While writing this article, I am also dealing with challenges of my own. Business difficulties inevitably affect life and commitments do not pause. Over the past year and into this year, I have lost at least two good projects, largely due to unhealthy competition and my firm decision not to be involved in "unethical business practices".
Despite this, I believe giving up is not an option. This article is written to share these realities, especially with those in the same professional league, and to reflect on why we sometimes fail. I have since changed my approach, and early signs show it is working in my favour. Progress may be slow, but it is sustainable and achieved without reliance on bank support.
1.0 WHAT WAS ONCE SCARCE IS NOW EVERYWHERE
Some management-system “trades” are now saturated, not because they lack value, but because technology and knowledge-sharing have flattened the playing field.
We no longer need templates. We have search engines. We browse global case studies. We seek second opinions from platforms like ChatGPT.
What was once scarce is now everywhere.
This mirrors an old economic truth: when demand and supply are not balanced, value erodes. Professions that were once the preferred pathways, doctor, engineer, lawyer, pilot, are no longer guarantees of security. Even businesses, suppliers, and food stalls are saturated.
I used to ask a simple question years ago: “When everyone becomes a seller, who becomes the buyer?”
Today, that question is even more uncomfortable.
2.0 THE CERTIFICATION RACE AND ILLUSION OF DIFFERENTIATION
In the modern world, recognition is tied to membership and accreditation. To be “legitimate,” one must belong to a professional institution. The problem? There are too many institutions, across too many countries, certifying the same things.
This has created a race (or "madness"), some professionals now hold more than ten certifications. Credentials have become collectibles rather than indicators of capability.
I was once in the certification race myself, until I realised learning should be about relevance and adaptation not accumulating certificates. I already have enough of those.
2.0 A LESSON FROM 2001 (Long Before “Disruption” Was a Buzzword)
In 2001, more than 25 years ago, I gave a closed lecture at a well-known IPTA. I asked the deans and lecturers to bring their best students (perhaps CGPA 4.0), across disciplines engineering, accounting, and others.
I made one condition clear: The lecturers were not to answer on behalf of their students.
They selected:
One final-year engineering student
One final-year accounting student
My questions were simple.
What do you want to be after graduation and practical training? Predictably: an engineer, an accountant, an auditor.
Then I asked: If there is no job for you as an engineer or accountant, what would you do?
Silence.
If you are offered a job not related to your qualification, would you take it?
More silence.
I joked with them:
If I were the interviewer and every candidate had a CGPA of 4.0, how would I choose?
Their answer was,
“My university is better than theirs.”
The hall erupted in laughter. I admired their confidence and pride but it wasn’t the answer I was looking for.
3.0 A STORY ABOUT RELEVANCE (NOT TITLES)
I shared a story from my own life. Between 1995–1998, a local newspaper hired me as a weekly columnist on ISO 9000, ISO 14000, ISO 18000 (now ISO 45001), and TQM.
The problem then? There was no editor with sufficient technical background to properly review my articles.
Until one day, an editor appeared, she was a Civil Engineering graduate. She became the most qualified person to review my work.
Years later, she thanked me. Through that experience, she discovered the meaning of being an editor with a technical foundation. Even the newspaper evolved, creating space for editors with technical backgrounds.
I returned to the students and asked again:
If you do not get your dream job, would you take an alternative role that does not match your qualification?
Only then did everyone say, yes.
The keywords here are : "adaptation" and "customization" = "assimilation" (Well depending on how you see "assimilation" - but "adaptation" and "customization" must be our reality.)
4.0 WHAT I TOLD THEM THAT DAY
I structured my lecture around several realities that universities rarely confront honestly.
4.1 The Gap Between Academic Excellence and Real Work (this is the reality even today)
I showed them what work actually feels like. How data and statistics are not static but must be broken down by:
trades, departments, locations, projects etc.
And how analysis must end in real consequences:
cost of rectification, cost of system failure, cost of document amendments
The gap shocked them (both lecturers and students), they had been trained to present only top-level analysis, without any real breakdown.
4.2 The Truth About Internship
Internship or “practical,” as we called it then offers only 5–10% of reality, even if extended.
I told them: The moment you graduate, register with professional bodies e.g. BEM, MIA, MICPA etc. depending on their paths.
Understand continuous learning. Value CPD points the way you once valued academic credit hours. Invest in courses. Network with experienced professionals, senior engineers, corporate leaders, practitioners.
That is where real insight lives.
I also cited a case in a state in 1999 : a Dean of Engineering, a Professor, approved internal construction drawings, only to face backlash from BEM and IEM. Academic recognition alone does not grant professional authority. Registration matters.
4.3 Don't Rush Into Business
I warned them not to "romanticise entrepreneurship". Success stories hide failure rates, context, timing, and competency gaps.
Be employed first. Learn from strong organisations. Only then, venture out.
4.4 An Unexpected Outcome
I didn’t realise the hall had filled up. People were queuing outside. Loudspeakers carried the lecture across campus.
I received a standing ovation.
Lecturers and deans later approached me some jokingly saying,
“This is what they don’t teach in Harvard.”
Soon after, many of them registered themselves with professional institutions.
That was long before “New Normal” became a phrase.
5.0 FAST FORWARD TO POST 2024
COVID-19 changed everything.
Online platforms exploded. Knowledge became borderless. AI entered daily workflows. New systems ESG, SDG, ABMS etc reshaped expectations.
Yet many consultants failed to realise this:
Experience alone is no longer enough if relevance is lost. What used to be market requirements are now saturated.
Competing by undercutting fees or hoarding certifications only leads to unhealthy competition.
Professional institutions, certification bodies, and accreditation agencies must also evolve. Stringent requirements without recognising hands-on experience will push talent elsewhere. Other countries have already begun relaxing this rigidity.
6.0 ON BRAIN DRAIN, UNEMPLOYMENT AND REALITY
To me, brain drain is no longer the issue in Malaysia.
Malaysia has advanced technologically and economically. Compensation now aligns more closely with cost of living. Unemployment today is often driven by being too choosy, and that mindset must change.
Yet we remain trapped by obsession with academic titles and certificates even within civil service structures. This fuels a certification hunt that benefits institutions more than individuals.
Once; during my time; bodies like MLVK and C&G recognised experience as skill. That balance is slipping.
Universities and training institutions now operate like corporate entities often at great cost to parents and students. Scholarships exist, but fees remain excessive.
7.0 THE MALAY PROVERB : UKUR BAJU DI BADAN SENDIRI
We must return to a simple Malay proverb: “Ukur baju di badan sendiri.”
"Measure according to our capacity".
Respect our culture, rules, and realities. Learn from others but do not be overly influenced.
Today, even expatriates acknowledge that Malaysia stands well on its own.
7.0 SO, HOW DO CONSULTANTS SURVIVE TODAY?
By staying relevant. Not by selling templates. Not by stacking certificates.
But by integrating systems, customising them deeply, and ensuring they truly work for the industries they serve. If you're a reader of my articles and postings, you will understand exactly what I've said herein.
Knowledge exposure does not kill the market. It reshapes it. And for senior consultants, this is not a threat, it is leverage.
Those who adapt will survive the modern age. Those who don’t will be left competing in a race that no longer matters.
Response to a comment : This wasn't suggesting consultants should abandon their fundamentals. What needs to evolve is not our principles, but our tools. Stay updated with emerging technologies, learn how to use them and re-customize our approaches to meet the changing needs of the industry.
No comments:
Post a Comment