Hands or Brains? How to Hire for Strategy, Strategically
Summary
Hiring a consultant is no different from hiring talent: you need to look both for hard and soft skills if you want a successful and fruitful relationship. The most commonly used selection criteria, visual impact of the portfolio, same-industry experience, results achieved and price competitiveness don’t necessarily help to make a better selection. This presentation contains samples of the three key skills to look for, how they were critical in project success, and how to look for these skills in a consultancy.
Key Insights
-
•
Hiring for known problems calls for 'hands,' while unknown problems require 'brains' with strategic skills.
-
•
Evaluating agencies by portfolio visuals emphasizes output, not problem-solving effectiveness.
-
•
Industry-specific experience is less important than demonstrated expertise across diverse challenges.
-
•
Higher price does not guarantee better strategic capabilities; agencies also optimize their margins.
-
•
Partnership mindset leads to value creation by challenging client assumptions rather than just delivering services.
-
•
Successful strategy projects must produce solutions adopted company-wide, not just isolated deliverables.
-
•
Facilitating cross-department collaboration, especially with technical teams, is key to project success.
-
•
Flexibility means aligning on goals despite differing methodologies or tools, not simply adapting processes.
-
•
Listening to how agencies navigate organizational context reveals leadership beyond technical execution.
-
•
Proposals often better reveal strategic thinking and innovation than interviews alone.
Notable Quotes
"If you care about the solution, you’re much better off hiring hands."
"A vendor provides a service, but a partner delivers value."
"Knowing the difference between hands and brains is key to managing expectations."
"Choosing an agency based on portfolio visuals is focusing on output, not on how effective the solution was."
"The biggest challenge of a project is building a solution that’s going to be adopted company-wide."
"Flexibility is not about using the same methodologies; it’s about moving together towards the same goal."
"Big picture thinkers move past obstacles and create unexpected paths and new solutions."
"You find the right fit when someone challenges your assumptions and provides a different perspective."
"Success is about not sacrificing quality, not about mere integration."
"Listening for leadership is about understanding how they navigate a project beyond the solution."
Or choose a question:
More Videos
"Good design needs better PR and the government has to be actively involved in the process."
Sofía Delsordo Kassim VeraPublic Policy for Jalisco's Designers to Make Design Matter
December 8, 2021
"Curiosity and asking lots of questions helps push boundaries and improve solutions."
Product and Design at Bloomberg: A 15-year Evolution
December 6, 2022
"We have the quantity of research work; now we’re focused on building up the quality."
Liza Pemstein Jane DavisScaling Research Via an Ops First Model at Clever
March 27, 2023
"Legislation like the US executive order on federal customer experience has helped us rebuild trust in government."
Kara KaneTheme One Intro
November 16, 2022
"Many organizations silo data inputs and prioritize within categories before combining results."
Mark Interrante Harry MaxAI for Prioritization (3rd of 3 seminars)
July 11, 2024
"Confidence is critical in online shopping because nobody wants to spend money they’re unsure about losing due to unclear controls."
Sam ProulxOnline Shopping: Designing an Accessible Experience
October 3, 2023
"Most product managers are wide, most UX and engineers are deep — that’s just the nature of the roles."
Rich MironovHow Can Product Managers and UXers Help Each Other (and Why are Product Folks so Annoying Sometimes)?
December 6, 2022
"If someone says hell no, don’t stop, keep going."
Juhan SoninDesign Now! The Agenda for Action
September 4, 2025
"Safety is a fundamental human need which is often taken for granted and maybe that’s why it’s forgotten about."
Mansi GuptaDrawing from Feminist Practice to Make Inclusive Design Operational
September 9, 2022
Latest Books All books
Dig deeper with the Rosenbot
How should surveys be structured to balance quantitative metrics with qualitative insights?
How can power imbalances be acknowledged and shared with community members in design processes?
Why is prior authorization such a persistent problem and how can patient-centered solutions be designed around it?