I'm a trouble-maker ... and nobody likes a trouble-maker.
- Simone Pinto
- Oct 12
- 2 min read
But that's exactly what most consultants are hired to be.
I'm brought in to shake things up,
ask the question everyone quietly agreed not to ask,
make decisions no one else wants their name attached to.
🧨 I'm the dynamite that blows up complacency and sometimes, I get caught in the blast.
That's the unspoken truth about transformation work.
You're collateral.
You're easy to remove when the smoke clears.
Fresh eyes come with fresh risk.
You walk in curious and leave carrying the cultural residue of everything you unearthed.
But here's the thing about transformation
the real change doesn't happen in the moment you shake things up.
It happens after.
Every transformation has a change curve, the messy emotional arc people travel when something familiar starts to shift.
Most organisations skip that human part.
They hand people a new map without walking the terrain with them.
But change isn't just logistical ... it's emotional.
I see it every time a new strategy lands on the table, or there's a change in leadership.
People get lost in unfamiliar terrain and if you don't help navigate the journey, the system will quietly pull itself back to what feels safe.
⚠️ The trouble-maker can't clear the mess.
The system needs to metabolize change without the disruptor in the room.
As long as the dynamite is still there, the system stays in crisis mode.
Most clients don't see it this way, they expect the person who destabilised them to also be the one who makes them feel stable again.
I can't do that.
If I stay, I become part of the problem I came to solve.
A system only truly stabilises when the trouble-maker leaves.
That departure is the moment people stop looking outward for answers and start looking inward.
It's when they discover they have the resources to navigate this themselves.
It's when the change moves from external disruption to internal ownership.
I always plan my exits logically and strategically with a clear handover, internal team empowerment, structured feedback loops they can use after I'm gone. But I've learned that sometimes, the most important part of the exit plan is holding the boundary. It's saying "the work is done, I need to go, and you're going to be okay".
Of course, I'm not disappearing! There's always another problem that needs solving, another system where complacency has set in. I'm not cutting myself out of work, I'm just moving on to the next one.
❓ How do you help clients understand that your departure from a project is the proof the work is done?
I don't have all the answers yet.
But I know this: a trouble-maker who never leaves a project isn't a consultant anymore. They're just an expensive cost.