The Necessity of the Co-Conspirator Model
There is a running joke among Implementation Consultants that the first one through the door attempting to bring Change, no matter how good the Consultant, will be shot, especially at large, politically charged, old-timey businesses that are set in their ways. It’s normal for Blame to be the first weapon when change initiatives get difficult. Resistance to change is incredibly powerful. It’s one major appeal for why large organizations hire external consultants. It’s just easier to blame external consultants than to do internal soul-searching. Rinse – Repeat – Fire (something like that). Do you believe that Fortune 500 companies don’t have most of the resources to implement Change? Do you?
Many consulting teams use distributed team models because the “first through the door” phenomenon is so common. The model leverages multiple contact points (sometimes tiered, sometimes distributed) to engage multiple roles enough to take the lead when the blame train comes. This works by minimizing the impact of one person receiving all the Blame while simultaneously making it abundantly clear that repeated blaming is the Company’s primary resistance to change.
This game is exhausting and expensive. Rinse – Repeat – Fire – Repeat – Fire.
The better model (which takes some serious corporate Soul-searching from the Blaming Company) is the Co-Conspirator model.
This approach leverages a dual Point of Contact approach. Note: This may scale to multiple individuals depending on the change initiative’s size and the Change’s globalization. The main Point of Contact has a secondary resource who acts as their partner in crime. The Secondary resource is the Co-Conspirator. They fill the gaps, step in when necessary and help coordinate the teams.
To do this successfully, the primary and secondary teams must be genuinely partnered (less hierarchy and more partnership). In addition, there must be complete trust and open communication between the two. Otherwise, progress slows while dynamics are sorted, and what you have is the traditional boss/employee model. Momentum is the crucial advantage in the Co-Conspirator model as it allows distributed leadership and continually feeds a scalable model. This allows the “primary” role to switch as necessary.
In a tried co-conspirator model, the primary and secondary consultants work together regularly and complement each other. Watch Ted Lasso play the actual co-conspirator to Rebecca. The moment where they switch places (primary or secondary) is unclear. But the true conspirator is always ready, always prepared. And keeps the momentum.
This model has much to teach us about ourselves but requires reframing and a foundation of trust. Co-Conspirators need to be ready at all times. In addition, the primary and secondary roles must have each other’s backs. Savvy (and Stubborn) companies will move from Blame to Divisiveness. Have we told you that Change is hard? It’s incredible how not dramatic we are being. So much money and time wasted.
Give the Co-Conspirator model a try on your next large initiative.
The key risk for the Co-Conspirator Model: Egos in Consulting firms are an issue. It’s why there are so many “Independent” Consultants vs. “Independent Teams” of Consultants. There is pride in one’s work, which in our experience in Consulting, makes building, maintaining, and pressure-testing the Co-conspirator model very difficult.
Side Note: The Co-Conspirator model is not the same as the apprenticeship model – where there is one clear senior and junior member. In the Co-Conspirator model, both the primary and secondary resources are senior resources and can switch after each engagement.
References and Resources
Scaling Leadership from Command and Control
Executive Summary
- Implementation consultants often face challenges when bringing about change in large organizations, as there is powerful resistance to change.
- The “Co-Conspirator” model is a scalable resolution to this resistance, where a primary consultant works closely with a secondary resource to lead change initiatives.
- The success of this model relies on trust, open communication, and a partnership mindset.
- There is a risk of egos in consulting firms – to address this concern, focus on collaboration over blame (not just to resolve the issue but to model the behavior).