In the conventional, hierarchical way of making decisions, executives surround themselves with advisors and consultants that can whisper a secret tidbit, and in the worst case, the next day the re-organization is under way.

Books have been written on the flaws in these systems, which range from the risks of whimsy to the destruction of value that is missed or misunderstood. I won't rehash those flaws here. Instead let's focus on that flock of Powerpointing advisors.

Decision-making driven by advice is actually not decision-making at all. Instead, it is an extension of the instincts of the person who happens to be the last to speak convincingly. When markets grow larger and more complex, nobody can know so much as to be qualified to give advice, and people that say they are think too highly of themselves.

The knowledge and network economy reveals a more effective organizational model, in which nobody advises, but everybody participates. Unlike consensus leadership, which can be hijacked by the few, innovative, value-based businesses are employing a collaborative management process in which decisions are organic, since information about the things that matter is accessible, freely shared and because the decision-making process is parallel, not serial. The brains of the people on the team are parallel processors of the facts leading to the decisions. The same team is made up of the actors who will do something new after the decision is made.

In this model, consultants are not secret-givers or specialists in organizational structure or make-up, but process experts in decision-making that can teach and hand off. They should bring a process that is fast, easy, fun and logical. The tidbits they bring should be available to all, and have equal weight to tidbits brought by anyone else on the team.