(Translated from Swedish – original here.) Sweden and most other industrialized countries are service societies; that is, more than half of the population works in the service sector. Many of the jobs (more than one-fifth of Sweden’s employment) within the service sector are knowledge-intensive professions, such as consultants, accountants, lawyers, etc.
Despite the fact that such a large percentage of our economy is services, there haven’t been any major changes to the sector. When our society transformed from an agricultural to an industrialized society in the 1800s, there were also profound changes around power relationships, behaviors, and practices. Similar changes can be expected for the service sector (and thus society at large) mainly driven by technological developments, globalization, and continued deregulation.
Above are major trends and challenges I have observed in the consulting industry. They are intended as a basis for discussion and inspiration for businesses selling any form of consulting services. Choose the challenges and trends and discuss them, keeping in mind the following questions:
- Is this assumption correct? What evidence can be seen for and against it?
- Does this apply to us? (Hint: Most people don’t think it applies to them but believe it applies to others. It may be worthwhile to consider if that is really true.)
- How can we take advantage of this? (Avoid getting into discussions about how to delay or prevent the development, or what the risks are.)