Th ese w ritings have, therefore, the internal f u n c t i o n (following Watson) of e stablishing a group ident i t y in terms of a coherent b o d y of k n o w l e d g e and a r e c o g n i s e d
p r o f e s s i o n a l practice. Bennis, for example, quite explicitly argued for the development of a p r o f e s s i o n
30 of a p p lied b e h a vioural scientist.
One sees, too, that the spokesmen for the nascent
p r o f e s s i o n of b e h a vioural science consultant constituted a group themselves, b eing almost exclusively academics - a clear parallel with B r i t i s h management thinkers. By pr o p o s i n g the reform of organisations and the development of m a n a g e m e n t they defend themselves (and the p r o f e s s i o n of c o n s ultancy in which they engaged as a lucr a t i v e
sideline from academia) in the eyes of fellow liberal academics, whilst seeking to m o d i f y management: and organisations in a direction that makes them more d e f e n s i b l e .
Furthermore, an ’e x t e r n a l1 ideological f unction can be seen in (3) those studies w h i c h seek, often by empirical
means, to justify the use of b e h a v i o u r a l science consultancy, by d e m o n s t r a t i n g the efficacy of such methods for orga n i s a t i o n a l 'success’ (frequently defined in terms of
reduced conflict and increased output).
In the revi e w of the literature on consultancy, in
C h a p t e r 3i if will be seen that m any studies are of this kind and can be readily construed in this way. T h e line taken can, not surprisingly, often be related to the
sponsorship of research and consultancy. Ideas d e v e l o p e d are t h e r e b y ideological to the extent that they support
the interests of those who consume consu l t a n c y - for example w h e n they propose better ways to d e l i v e r a p a r t i c u l a r k i n d
of solution to organisational clients. Obviously, what is good for clients is good for those selling the appropriate skills and knowledge, and brings the indirect benefit of employment.
A final group of writings are ’group ideological1 in the sense that they
(4) advocate the claims of one group of organisational consultants against another.
T h u s , Dekom argues that,
’The internal consultant is management’s most versatile, sophisticated fire-fighting a r m ’
And commends, in particular, the internal consultant on the grounds that
’Here is the key to the consultant’s mission and future: to take care of these problems. Success- oriented management will ensure that problem solving is handled by someone with the gift and mission of solving problems and that a problem is
solved below management’s level of attention before it can interfere with growth, innovation, progress and profit.’
J ^
33 3
^
Others, like Kelley and Hunt argue, respectively for the particular strengths of internal and external
consultants.
Thus, the same paraphenalia in respect of organisational consultants can be found, as for management and for
personnel management.
1.3 The Phen o m e n o l o g y of Consultants' life-worlds
I want, however, to shift the focus away f r o m i d e o l o g y as the advancement of n a r r o w occupational interests, to
consider the i deological content and effect of ideas and practices as they operate in everyday locations. In other words, to shift the focus away from i d e o l o g y as public statements (with all the problems of the
r e l a t ionship of these to private practice that this 1 e a v e s ) .
The reason for this strategy goes b a c k to a central
p r o b l e m w h i c h b o t h C h ild and W a t s o n h i g h l i g h t - the fact that the ideas p r o p o g a t e d at the public level fail to resolve the r o l e - s t r a i n w h i c h practitioners t h e m s e l v e s experience. (Indeed they m a y even h e i g h t e n it). B e c a u s e of the d i s c r e p a n c y b e t w e e n what group ’spokesmen' say and h o w p r a c t i tioners behave, practitioners h a v e to find
their own ways of manag i n g their personal r ole-strain.
Fractitioners in any field have a set of ideas and practices w h i c h help them get by. The first stage in considering ideas as ideology, then, is to d i s c a r d the assumption of ideology, and to produce an a d e q u a t e
ph e n o m e n o l o g y of the adoption and use b y i n d i v i d u a l s of ideas and concomitant practices.
This serves the aim of a proper u n d e r s t a n d i n g of h o w ideology takes hold, in two ways:
First, it focuses on ideas w h i c h harmo n i z e w i t h a p r a c t i t i o n e r ’s pers o n a l situation, or w h i c h p e r m i t r o l e - s t r a i n to be overcome or m a n a g e d effectively. The r e a l l y revealing case of ideology is that in
w h i c h the ideas adopted express features of, for example a c o n s u l t a n t ’s immediate perso n a l situation. It is only the fact that ideas have p e r s o n a l valence, that enables the consultant to employ the same set of ideas a n d skills, that are important coping m e c h a n i s m s for him, to serve the interests of o t h e r s .
This is not to deny that peop l e may live in a c o n d i t i o n of t e n s i o n as they try to live b y ideas w h i c h c r e a t e conflicts for themselves. But as cognitive d i s s o n a n c e t h e o r y argues, people seek to rationalize d i s c r e p a n t items of experience (for example, b e t w e e n w hat t h e y believe, and what a ctually occurs). An e s s e n t i a l part of the strategy in this study is a b asic p r e s u m p t i o n in favour of treating a p e r s o n ’s ideas and p r a c t i c e s as func t i o n a l for him, and therefore to look for w a y s in w h i c h consultants seek to regu l a r i z e their s i t u a t i o n s
over time.
At this point one looks for w h e t h e r there are p a t t e r n s in the ideas w h i c h individuals adopt for their o w n use, and asks, ” if patterns exist, what m a y be the