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

BRAVO!

nuff said


----- Original Message ----- 
From: James W Kilgore <email@james-w-kilgore.com>
To: <MIDRANGE-L@midrange.com>
Sent: Tuesday, February 01, 2000 10:57 PM
Subject: Re: AS/400 job market


> 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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