Affordable Housing Institute : US

[Continued from the previous Part 2a.]

[A previous trio, Part 1a , Part 1b , and Part 1c, covered the rules of engagement with clients.]

 

Holmes sat for some time in silent thought. He had lit the oldest and foulest of his pipes.
“I am not clear yet what you want me to do in this matter, Mr. Mason,” he said at last. “Can’t you make it more definite?”

The Adventure of Shoscombe Old Place

 

Three decades of experience in affordable housing finance, alongside the great detective Sherlock Holmes, the Compleat housing finance consultant, has given me insight into the profession of consulting, and to the services and activities requisite to success.  A hundred years hence, New York City will give rise to the ultimate consultants, the Ghostbusters, but in nineteenth century London, Holmes reigns supreme, because his services are comprehensive.

 

B6.       Asks all the questions the client finds it difficult to ask

 

A specialist, be he doctor, lawyer, or affordable housing consultant, must be fully expert in his field, and thus must delve into the muck of human existence:

 

“He appears to have a passion for definite and exact knowledge.”
“Very right too.”
“Yes, but it may be pushed to excess. When it comes to beating the subjects in the dissecting-rooms with a stick, it is certainly taking rather a bizarre shape.”
“Beating the subjects!”
“Yes, to verify how far bruises may be produced after death. I saw him at it with my own eyes.”

Chapter 1, A Study in Scarlet

 

When Holmes struck, he knew what he was striking and what effect it would have.

 

B7.       Identifies the relevant information from a welter of data

 

As an expert, the consultant can identify what information is critical to uncover, can extract it from sources, and can then arrange the information into a format suitable for interpretation, which the consultant then provides to the client. 

 

“It is of the highest importance in the art of detection to be able to recognize, out of a number of facts, which are incidental and which vital. Otherwise your energy and attention must be dissipated instead of being concentrated.”

The Reigate Puzzle

 

Holmes grunted from the sofa.
“The county police ought to make something of that,” said he; “why, it is surely obvious that– –”

 

All that scrying of entrails is for the purpose of making explicit a vision of the proposed transaction, so that at each time a new fact or resource is added, the consultant is able instantly to update the projection and give the client real-time guidance.

 

“It is an old maxim of mine that when you have excluded the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.”

The Adventure of the Beryl Coronet

 

Eliminating the impossible on behalf of Alexander Holder

 

B8.       Creates options and does not foreclose them

 

The consultant is the expert, Holmes once lectured me.  The client not required to be an expert.  Not for clients to develop theories, design alternative financial structures, or create options.  That is our job.

 

When Miss Violet Hunter was puzzled by events at her situation, Holmes spared no effort to decipher them.

 

“I have devised seven separate explanations, each of which would cover the facts as far as we know them. But which of these is correct can only be determined by the fresh information which we shall no doubt find waiting for us.”

The Adventure of the Copper Beeches

 

B9.       Makes things decisionable

 

An effective consultant is like a hound on a leash, Holmes once commented to me as we were being hauled through the streets of London by Toby, a half-spaniel, half-lurcher with an infallible nose.  It is his job to lead the client unerringly to the decision point, and then let the client decide.

 

Like his bloodhound Toby, Holmes was relentless when scenting a solution

 

A good consultant thus works for his client by operating independently within the absolute limits of his remit.  There is no need to ask the client for permission to do things which are preparatory or technical in nature, and where no client decision is required. 

 

Nevertheless, in every complex matter, there come points where the client must choose:

 

“It was not the wife; it was the children,” groaned the prisoner. “God help me, I would not have them ashamed of their father. My God! What an exposure! What can I do?”

The Man with the Twisted Lip

 

At such times, the consultant must sketch the probable outcome of actions, and invite the client’s decision:

Sherlock Holmes sat down beside him on the couch and patted him kindly on the shoulder.
“If you leave it to a court of law to clear the matter up,” said he, “of course you can hardly avoid publicity. On the other hand, if you convince the police authorities that there is no possible case against you, I do not know that there is any reason that the details should find their way into the papers. Inspector Bradstreet would, I am sure, make notes upon anything which you might tell us and submit it to the proper authorities. The case would then never go into court at all.”

The Man with the Twisted Lip

 

Holmes gave Neville St. Clair a chance to redeem his life and his good name

 

B10.     Recommends to his client

 

Even as the consultant operates independently over large stretches of territory, there are some essential decisions that are the province solely of the customer.  Time and again I have seen Holmes nudge a client toward an answer, or frame it in a way that he hoped would yield a particular result, but as he emphasized many times to me, the ultimate decision is always and ever the client’s choice:

 

“God bless you!” cried the prisoner passionately. “I would have endured imprisonment, ay, even execution, rather than have left my miserable secret as a family blot to my children.

“It must stop here, however,” said Bradstreet. “If the police are to hush this thing up, there must be no more of Hugh Boone.”
“I have sworn it by the most solemn oaths which a man can take.”
“In that case I think that it is probable that no further steps may be taken. But if you are found again, then all must come out. I am sure, Mr. Holmes, that we are very much indebted to you for having cleared the matter up. I wish I knew how you reach your results.”
“I reached this one,” said my friend, “by sitting upon five pillows and consuming an ounce of shag. I think, Watson, that if we drive to Baker Street we shall just be in time for breakfast.”

 

How to solve a complex problem: an ounce of shag

 

B11.     Puts the right team on the case, and manages his subcontractors

 

Even the cleverest consultant is but a single man, and some assignments call for teams of people.  Indeed, when portfolios are involved, or vast geographies must be covered.  For this the consultant needs to be able on short notice to assemble a team of subcontractors:

 

As he spoke, there came a swift pattering of naked feet upon the stairs, a clatter of high voices, and in rushed a dozen dirty and ragged little street Arabs. There was some show of discipline among them, despite their tumultuous entry, for they instantly drew up in line and stood facing us with expectant faces. One of their number, taller and older than the others, stood forward with an air of lounging superiority which was very funny in such a disreputable little scarecrow.

 

For all that they were street urchins, the Irregulars were professional

“Got your message, sir,” said he, “and brought ’em on sharp. Three bob and a tanner for tickets.”

 

Holmes had a romantic view of street Arabs, as we called them.  These homeless children, byproducts of the Victorian slums, suffered exploitation, violence, and disease.  Nevertheless, London’s slums were hives of entrepreneurialism, and Holmes, like any good prime contractor, dealt equitably with his subcontractors:

“Here you are,” said Holmes, producing some silver. “In future they can report to you, Wiggins, and you to me. I cannot have the house invaded in this way. However, it is just as well that you should all hear the instructions. I want to find the whereabouts of a steam launch called the Aurora, owner Mordecai Smith, black with two red streaks, funnel black with a white band. She is down the river somewhere. I want one boy to be at Mordecai Smith’s landing-stage opposite Millbank to say if the boat comes back.”

 

Holmes also knew how to delegate and to insist upon subcontractor accountability:

 

“You must divide it out among yourselves and do both banks thoroughly. Let me know the moment you have news. Is that all clear?”

“Yes, guv’nor,” said Wiggins. “The old scale of pay, and a guinea to the boy who finds the boat.” “Here’s a day in advance. Now off you go!”

 

They were named Irregulars but they performed yeoman service.

He handed them a shilling each, and away they buzzed down the stairs, and I saw them a moment later streaming down the street.

We should note that just as Holmes could be a deniable ambassador for his client, the Irregulars were deniable ambassadors for Holmes.

 

“If the launch is above water they will find her,” said Holmes as he rose from the table and lit his pipe. “They can go everywhere, see everything, overhear everyone.”

The Sign of the Four, Chapter 8

 

B12.     Executes decisions made wholeheartedly, even if having disagreed

 

I never had occasion to record it in my diary – Holmes forbade me even to document it privately – but on a handful of occasions, Holmes was called upon to execute client instructions he had counseled against.  Considerations of state occasionally intervened, the tawdry business of diplomacy being a field of endeavor that Holmes eschewed entirely.  More commonly the client made a dreadful blunder, and Holmes was then consulted a second time to minimize the damage. 

 

If that happened, the client emerged shaken, grateful, and in awe of Holmes, and thus the perfect referrer of interesting cases:

 

I read as follows:

 

Sir:
Our client, Mr. Robert Ferguson, of Ferguson and Muirhead, tea brokers, of Mincing Lane, has made some inquiry from us in a communication of even date concerning vampires. As our firm specializes entirely upon the assessment of machinery the matter hardly comes within our purview, and we have therefore recommended Mr. Ferguson to call upon you and lay the matter before you. We have not forgotten your successful action in the case of Matilda Briggs.

“Matilda Briggs was not the name of a young woman, Watson,” said Holmes in a reminiscent voice. “It was a ship which is associated with the giant rat of Sumatra, a story for which the world is not yet prepared.”

The Adventure of the Sussex Vampire

 

“Yes, here we find Vavasoeur, and Vandeleur and the Giant Rat of Sumatra

 

The world is still not prepared …

 

 [Continued in Part 3a.]

 

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