Information does not always translate into action. The factors that blocked the accumulation of information before the consultant was called in now may block new initiatives. Information collection itself can become a substitute for action or even a barrier to action. A consultant can be easily lured into a repeated cycle of information collection, analysis and feedback which allows the client to avoid dealing with the risks and consequences of making hard decisions and taking concrete steps to alleviate identified problems. One must acknowledge the role to be played by information feedback in helping the client system to plan and initiate action. However, one also must recognize the need to move to the following stages to increase the possibility that something will eventuate from the feedback of information.
Feedback to Test Analysis
Feedback often provides an additional source of information to an organizational consultant in the reactions of various constituencies to information that has already been collected and the way in which this information has been analyzed. This “feedback on feedback” or “confirmational” process can take place in a variety of settings and at several different times. If the client is not already involved in information analysis, the consultant may wish to meet with the client periodically during the analysis stage to check on the progress of the consultation as well as to test out ideas. More informally, the consultant might wish to speak briefly with the client between interviews or observations to check out specific perceptions or hunches.
Confirmation can occur through individual or small group interviews. Interviewees are asked to respond to specific statements from a previous interview or to comment on an observation already made. Interviewees might be asked questions which will directly confirm or disconfirm a hypothesis or tentative conclusion. Confirmation can also occur through re-interviewing someone who has made a particularly controversial point, or once again observing a particularly revealing activity.
Most frequently, confirmation or disconfirmation will occur during a formal information feedback session. When significant discrepancies are noted during these sessions, not only should more information be collected to confirm or disconfirm a hypothesis, alternative hypotheses should be formulated to account for discrepancies. In some cases, the analysis of reasons for the discrepancies will reveal a flaw in the information collection strategy. New methods can be employed, new sources of information can be identified, or new roles can be assigned to the consultant, client, or other collectors of data. A return to Stage Three (Information Collection) often is warranted.
