Relationships

Matt told me recently that relationships are the key to business. The exchange was one of many short conversations over a pint on my final day with the company, so I just listened and nodded politely, and as a result the details are sketchy. In retrospect, he has a solid point. I need to foster better relationships. Not only business relationships but personal relationships too. How? Well I could write a book and tell you, but I think I'll write a blog instead.

It's not who you know, it's when you know them.

Definition of Consulting

Recently I've been asked how I'd define a consultant's job, and after a lot of head scratching I came up with the following:

Consulting is a process model that a client can use to find out how to change their business by employing a relationship with a subject matter expert.

That's it. Some people can offer specialized advice, and some people need to learn how to improve their businesses. Consulting is the process by which the two parties come together, exchange knowledge, and then part ways. At this point, I'd like to say how much of a joke it is that junior professionals can ever be called consultants (unless their subject space is really tiny) because they're not really experts in anything (despite what they might like to think). By my definition, someone cannot be considered a true consultant until they have mastered their subject matter. I like the title Associate Consultant for those who clearly have the capacity to become consultants, but Principal Consultant should be reserved for the elite.

Senior Consultant? It wouldn't sound good with an "Associate" thrown between the words, but it would be far more accurate.

Ridiculous Fees: Fixed Supply, Inelastic Demand and Crafty Estate Agents

Estate agents often charge a fee that is a percentage of the value of the property they're selling. They don't charge for the handful of hours it actually takes to arrange the sale, and they never limit their fee to a portion of the buyer's value of the transaction. Of all professions these people know how to stretch "value" beyond its limits. It's my opinion that estate agents have it easy because they have set a precedent for charging percentage-based, a derivative of value-based fees. Now that every estate agent charges this way, they have manipulated the real estate market.

Value- vs. Time-Based Fees: Markets

Once a market with adequate supply has been established (for similar skills to your own) charging time-based fees, you're going to struggle to win business for a value-based fee. From the employer's perspective, software engineers can be hired at the prevailing market rate to develop an application's code. Enterprise architects are few and far between and thus have more of a foothold for establishing a model of value-based compensation. Really, I'd go so far as to bet that the earlier a person's involment in a multi-phased project (read: MSF/RUP) the more likely they'll be able to charge by value. The reason is that a) supply is often limited, and b) the early phases are where the value of the project is actually determined.

The next question is: whose role adds the most value?

Revolución Análoga

I suppose there's a reason for every blog. Mine? I just liked the name. Actually the literal translation is "Analog Revolution" but I thought that a revolution is nothing if it's not being lead by the Spanish. As a technology consultant I find it easy to pick up and understand enormous and massively technical concepts, but successful consulting dictates the need for soft skills. This blog is attempt at capturing and sharing those skills for the benefit of myself and anyone else who is interested. Va a ser una revolución análoga.

Accentuate the Positive

I can't remember where this phrase made its first impression on my mind - I think it may have been from Chuck Palahniuk's Invisible Monsters - but now it's stuck there and seems to be applicable to lots of everyday business situations. Selling your product? Accentuate the positive. Trying to motivate the rest of your team? Accentuate the positive. Trying to get the most out of your own performance review? You guessed it.

It's been a while

... but here I am. My photo album containing selected scenes from the past year and a half is now professionally hosted on Flickr. Please check it out.