Consultants usually specialise in …. productivity, quality, organisational development, innovation, or some other ‘improvement’ topic.
This suggests that the business world is full of tools and techniques that must be selected carefully according to the kind of situation – and kind of problem – being considered.
However my experience is that most of the tools and techniques – whether quality tools, productivity tools or whatever – are simply means of exploring the situation – and uncovering hidden ‘truths’.
Any consultant worth his/her salt should be capable of addressing a quality problem or an innovation project – using whatever tools they feel most comfortable with. We pretend to be knowledgeable and ‘clever’ – and of course we are … but often our major asset is having time and having an external, disinterested viewpoint.