Re: Consultants who have to work on junk equipment

Howard,

In a message dated 98-11-16 09:33:11 EST, you write:

> Dean,
>  ----- Soap Box ---
>  errr, ERRR, I need to take exception with one small point here! In
>  spite of the fact that I also am a contractor, and that on occasion I
>  find in-house staff that might  be lacking in knowledge about the
>  latest bells and whistles, on the whole I believe that it is unfair
>  and unprofessional to draw a generalized conclusion about clients!
>  ----- End Soap Box ---

Er?  I was about to ERRR you back, but it seems that I erred ;-).  Human,
isn't it?  After writing down various assignments over the last 18 1/2 years,
and narrowing it down to those that actually had an in-house staff, I have had
a 75/25% ratio of competency to idiocy.  The problem is, the ratio reverses
itself when it comes to time spent on-site and memorability of the project.

In short, when you (as a consultant) hop in and effect the knowledge transfer
that was expected in the originally specified 1-3-9-18 month time-frame, you
tend not to dwell upon it because you feel that you did your job.  In the
"dysfunctional" shops, you dwell on how every time you got somebody trained
they left, how you were there months or years longer than you were supposed to
be, how nobody there imparted even a single piece of knowledge that you didn't
already have, and most of all wonder how you could have done things better.
My apologies to those with savvy staff that still have the wherewithal to hire
consultants when they need it -- BTW, do you need someone ;-).

Regards,

Dean Asmussen
Enterprise Systems Consulting, Inc.
Fuquay-Varina, NC  USA
E-Mail:  DAsmussen@aol.com

"A man can fail many times, but he is not a failure until he begins to blame
somebody else." -- John Burroughs
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