Consulting often gets a bad rap in pop culture.

Some consultants are portrayed as full of hot air—all style and no substance.

Others: cold, calculating, and profit-driven.

Neither represents the reality of being a Resultant consultant.

So, what makes for a great consultant? How do they think? What do they do?

We talked to two phenomenal consultants to find out.

Jess Carter, Resultant VP of Client Experience & Delivery Operations and host of the Data-Driven Leadership podcast, has spent the last 10 years leading data projects where the stakes were (sometimes) life and death.

Ryan Gould, VP of Managed Services Sales and Solutions and the unofficial “411 of IT,” has been building Resultant’s MSP practice for more than 14 years—first as a consultant and then as a leader.

In their conversation with Mark, Jess, and Ryan discuss how they built their consulting careers and “wow’d” clients along the way.

Find Jess and Ryan on LinkedIn:

Jess Carter: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessicaccarter/

Ryan Gould: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryan-t-gould/

Jump in:

[02:40 - 05:22] Ryan Gould’s Resultant origin story

[05:50 - 08:37] Jess Carter’s Resultant origin story

[08:37 - 10:58] Why experience “on the front lines” helps “behind the scenes”

[11:00 - 18:30] The characteristics, approach, and purpose of a great consultant

[18:30 - 20:51] Why consulting is really anthropology and takes practice

[20:53 - 26:44] Getting fired and how to fail as a consultant

[26:45 - 32:44] The impoirtance of authentic expertise and partnership

[32:53 - 38:41] Jess & Ryan’s favorite projects with phenomenal outcomes

[38:41 - 41:24] How great consultants think about and manage time

[42:23 - 43:48] Ryan’s advice for new consultants: It’s a relationships game

[43:49 - 47:12] Jess’s advice for new consultants: Find mentors and choose what to value

[47:55 - 50:17] Why the only person who can limit your career is you

[51:19 - 57:39] Mark & Kate’s takes: Curiosity; asking questions; listening; “inspire and teach”

It’s not hard to start a consulting firm.

Hence, there are a lot of consulting firms.

But there are not a lot of consulting firms that have grown as consistently as Resultant has.

Between the beginning of 2019 and the end of 2022, Resultant:

• Acquired four companies in four different cities

• Grew its workforce from 60 employees to over 500

• More than doubled revenue

• Grew organically by 25% per year and inorganically by 10% per year

• Established itself as a leader in shaping how public and private sector organizations unlock opportunities with data and technology

The big question is: why? What makes Resultant different? Why did Resultant grow while others didn’t?

In the fourth installment of Rezzer Rewind, Mark taps long-timer rezzers Josh Wakefield and Ryan Achterberg to answer this question. “Berg” was Resultant’s first employee on the IT MSP side, and employee #11 “Wakes” started project managed the firm’s very first public sector client.

In their conversation, you’ll hear:

• How nobody knew what they were doing (at first) and why that ended up being critical to Resultant’s success

• Where Resultant’s obsession with understanding—and solving—problems came from

• What it looks like to “own” outcomes from a (very) long-term perspective

• How great consulting saves lives and companies

Follow Josh Wakefield and Ryan Achterberg on LinkedIn:

Josh “Wakes” Wakefield: https://www.linkedin.com/in/josh-wakefield-625b1710/

Ryan “Berg” Achterberg: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryanachterberg/

Jump in:

[02:09 - 04:44] Ryan Achterberg’s Resultant origin story

[04:45 - 05:50] Josh Wakefield’s Resultant origin story

[06:08 - 10:23] There are a lot of IT MSPs. Why did clients choose Resultant?

[10:24 - 14:00] An entrepreneurial and curiosity-driven approach to problem-solving

[14:00 - 16:21] Why did Resultant win in the public sector?

[16:42 - 19:58] “Make it happen:” What empathy and ownership look like in practice

[19:58 - 22:35] Value exchange: Why businesses exist

[22:36 - 25:27] Resultant’s unique and non-traditional blend of talented humans

[25:28 - 29:54] Owning outcomes from a long-term perspective to create a better future

[30:31 - 33:17] Great public sector consulting: Indiana COVID project

[33:18 - 35:19] Great IT MSP consulting: saving a company from a rogue IT employee

[36:08 - 40:45] Mark and Kate’s takes: A beginner’s mind; thoughtfulness; a note on revisionist history

Let’s be honest: A lot of company core values are just words on a wall.

It’s rare to find core values embedded in employees’ organic, day-to-day lived experience.

It’s even rarer when a company’s clients and vendors are just as well-versed in its values as employees.

And it’s EXTREMELY rare when an organization is willing to be honest with itself about its “aspirational” and “accidental” values.

In this episode, you’ll hear Resultant’s innovative president John Roach describe how Resultant came to be all of the above. John was key to the hard and important process of putting unspoken values into words as the company grew—and then revisiting them year after year.

You’ll hear John discuss:

The difficulty translating abstract values into concrete terms

Why having 14 values is the same as having zero

The importance of honestly examining “accidental” and “aspirational” values

Why Design Thinking isn’t a workshop but a cultural mindset

Find John on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnmroach/

Jump In:

[00:33 - 04:40] John Roach’s road to Resultant

[05:32 - 07:12] Where Resultant’s values came from

[08:43 - 10:49] "If you have 14 values, you have zero values"

[10:50 - 13:03] The aspirational values realization

[13:04 - 17:52] Accidental values: things we value that we wish we didn’t

[18:10 - 24:27] Let’s get this straight: Design Thinking isn’t a workshop

[24:27 - 28:34] John’s #1 piece of career advice

[30:37 - 34:50] The importance of precision of language and ongoing discovery

Additional Resources:

Design Thinking 101: https://resultant.com/about/approach/design-thinking/

More on Resultant’s approach and core values: https://resultant.com/about/approach/