume consultants are hired to provide answers.
In my experience, clients often hire consultants because they need help making decisions.
The final recommendation matters, but so does the process used to reach it.
A strong consultant helps clients:
- Gather information,
- Identify options,
- Consider tradeoffs,
- Test assumptions, and
- Make informed decisions.
That’s not very different from the work social workers do every day.
Consultants Think in Terms of Learning
One of the biggest shifts in my own thinking has been moving away from the idea that success means clients implement every recommendation.
Today, I think that success happens when clients learn something useful, test an idea, gather feedback, and make adjustments based on what they discover.
Consultants who approach their work from a learning mindset often create more sustainable change because they help organizations develop their own problem-solving capacity.
Consultants Move Between Micro, Mezzo, and Macro Thinking
In social work, we often talk about micro, mezzo, and macro practice as separate areas of focus.
Consulting has shown me how deeply connected they are,
Whether you’re working with an individual, a team, an organization, or a larger system, you’re still engaging, assessing, planning, intervening, evaluating, and eventually transitioning the work.
The scale changes. The process often remains the same.
Key Takeaway
If you’re a social worker considering consulting, you already possess many of the skills needed to succeed.
The next step is learning how to apply those skills through a different lens.
Consultants think about systems, capacity, decision-making, learning, and organizational dynamics. Fortunately, those are areas where social workers already have a strong foundation.
Raise Your Voice: What social work skill can you use in consulting? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.
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