Re: AS/400 job market -- MIDRANGE-L

Booth, Lori, et al

OK, I'll throw in my two cents on this:

First, isn't there a consultant list being formed that this type of
discussion should be directed to?
I know that this thread started out from a client perspective yet
quickly turned into a provider defense/input.

If the consultant list has not started due to lack of traffic, let's say
we move any further discussion there to kick start the puppy! <g>

(but not before I get my licks in, right here, right now!)

I free lance.  I wear many hats.  I employ people. Brave people.

IMHO, the difference is between solving problems and implementing
solutions.

I put on my contractor hat when I am requested to implement a
predetermined solution.

I put on my consultant hat when I am asked to determine the root of a
problem and recommend potential solutions.

As a contractor I follow the rules, as a consultant I make the rules. 
Either hat fits.

As a contractor, there is someone else that owns the success of the
project, I'm just one of many cogs in the machine.

As a consultant, I take full ownership of success and demand the
appropriate authority to follow though.
Responsibility without authority, IMO, is a scapegoat trap.

Many times, my consulting work turns into contractual work, which
results in a happy client, which leads to more consulting work, which
turns into contractual work, which results in a happy client, which
leads to more consulting work ..... well you get the picture.

There's no business like repeat business.  And there is no repeat
business without a happy client.

I've been a consultant to some clients for more that 20 years.  I figure
I did my job right because in that time there would be years between
"need".  But when the need arose, we were called.  Probably the only
compliment (although unspoken) that a consultant or contractor will ever
receive is repeat business.

Being an outsider, whether a consultant or contractor, is NOT for the
faint of heart or insecure.  For all of you staffers on this list,
imagine acquiring a new job every 6 weeks while keeping the job you
already have.  Do that for a couple of decades.  Sooner or later you
will feel like you are juggling cats and look like the loser in a
hatchet fight.

I won't even get into the stories of the companies that had a
"contractor" that was very loyal, responsive, and capable in solving
their day to day needs.  Great at stomping out fires, yet NEVER
addressed the cause of the fire.  Again, they implemented a solution,
but did not solve the problem.  Within 90 days, we could eliminate the
need for a fire marshal.  That's what consultants do.  Eliminate ongoing
cost.

And yes, as a consultant, I recommend many sources of off the shelf
products and ready, willing, and able contractors.  IMO, a contractor
brings a skill to the solution team and should be valued.  Also,
contractors need to understand that they, like consultants, are hired
guns.  After the town is cleaned up, you're not necessary any more. 
Move on.

Bravely,
James W. Kilgore
email@James-W-Kilgre.com




boothm@earth.Goddard.edu wrote:
> 
> The difference between consultants and contractors probably are more
> differences in expectations of the hourly charge than in work done?  Some
> companies need to spend big bucks so they hire consultants, some need a
> job done so they hire a contractor?
> 
> "A consultant, called into a company to find out why they were losing
> money, stopped one man and asked him what he did.  "Nothing," said the
> employee.
> 
> The expert turned to another man standing nearby and asked him what he
> did.  "Nothing," was his reply.
> 
> "Oh," said the consultant, "too much duplication."
> 
> _______________________
> Booth Martin
> boothm@earth.goddard.edu
> http://www.spy.net/~booth
> _______________________
> 
> "Lori Hainey" <lhainey@hbs-inc.com>
> Sent by: owner-midrange-l@midrange.com
> 02/01/2000 09:47 AM
> Please respond to MIDRANGE-L
> 
> 
>         To:     <MIDRANGE-L@midrange.com>
>         cc:
>         Subject:        Re: AS/400 job market
> 
> Sounds to me like you had the WRONG consultants. Perhaps you should be a
> bit
> more choosy in who you do business with.  And just for the record that
> does
> not mean use a big 8 consulting firm - but rather a firm that cares about
> their business reputation and operates with integrity.
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: <DAsmussen@aol.com>
> To: <MIDRANGE-L@midrange.com>
> Sent: Tuesday, February 01, 2000 12:01 AM
> Subject: Re: AS/400 job market
> 
> > Booth,
> >
> > In a message dated 1/27/00 10:27:07 AM Eastern Standard Time,
> > BoothM@goddard.edu writes:
> >
> > > This may be off-topic but are you suggesting these consultant's
> business
> > >  practices were criminal, or were these people arrested for some other
> non
> > >  work-related act?  I am trying to imagine a scenario where a
> consultant
> > >  would be arrested and just can't imagine it.
> > <<snip>>
> >
> > Ha!  Yes, yes, and yes.  One was arrested for tax evasion, the second
> for
> > funneling the profits of his business to a new account that did not
> involve
> > his partner, and a third for not paying child support while he boasted
> of
> his
> > material holdings.
> >
> > Regards,
> >
> > Dean Asmussen
> > Enterprise Systems Consulting, Inc.
> > Fuquay-Varina, NC  USA
> > E-mail:  DAsmussen@aol.com
> >
> > "Winners never quit, and quitters never win." -- Vince Lombardi
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