At The Paragon Partnership, our entire model is inspired by an old allegory. A simple story with a powerful lesson.
In the allegory of the long spoons, people are seated around a table filled with incredible food. But each person has only one utensil: a long spoon too unwieldy to feed themselves with. In one version of the story, the people grow hungry, frustrated, and weak, unable to eat. In another, they thrive — because they realise they can use the long spoons to feed each other.
It’s not just a charming metaphor. For us, it’s a blueprint and carries a huge amount of meaning to the environment we wish to create and how we will behave.
Too often, traditional consulting is built on siloed expertise, rigid ownership structures, and competitive instincts. While those models may produce short-term results, they rarely foster long-term trust, collaboration, or innovation. They also tend to leave brilliant individuals burnt out or boxed in.
We’ve chosen a different path.
At The Paragon Partnership, collaboration isn't the unexpected consequence of work, it’s the foundation. We’re a collective of experienced consultants who believe the best results happen when we share generously, work across boundaries and invest in each other’s success. Just like in the fable, our ‘spoons’ our individual skills, networks and insights — become most valuable when used in service of one another.
Our structure reflects this ethos. Every partner has a stake in the business and a voice in its direction. We mentor each other, develop emerging leaders and share opportunities. Rather than building internal empires, we build collective outcomes.
When one partner wins, we all win.
This approach doesn’t just benefit us, it benefits our clients. The problems businesses face today are rarely one-dimensional. They need big-picture thinking, deep specialist knowledge and agile delivery teams that can flex around the brief. By collaborating across sectors and disciplines, we bring the right blend of expertise to each project not just whoever is ‘on the bench’.
The long spoon mindset shows up in everything we do:
- In how we co-create strategies with clients, not just deliver reports.
- In how we invite diverse thinkers into projects to add depth and perspective.
- In how we commit to building a business that will outlast its founders, powered by the next generation of partners.
We’re not reinventing consulting because it’s trendy. We’re doing it because we believe it’s the only way to build something sustainable, meaningful and effective.
So if you’re a seasoned consultant tired of going it alone or a purpose-led organisation looking for a team that works differently you’ll find something familiar in our story. Because around our table, your expertise isn’t just welcome.
It’s essential.
