Comments on: I hate consultants http://ericbrown.com/i-hate-consultants.htm Technology, Strategy, People and Projects Fri, 30 Jul 2010 19:04:47 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0 By: Nivaas http://ericbrown.com/i-hate-consultants.htm/comment-page-1#comment-1754 Nivaas Wed, 10 Feb 2010 21:07:41 +0000 http://ericbrown.com/?p=3025#comment-1754 When people fail, they often blame someone else and make him/her scapegoat for their failure. Here John blamed consultant but actually he should have found himself weak and ineffective. I mean, John was the "effect" instead of being the "cause" of the situation. <br><br>The Consultant might walked off dejected but indeed John made that Consultant more powerful than himself. He said, "My Consultant messed up and is a thief, "which is just another way of saying, "My consultant determines if I succeed or fail."<br><br>Had John taken responsibility, he would have said, "I need to train my Consultant so he doesn't make mistakes".<br><br>If he wished to succeed in his business venture, he had to end the blame game and accept responsibility. He only get ahead when become "cause" over the situation and not the "effect". When people fail, they often blame someone else and make him/her scapegoat for their failure. Here John blamed consultant but actually he should have found himself weak and ineffective. I mean, John was the “effect” instead of being the “cause” of the situation.

The Consultant might walked off dejected but indeed John made that Consultant more powerful than himself. He said, “My Consultant messed up and is a thief, “which is just another way of saying, “My consultant determines if I succeed or fail.”

Had John taken responsibility, he would have said, “I need to train my Consultant so he doesn't make mistakes”.

If he wished to succeed in his business venture, he had to end the blame game and accept responsibility. He only get ahead when become “cause” over the situation and not the “effect”.

]]> By: CIO Blogs for January 2010 « A CIO's Voice http://ericbrown.com/i-hate-consultants.htm/comment-page-1#comment-1740 CIO Blogs for January 2010 « A CIO's Voice Tue, 02 Feb 2010 13:24:46 +0000 http://ericbrown.com/?p=3025#comment-1740 [...] I hate consultants by Eric D. Brown [...] [...] I hate consultants by Eric D. Brown [...]

]]> By: Tweets that mention I hate consultants | Technology, Strategy, People and Projects - Consulting -- Topsy.com http://ericbrown.com/i-hate-consultants.htm/comment-page-1#comment-1736 Tweets that mention I hate consultants | Technology, Strategy, People and Projects - Consulting -- Topsy.com Fri, 29 Jan 2010 22:06:33 +0000 http://ericbrown.com/?p=3025#comment-1736 [...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Paula Thornton, Owen Greaves, Eric D. Brown, Eric D. Brown, MBO Partners and others. MBO Partners said: Awesome blog: I hate consultants | Technology, Strategy, People and Projects - Consulting http://ow.ly/11utn [...] [...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Paula Thornton, Owen Greaves, Eric D. Brown, Eric D. Brown, MBO Partners and others. MBO Partners said: Awesome blog: I hate consultants | Technology, Strategy, People and Projects – Consulting http://ow.ly/11utn [...]

]]> By: ericbrown http://ericbrown.com/i-hate-consultants.htm/comment-page-1#comment-1735 ericbrown Fri, 29 Jan 2010 04:56:43 +0000 http://ericbrown.com/?p=3025#comment-1735 Excellent points Gillian - thanks for sharing! Excellent points Gillian – thanks for sharing!

]]> By: ericbrown http://ericbrown.com/i-hate-consultants.htm/comment-page-1#comment-1734 ericbrown Fri, 29 Jan 2010 04:55:30 +0000 http://ericbrown.com/?p=3025#comment-1734 Thanks Tracey - good to see you. Thanks Tracey – good to see you.

]]> By: Gillian Rossouw http://ericbrown.com/i-hate-consultants.htm/comment-page-1#comment-1732 Gillian Rossouw Fri, 29 Jan 2010 02:43:31 +0000 http://ericbrown.com/?p=3025#comment-1732 I read with interest your article which must compliment you on, fantastic read. Sounds so familiar. As a software consultant myself, thank you for this posting and just hope companies planning to implement a new application, do take the time and thoroughly research within their own industry, know what they want and how much they are prepared to spend before hiring someone who “comes highly recommended”. Cheapest quote is not necessary the best and to ensure their costings stay within the budget/contract. <br>My background is 20 plus years as product support on applications purchased in box and “off the shelf accounting software”- over the years built up a niche in the market place whereby not only sell upgrades but also specialize in third party applications as “add ons” which work seamlessly between accounting product and the new application viz: point of sale, data management and crm packages. <br>Countless times have been called in as mediator or as a support person “after the fact” overseeing "third party applications" - and my findings are that the consulting company is so flattered to be wooed to a new project, they tend to not do their specs correctly, to be fair this is not always the case. This is when the fun begins, consultant’s staff are not qualified, misinterpretation of requirements gets passed along the line to developer, implementation begins, beta testing crashes, fingers are pointed, support team not available or work outside the hours of the client and in the middle sits the client with little or no software experience, screaming out in frustration unable to run their business. This is why consultants need to ensure they know their game, explain to the client of the pros and cons of changing platforms, installing add ons and when additional requests for more features these “pretty features” come at a cost. I read with interest your article which must compliment you on, fantastic read. Sounds so familiar. As a software consultant myself, thank you for this posting and just hope companies planning to implement a new application, do take the time and thoroughly research within their own industry, know what they want and how much they are prepared to spend before hiring someone who “comes highly recommended”. Cheapest quote is not necessary the best and to ensure their costings stay within the budget/contract.
My background is 20 plus years as product support on applications purchased in box and “off the shelf accounting software”- over the years built up a niche in the market place whereby not only sell upgrades but also specialize in third party applications as “add ons” which work seamlessly between accounting product and the new application viz: point of sale, data management and crm packages.
Countless times have been called in as mediator or as a support person “after the fact” overseeing “third party applications” – and my findings are that the consulting company is so flattered to be wooed to a new project, they tend to not do their specs correctly, to be fair this is not always the case. This is when the fun begins, consultant’s staff are not qualified, misinterpretation of requirements gets passed along the line to developer, implementation begins, beta testing crashes, fingers are pointed, support team not available or work outside the hours of the client and in the middle sits the client with little or no software experience, screaming out in frustration unable to run their business. This is why consultants need to ensure they know their game, explain to the client of the pros and cons of changing platforms, installing add ons and when additional requests for more features these “pretty features” come at a cost.

]]> By: I hate consultants | Technology, Strategy, People and Projects … http://ericbrown.com/i-hate-consultants.htm/comment-page-1#comment-1733 I hate consultants | Technology, Strategy, People and Projects … Fri, 29 Jan 2010 00:24:19 +0000 http://ericbrown.com/?p=3025#comment-1733 [...] here: I hate consultants | Technology, Strategy, People and Projects … Posted in Consulting | Tags: and-meeting, and-should, business-development, doing-it-now, [...] [...] here: I hate consultants | Technology, Strategy, People and Projects … Posted in Consulting | Tags: and-meeting, and-should, business-development, doing-it-now, [...]

]]> By: tracey klein http://ericbrown.com/i-hate-consultants.htm/comment-page-1#comment-1729 tracey klein Thu, 28 Jan 2010 21:52:04 +0000 http://ericbrown.com/?p=3025#comment-1729 great article, eric. good advice for consultants and CIOs alike. great article, eric. good advice for consultants and CIOs alike.

]]> By: I hate consultants | Technology, Strategy, People and Projects … | Drakz Free Online Service http://ericbrown.com/i-hate-consultants.htm/comment-page-1#comment-1731 I hate consultants | Technology, Strategy, People and Projects … | Drakz Free Online Service Thu, 28 Jan 2010 20:25:26 +0000 http://ericbrown.com/?p=3025#comment-1731 [...] more from the original source: I hate consultants | Technology, Strategy, People and Projects … Share and [...] [...] more from the original source: I hate consultants | Technology, Strategy, People and Projects … Share and [...]

]]> By: I hate consultants | Technology, Strategy, People and Projects … http://ericbrown.com/i-hate-consultants.htm/comment-page-1#comment-1728 I hate consultants | Technology, Strategy, People and Projects … Thu, 28 Jan 2010 15:08:16 +0000 http://ericbrown.com/?p=3025#comment-1728 [...] more: I hate consultants | Technology, Strategy, People and Projects … Posted in Consulting | Tags: and-meeting, and-should, business-development, but-some, [...] [...] more: I hate consultants | Technology, Strategy, People and Projects … Posted in Consulting | Tags: and-meeting, and-should, business-development, but-some, [...]

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