Donato BlandolinoWhy background makes a difference in consulting, and what distinguishes operational experience from methodological expertise.
Working as equals does not come from business cards. It comes from operational experience. Anyone who has never worked in production themselves, who has never managed an SAP programme under pressure or been responsible for a restructuring, cannot establish that equal footing. No matter how good the methodology is.
What working as equals really means in operational reality
In manufacturing, there is a moment that decides everything. Not the first steering committee meeting. Not the kick-off presentation. Not the contract. It is the moment when an interim manager stands on the shop floor for the first time and speaks to the shift supervisor.
That moment determines whether collaboration or resistance emerges. That decision is not based on a CV. It is based on a single question that nobody asks aloud, but everyone in the room answers: Does this person know what they are talking about?
Why traditional consulting cannot establish this equal footing
Traditional consultancies work with intelligent people. The analyses are often brilliant, the frameworks well thought out. But there is a fundamental difference between someone who analyses a process and someone who has managed that process themselves.
Anyone who has never personally held operational responsibility for a production relocation underestimates the complexity of the final ten per cent. Anyone who has never cleaned up SAP master data themselves does not know how deeply the problems are rooted in the organisation.
What “working your way up from the shop floor” means in practice
At SMART iNTERIM, we work with specialists who did not start their careers in consulting. But in goods receiving. In logistics. In production. In maintenance. In toolmaking.
Anyone who has worked in goods receiving themselves understands why a posting discrepancy of three per cent can throw the entire material planning process off balance. This experience creates something that no framework can replace: credibility.
Personality First: What it means in practice
Personality First is not a marketing claim. It is a selection principle. In the interim management sector, appointments are traditionally based on competency profiles. That is important. But it is not enough. Competence is a prerequisite. Personality is decisive.
When making an appointment, we do not only ask: Can this person solve the problem? But also: Can this person be effective in this specific organisation, with these specific people, under these specific pressures?
Working as equals under pressure
Working as equals is easy when everything is going well. It gets interesting under pressure. In such situations, a consultant can make a recommendation and leave the room. An interim manager cannot. They are back on the shop floor the next morning.
That only works if the people in the organisation feel: This person understands our world. Not because they have studied it. But because they come from it.
The difference between recommending and deciding
There is an unspoken principle in consultancy: the consultant recommends, the client decides. In practice, this often means that no one really decides. In interim management, this safety net does not exist. When we enter a company, our specialists take responsibility. Not for a recommendation. For a result.
