By: Tim

Tim — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 23:30:34 +0000

We recently had an “consultant” come in an basicaly do the opposite of your 17 bullet points. Oh, except for half of one: “identify problems, and sell tailored, already completed solutions”.
He was adept at identifying problems, then shifting the blame to us employees, then sucking up to management to keep his contract juiced by suggesting utterly inappropriate solutions. It was the anti-ethics of consulting. Unfortunately, this guys behavior undermined any future work by good consultants. Our team leads decided to pull everything in house after we pulled out the pitchforks and torches.
As someone who was in consulting role for years and years, and will probably be in one again, I completely agree with your assessment of the human realities of doing this kind of work.
I would suggest that consultants need to recognize theie limitations, as well. If all you have is a hammer (Cairngorm), every problem looks like a nail (using a framework will solve everything!), and a consultant can stir up some real ill will by making poorly informed suggestions and ignoring the history of a project.
Thanks for the post, Jesse.

Comments on: Consulting Chronicles #2: Fixing a Pile of Rubbish – Part 3

By: Tim