The Toxic Effect of Improvisation on a Consulting Firm’s Performance

One of the most common problems we come across in our work with consulting firms is improvisation. Boutique consultancies, practices of large firms, medium-size businesses – no consultancy, irrespective of its size, is immune to the virus of improvisation.

It’s not why we are usually brought on board. Typically, requests are phrased along the lines of “We are doing everything we can think of but our growth feels unpredictable, the business development and marketing strategies we’ve tried are not delivering the desired results, and the entire team is running on fumes.”

We then uncover that improvisation is the default mode of operations in these consulting firms, as well as the underlying cause driving this reality.

Improvisation is one of the primary root causes of a consulting firm’s profit erosion. That’s why, in this article, I’ll go through the causes and negative impacts of improvisation, as well as explain the forces driving it and an alternative model of operations.

What Is Improvisation in Consulting, and How Does It Become Modus Operandi?

Improvisation, as a profit-eroding mode of operations, is not something that happens overnight. It’s a pit that consulting firms slip into, one decision and one compromise at a time.

It typically starts with a deliberate decision to stay broad. “We want to keep our options open and maintain as many revenue avenues as we can,” is what consulting leaders and owners often say.

Big mistake. This mindset impacts every aspect of the consulting firm’s operations:

• It takes on projects outside of the core expertise;

• Its marketing and business development strategies lack the focus, targeting, and messaging that would make them effective;

• Resources are allocated on an ad-hoc basis. No planning or foresight;

• Projects are endlessly customised, and most requests for additional work or expanded scope from clients are met with a yes;

• Talent is hired not based on projected growth but in response to immediate pressure of ongoing projects;

• Pricing is constantly adjusted and negotiated;

• Individual consultants and their approach to clients is what usually determines the success of projects and clients’ satisfaction with outcomes.

When a consulting firm improvises, every client project becomes a new invention. The work starts from scratch again and again. That constant reinvention adds variation, and variation quickly turns into complexity.

The impact of that improvisation on the bottom line shows up fast and in predictable ways:

• Operational strain: Operations become harder to manage when every project follows its own logic. Consulting firms often swing between periods of work overload and slow periods. Resources are either under- or overutilised. There is no predictability in how to allocate the time of consulting teams and tech resources.

• Diluted expertise: Knowledge spreads thin because patterns never get reinforced. Every project is a learning curve. Knowledge gained in one project does not necessarily translate into an asset for another project. Expertise doesn’t compound. It just gets broadened.

• Profit pressure: Margins shrink quietly as effort increases without leverage. The inability to optimise resources and the lack of predictability in how staff’s time is allocated in the most efficient, value-driven way increases the costs of completing each project. Pricing, on the other hand, constantly fluctuates. Revenue is unpredictable.

• Power to the client: The client defines the scope, the approach, and often the price. There are no methodologies, clear onboarding processes, client success journeys, or other strict parameters. The relationship dynamic with clients changes from strategic advisors and experts to order-takers.

The Root Cause of Improvisation in Consulting

Improvisation is not an inherently bad thing. Every consulting project involves a certain degree of improvisation. Some built-in flexibility is what allows consulting firms to continuously deepen and sharpen their expertise.

The problem is when improvisation takes over. When a prospect asks for yet another “something”, the consultancy says yes, even when there is no defined proposition behind it.

And the root cause of it? The lack of a strong consulting value proposition: issue-led, outcome-driven, and client-specific.

The modern buyer can smell when a consultancy is pitching work that sits outside its comfort zone. The signal is simple: there is insufficient evidence that this work has been delivered repeatedly with predictable value. When that proof is missing, the buyer starts negotiating from a very different place.

The core issue is rarely the client, but the consultancy proposing something that hasn't yet been turned into a repeatable proposition. Without clear proof, strong client successes, and a confident approach to pricing the work, the consultancy weakens its position before the project even starts.

There is no laser-sharp value proposition to define the parameters of work, to pre-qualify prospects, to establish repeatable processes and methodologies, to guide marketing and business development strategies, to frame thought leadership at the foundation of trust-building.

The real danger of improvisation is its compounding effect.

Each improvised project adds another layer of complexity to what already exists. What feels flexible and responsive in the early days slowly snowballs into a consultancy that is busy, chaotic, and stuck managing its own variability.

Proposition Design = The Antidote to Improvisation in Consulting

Improvisation vs. Designed Repetition in Consulting

Proposition design is how consulting firms can claim back control over their consulting operations, performance, and growth.

A well-defined consulting proposition gives the consulting firm a foundational starting point, eliminating the need to improvise every time. It creates a deliberate frame for making decisions on such crucial business issues as:

• Who the consulting firm delivers its services to;

• What problems it solves for this audience;

• How it solves the problems – from expertise needs to resources to processes and methodologies;

• When the consulting services are relevant and can provide exponential value, and when it is best to decline a new project;

• How to price the services based on the value they provide as opposed to the man hours poured into the delivery;

• What minor adjustments are needed for proposals, which are now, for the most part, standardised due to the repetition in the kind of work is performed for the same type of clients;

• What subjects to write about to address critical issues for the target audience and, through that, build trust with it;

• How to onboard new hires;

• How to onboard new clients;

• What chain of services would maximise the value for the client and facilitate a long-term relationship.

Furthermore, when consulting firms repeat work by design, expertise compounds. That shows up as:

• Pattern recognition: Similar problems make similarities visible. Early signals, common failure points, most effective interventions – the consultancy is able to spot these faster, with better precision than competitors.

• Reduced outcome variance: Delivery becomes more predictable over time. Repeatable work enables consulting firms to continuously optimise their approach, be it the tools used, the methodologies, or the processes. This, in turn, means that timelines get predictable, the effort required for each project is a calculatable exercise, and the outcomes are predictable.

• Stronger confidence: Teams know what works and why. Their confidence grows because of evidence – clear approaches to delivery, predictability in outcomes, and happy clients. Decision-making within teams becomes faster. Internal alignment shows up in every aspect of business – from project delivery to marketing and sales.

• Pricing resilience: Confidence in delivery supports firmer pricing. It no longer needs to price services based on hours but rather based on the value it delivers. Clients are more willing to pay premium fees because the consulting firm reduces complexity and provides evidence of its ability to deliver outcomes.

In our experience, consulting firms that make this shift stop compounding complexity and start compounding expertise.

Recommended reading: The Ultimate Guide to Consulting Value Proposition Design

Value Proposition-Driven Operations ≠ Zero Improvisation

I often get the question: can a consulting firm never leave its zone of expertise anymore (once defined)?

Of course, it can! The goal of value proposition-driven operations strategy is to turn flexibility into a tool in a big toolbox instead of letting it take over.

This means that when a consulting firm is driven by its strong value proposition, it leaves its comfort zone deliberately. For example, it may want to test a new proposition – aka innovation. And it does so  with clear boundaries, a learning goal, and an explicit plan to turn it into something scalable.

Exploration, in these instances, is a strategic choice. It is not driven by short-term revenue pressure. It is not forced upon the consultancy, nor does it chip away at its performance. Improvisation happens inside a structure – a sandbox environment, if you will.

Without that discipline, exploration turns into accidental portfolio sprawl, and improvisation quietly hardens into complexity (and profitability impact).

Improvisation Today = Complexity Tomorrow = Profit Erosion Soon

Improvisation is not inherently bad. It becomes dangerous when it starts running the show. When it turns consulting leaders and owners into reactive decision-makers instead of strategy-setters. It becomes a problem when clients are forced to get in the driver’s seat and dictate the scope and delivery.

Left unchecked, the negative impacts of improvisation compound. Every new project adds complexity. Complexity corrodes efficiency, erodes profitability, and stalls growth.

A strong, outcome-driven, issue-led, and client-focused value proposition is a way to put a consulting firm back on track. To grow by design. Proposition-driven strategies contain improvisation. They use flexibility to power predictable growth through continuous optimisation of resources and processes.

Improvisation should not run the show. Consulting growth can not be at the mercy of a couple of big projects or tied to a handful of clients. Consulting firms that find themselves in this position need to press the brakes and go back to the drawing board – value proposition design.

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