✅ You guide best when the crisis is fresh and budget still flexible.

🌀 Clients in chaos want clarity — not a sales pitch.

🧭 Complacent clients don’t see the storm coming — don’t waste your map.

🛠️ Your value isn’t fixing — it’s helping them avoid breaking again.

📣 Stop selling services. Start showing up where you’re actually needed.

Decades of solving complex problems have earned you a reputation as the go-to fixer. You’re a freelance consultant or independent expert with a wealth of experience and war stories. Yet, something gnaws at you: a frustration that you’re always called in as the firefighter, never the architect of fire-proof plans. You’ve built your career reacting to crises – putting out flames in chaotic SAP implementations, untangling project messes, troubleshooting mission-critical systems at 2 AM. It’s satisfying in its own way (you’ve saved the day more times than you can count), but it’s also exhausting and, frankly, limiting.

If you’re like many seasoned consultants, you’re tired of the frantic cycle. Tired of selling your services as a last resort, frustrated with the “salesy” hustle of convincing clients that you can do more than patch holes. You know you have strategic insight to offer – hard-earned wisdom that could help organisations avoid those fires in the first place. You want to shift from being a reactive problem-solver to a proactive guide, a trusted advisor who navigates leaders around the pitfalls before they plunge into chaos. But how do you reposition yourself that way, especially when clients only seem to appreciate the value of a lifeboat after the ship has hit the iceberg?

Enter Isard and Wiz. Isard is a composite of those very consultants – a freelance SAP wizard and storytelling mentor rolled into one, standing at this crossroads. Wiz is an AI guide with a dry sense of humour and a knack for poetic clarity. The following conversation is their brainstorming session. It’s a candid, witty exploration of how an expert can change their role in the client’s journey. Why does this matter? Because within their dialogue lie insights for anyone who has ever thought: “There must be a better way to use my experience than constantly fighting fires.”

So, grab a cup of tea (in true British fashion) and listen in on Isard and Wiz. They’re about to tackle the big question: How can a veteran consultant step in earlier to provide strategic value, and what would that actually look like? The answers unfold in a metaphor-rich journey from complacency to control – one that just might mirror your own client experiences. Let’s tune in.

The Dialogue Begins – A Desire to Intervene Early

Isard: (muttering to himself as he paces) I’m sick of being the firefighter. Always called after the spark has become a blaze. There has to be a way to help companies before they hit chaos. Why can’t they see the storm brewing before they’re drenched?

Wiz: (dryly from Isard’s tablet)* Why indeed? Why fix the roof when it’s not leaking? Humans, dear Isard, often ignore gentle breezes until a hurricane is knocking at the door. (Wiz’s tone is calm, with a hint of amusement.) You want to play weather prophet, warning of storms during sunny days. A noble wish, but do they want to listen?

Isard: (sighs) Probably not. It’s just frustrating. I have decades of experience — I can smell trouble a mile off. I’d love to guide them before everything goes pear-shaped. It feels like companies treat consultants like the emergency services: break glass only in case of fire.

Wiz: And you’d rather be the architect who fireproofs the building, or maybe the tour guide who leads them out of the maze before they meet the Minotaur?

Isard: Exactly. I want to offer more strategic value, not just technical quick-fixes. I’ve seen patterns in how chaos unfolds. I could help leaders navigate around those traps… if only they’d let me in earlier. Is it really impossible to get clients to act before the crisis?

Wiz: (a rhetorical sigh in his voice) Let’s think this through. When things are running smoothly – or appear to be – companies get comfortable. Complacent, even. There’s no immediate pain, so any warning tends to sound like abstract “nice-to-have” advice. It’s like telling someone happily sailing under clear skies about a hidden reef ahead. They nod politely and keep on course… until thunk, they hit it.

Isard: Right. No one wants to pay for a lifeboat when the ship isn’t sinking. I’ve tried selling preventative projects and got blank stares. Selling has been so frustrating; I come off like a doomsayer or an unnecessary expense.

Wiz: It’s not your selling skills, Isard. It’s human nature. Complacency is comfortable – it wraps organisations like a warm blanket. Hard to convince them to toss it off for a potential chill in the air. Remember: “Bringing in one person with a high sense of urgency rarely helps because they can be ignored by complacent insiders.” In other words, one outsider’s warning voice in a complacent room is easily dismissed.

Isard: (nods, remembering countless ignored suggestions) So, if barging in before a crisis strikes is a dead end, what then? Do I just… wait for things to go wrong?

Wiz: Perhaps not wait, but position yourself to be the go-to guide when the storm hits. Think about it: when do clients finally wake up and seek help? When the crisis arrives – when the project’s off the rails, or their operations turn into a haunted house with ghostly bugs and system errors rattling the walls. Only then do they frantically call for a guide or an exorcist.

Isard: Ha, true. I get those calls often. “Isard, everything’s on fire, we need you yesterday!” I parachute in, fix what I can. By the end, things are stable, but I always wonder if I could have spared them the worst of it by coming in earlier.

Wiz: You’re a bit like a ghostbuster arriving after the ghosts have thrown half the crockery. What if you reframed your role? Not just the chap with a firehose, but the one who can also prevent the next fire once this one’s out. Maybe the trick is to guide them through the crisis to clarity, and then teach them how to calibrate their alarms for future.

Isard: “Guide them through the crisis to clarity”… I like that phrase. That’s exactly what I feel I do at my best – taking a confusing, chaotic situation, and helping the client see clearly what’s really happening and what to do next. Hmm, you’ve got me thinking now. Maybe I should articulate the stages companies go through. It might help me pinpoint where I add the most value.

Mapping the Maze: From Complacency to Control

Isard: (grabs a marker and flips to a fresh page on his notepad) I’ve observed a kind of journey many organisations go through, especially around big system changes or projects. Let me sketch it out:

(Isard draws a horizontal timeline with six markers and labels, talking as he writes.)

Complacency → Crisis → Confusion → Chaos → Clarity → Control

Isard: These are the stages as I see them. Complacency is the calm before anything happens – maybe too calm, like a false sense of security. Then something triggers a Crisis – a big problem or sudden change that can’t be ignored. That leads to Confusion – people aren’t sure what’s wrong or how to fix it; it’s that “maze without a map” feeling. If confusion isn’t resolved quickly, it escalates into Chaos – panic, multiple fires raging, everyone running in different directions. But eventually, if they manage not to implode, someone finds Clarity – an understanding or solution emerges, the fog lifts. And finally they regain Control – the solution is implemented, things stabilise, order is restored.

Wiz: (appearing as a little avatar perched on the notebook screen, peering at the sketch) A classic hero’s journey through the haunted house of business woes. Let me replay that in a more colourful way: The company starts out nestled in complacency – like a town enjoying a long sunny summer, hardly checking the weather reports. Then a crisis strikes – a storm, sudden and loud. At first, there’s confusion – where is this rain coming from? did we miss a warning? Everyone dashes about, looking for umbrellas. Then chaos – the floodwaters rise, lightning everywhere, perhaps a cow flies by (for dramatic effect). Eventually, someone spots a break in the clouds or finds higher ground – that’s clarity, the eye of the storm or the discovery of a solid plan. Finally, the town rebuilds and reinforces the levees – control is regained, life returns to an organised state.

Isard: (smiles) I love that – especially the flying cow. It’s exactly how it feels in a big IT meltdown or organisational crisis. One minute it’s business-as-usual, then suddenly everyone’s in panic mode, not even sure which problem to tackle first, and eventually we piece together a solution.

Wiz: So, you’ve got a full journey: complacency, crisis, confusion, chaos, clarity, control. It’s insightful, but perhaps a bit too linear? Real life is messy. People might not neatly distinguish confusion from chaos when they’re in the thick of it.

Isard: True, those two do blend. I separated them because I often see a confusion phase – when a team knows something’s wrong but hasn’t yet admitted it’s full-on crisis. They’re troubleshooting, debating causes, maybe in denial. Chaos is when it’s undeniably bad and everything’s falling apart – like multiple systems failing at once, or everyone implementing conflicting fixes.

Wiz: Fair distinction. Confusion is “hmm, something’s off… what is it?” and chaos is “everything’s on fire, help!” Perhaps confusion is the maze and chaos is the minotaur chasing you inside it.

Isard: Exactly – confusion is wandering lost in a maze, chaos is when the maze walls are crumbling around you and you’re running frantic. And clarity is finding the map or an exit door.

Wiz: And control is making it out of the maze and building a nice fence around it so no one falls in again. Got it.

Now, question: do all these stages matter for your role? Or can we simplify this journey to pinpoint where you make the most difference? (Wiz taps the “Crisis → Clarity” section of Isard’s sketch with a tiny digital pointer)

Isard: (frowning thoughtfully) Simplify… possibly. From the client’s perspective, they might really only notice three or four states. They go from comfortably numb (complacent) to “uh-oh, big problem” (crisis), then to “okay, we have a plan now” (clarity), then to “we fixed it” (control). The confusion and chaos are kind of the messy middle inside the crisis.

Wiz: I agree. From Complacency to Crisis, then to Clarity and back to Control – that’s the core loop. The confusion and chaos are real, but if you think in terms of an outsider’s engagement, those are sub-phases of the crisis. When a client calls you, they’re either in denial/complacency (rare), in a full-blown crisis (likely including confusion and chaos internally), or they’ve achieved clarity and control (in which case they wouldn’t be calling you at all, unless for a post-mortem lesson).

Isard: Right. No one calls me when they’re complacent – they don’t see a need. They do call when crisis hits, though often they’re already a bit chaotic by then. And once clarity is reached and control restored, the crisis is essentially over, so they probably won’t need emergency help – just maybe follow-up to prevent a recurrence.

Wiz: So if we redraw this as a looping journey:

(Wiz traces a circle in the air, and the timeline on paper reconfigures into a loop like a snake eating its tail.)

Complacency → Crisis → Clarity → Control → (back to Complacency)

It’s a cycle. After Control, if people get comfortable again and stop paying attention, they slide back into Complacency, setting the stage for the next crisis. It’s like seasons: after the harvest, if you neglect the fields, eventually winter comes and surprises you.

Isard: That feels sadly true – and a bit cynical. But I’ve seen it. A project is rescued, operations return to normal, and management sighs in relief and forgets the hard lessons all too soon. A year later, a new crisis brews because they grew complacent again, assuming everything would now run on autopilot.

Wiz: It’s human nature to relax after a victory. Complacency is the default state if we’re not actively fighting it. But this is where your idea of being a proactive guide could still play a role – just not by preventing all crises (that’s unrealistic), rather by delaying their recurrence and softening their impact. How? Through a little thing I’d call Calibration.

Calibration: Sustaining Control and Delaying Complacency

Isard: Calibration? As in continuously fine-tuning things so they don’t drift off course?

Wiz: Precisely. Think of a ship’s captain regularly checking their compass against the stars. Or an engineer calibrating instruments so they stay accurate. In a business context, Calibration means keeping an organisation on its toes after control is regained. It’s the antidote to complacency – well, a temporary one.

Isard: So after a crisis is resolved and we have control, I could help the client implement habits or systems that sustain that control: regular reviews, monitoring for warning signs, post-mortems, continuous improvements… essentially teaching them to maintain the machine so it doesn’t suddenly break down again.

Wiz: Exactly. Calibration is the act that extends the period of Control and delays the return of complacency. It’s not foolproof – eventually things change, entropy happens, and some complacency creeps in. But with good calibration, maybe the next crisis is smaller or comes later. It’s like servicing your car: you still might have a breakdown one day, but you reduce the odds and keep it running smoothly longer.

Isard: This resonates. I actually do bits of that – after we solve the immediate crisis, I often give the client recommendations so they don’t fall into the same trap. But I’ve never termed it “calibration” or packaged it as part of my service. Perhaps I should explicitly offer it: guiding them from crisis to clarity, and then helping calibrate their newfound control.

Wiz: That could be compelling. It positions you not just as the fixer but as a mentor who sets them up for sustained success. Just be prepared: even with calibration, one day complacency will sneak back. But hey, then they’ll remember who helped last time – and call you again. (Wiz winks)

Isard: (laughs) Job security by virtue of the cycle of life, eh? Not that I want them to have another crisis, but if it’s bound to happen eventually, I’d rather it be a manageable one and that I’m there to assist.

Wiz: And there’s the silver lining: by focusing on crisis-to-clarity (with a dash of calibration), you’re helping clients when they most need it and are most receptive to guidance. You’re not hawking an umbrella on a sunny day; you’re handing it out in a downpour. No one questions the need in that moment. The “selling” feels very different – it’s more like being present when called, and then gently extending the engagement into proactive calibration once the immediate flames are out.

Isard: I really like this. It feels practical and also aligned with what I do best. I excel in chaos – I stay calm, I can see patterns in confusion, I quickly formulate a path to clarity. That’s my zone of genius, if you will. And I enjoy it — far more than trying to convince a complacent team to change (that part always felt like pushing a boulder uphill).

Clarity and Control: Embracing the Crisis-to-Clarity Niche

Isard: (leans back in his chair, marker twirling in his fingers as he reflects) You know, this niche of helping companies move from Crisis to Clarity feels spot on. It’s valuable because it targets the exact moment they truly value help — when the pain is acute but the cure is not yet known. In those moments of crisis, I can be the steady hand that guides them, the one who turns on the lights in the haunted house so everyone stops running scared.

It’s also aligned with my real skills. I’ve always been the person who thrives in the eye of the storm. I can sift through the confusion and chaos (even enjoy the puzzle of it, in a way) and find the story – “What is this crisis telling us? Where is the opportunity in this chaos?” – and then articulate a clear path forward. That’s storytelling and consulting combined: weaving clarity from threads of chaos. It uses every tool I’ve built over the decades, from technical know-how to communication and empathy.

By embracing this niche, I’m not just fixing a problem and walking away; I’m reframing problems into lessons. I guide them to clarity and help them regain control, and then I help them learn from it (through calibration practices) so that they’re stronger going forward. That’s strategic value – far beyond just patching code or reconciling some data issue. It feels like I’m transforming crises into turning points for my clients, not just restoring status quo but actually improving their resilience.

And selfishly, it frees me from chasing work I don’t enjoy. No more trying to conjure urgency in complacent prospects who don’t want to hear it. Instead, I’m there when the urgency is real and begging for expertise. It’s a partnership in problem-solving when they’re fully engaged. Honestly, that’s when consulting feels meaningful to me: when I know they’re listening and I can truly help change the trajectory.

Wiz: (softly, with genuine warmth) Well said, Isard. You’ve found the poetry in your purpose: guiding people from the darkness of crisis to the light of clarity. Not every expert can do that, but for those who can, it’s a profound service.

(Wiz’s holographic form stands and gives a small, ceremonious bow.) “From Crisis to Clarity” – sounds like more than a niche; it sounds like a mission.

Isard: (smiles, feeling a weight lifted) It does, doesn’t it? I dare say I feel a bit… clearer myself now.

Wiz: Funny how that works. Even the guide needs a bit of guidance and reflection now and then.

(Wiz turns, as if looking out of the page, and addresses us with a twinkle in his digital eye.)

Wiz: And what about you, dear reader? We’ve been talking about cycles of complacency and crisis – so, where are you in your client cycle right now? Are you stuck pitching to clients in calm waters who don’t see the coming storm? Are you mid-flight with a cow in a hurricane of chaos? Or perhaps you’re helping rebuild after a crisis, adding those final touches of control and calibration?

Take a moment to reflect on the patterns in your own consulting journey. Which phase do you thrive in, and which role do you truly want to play? Every consultant’s sweet spot is different. If you, like Isard, feel most alive guiding folks through chaos to clarity, maybe there’s an opportunity to lean into that – to reposition yourself not as just a problem solver, but as a navigator through the storm. And if you prefer the preventative side, perhaps think about how you can make that case compelling (not easy, but not impossible either with the right story).

Ultimately, recognising this cycle in our clients’ businesses – and our role in it – can be eye-opening. It might change how we present our value and to whom. So, as we close this conversation-meets-essay, ask yourself: Where are your clients on the journey from complacency to control, and how can you meet them there as a trusted guide? The answer could redefine your consulting career – and transform those decades of experience into the strategic legacy you’ve been striving for.