Meet Inge Bograd, Darize consultant

What is the most important lesson you’ve learned as a consultant?

It has to be that trust is the foundation. That’s what makes all the difference. Clients need to feel that you’re on their side and that you’re truly committed to helping them.

It takes time to build trust, but in return, I’ve found that clients call on me again and again, even for assignments that aren’t within my core area of expertise. In those cases, I might need to bring in colleagues with the right expertise, but the client trusts that I understand their organization and can therefore bring my colleagues up to speed on it too. I help make sure the project is shaped around the client’s actual needs and doesn’t drift off course, for example, by becoming too ambitious or failing to account for the necessary domain knowledge.

What motivates and drives you in your work?

One thing that’s truly exciting about being a consultant is when I’m able to get to the heart of an organization, when the client feels comfortable speaking honestly about their challenges: What matters most to them, what’s difficult, where are the pain points, and where do they need help?

Over the years, I’ve worked with a wide range of organizations, so I have a broad frame of reference and a large toolbox to draw on. That means I’ve become good at stepping into an organization and quickly identifying where it could go next and how a different approach could improve outcomes.

It’s a great feeling to realize that I can offer something a client can’t necessarily provide on their own. As an outsider, I can bring a different perspective, often informed by similar challenges I’ve seen elsewhere. Most people want to help and create value for others, and that’s what you do as a consultant. When you succeed, it’s incredibly rewarding.

What do you value about being part of Darize?

I think that at Darize, we have the best of both worlds. We have a really strong organization where you’re part of a team and have a huge professional support network, and at the same time, as independent consultants, we have a great deal of freedom to choose the projects and assignments we want to work on.

To a large extent, we can also set our own work hours, though of course this needs to be coordinated with clients and colleagues. There’s always full support from the team if someone needs to slow down for a while. And when you have the time and energy, you can choose to take on more.

It aligns well with my values that we don’t operate out of a glitzy headquarters in Copenhagen. At Darize, we focus on what matters and try to create value, without making a big show of it.

For me, it’s also exciting to be a management consultant at a firm that’s deeply technical. Digital transformation requires you to stay close to the technology if you want to deliver from strategy through implementation. There are some consulting firms that are a bit weak on the technical side, but here we have expertise across the full spectrum. That makes a difference.

What made you decide to become a consultant at Darize?

I took the plunge the moment I walked through the door at Darize. At least, that’s what it felt like. It was a quick decision, not something I’d been planning for years. I thought, “I’ll give it a try, and then we’ll see what happens.”

I was ready for a change from the job I had, and becoming an independent consultant was part of that decision.

It can feel risky when you’re coming from a permanent position. But once you get past that hurdle and see that it can work out, you can typically earn more as an independent consultant than as a permanent employee. If you manage your finances wisely, you can also build up a buffer for quieter periods. In that sense, you create your own safety net.