Embracing Change

I am currently seeking my career home within the consulting environment. Sometimes, I am asked the question “Why do you want to change from your current business paradigm to the one of general consulting? Do you want to spend your days implementing Tririga and your evenings selling the follow on work? The question is one of concern and genuine surprise. “ If I politely turn the question around the response is bimodally either “I like development” or “It’s not my favorite, but, it’s part of the job.” Tackling complex problems where the roadmap to the best solution is unclear is fun.

I have asked myself what drives this type of question. It does not seem to be the work, or the consultant lifestyle. Anyone who knows me well knows I have done all of these work functions in my career. I just have not done them in this combination or in the consultant business model. I like application development. It has been a part of my professional work for twenty-five years. I will not go into the details here but I have developed applications while with every company I have worked for. It has never been central to my job description but has often been a justification for my compensation. The next question that comes up is about the travel. Travel is the price we pay to work with interesting people on complex projects in new environments. The fun of travel includes the opportunity to deal with new people in unfamiliar circumstances and the chance to learn new skills. Do I enjoy constant travel? My answer is same as that of most consultants I have encountered. The answer is sometimes yes, sometimes no. I am willing to pay that price, which is all any consultant can say. Travel is what brings us to customers with interesting problems, and that's where the fun is. Then there is the constant sales. Laying out the justification for and selling the next phase of work has always been a part of my business interactions.

Speaking with other consultants reveals another reason for their surprise. That is the one of change. Most job changes involve a controlled number of elements. One can change companies while keeping colleagues, work and clients roughly the same. One can change functions while staying in the same company. I am deliberately inviting sharp change into my professional life rather than the smaller steps most job changes entail. It is a bit like getting married, moving and starting a new job in the same year. Yet change is the only constant in our lives. We openly celebrate change in our business lives, after all, that is the service we offer. Yet, people often avoid big changes for themselves. Sometimes we are derided for bring unsettling change to our clients. People do not like to move beyond their own comfort zones. I have evaluated the costs and benefits of this change and have decided this is the path I am taking. Maybe my comfort zone is a bit wider than average. It is hard to tell this entire story in one blog entry so I have not begun to write this until now. In my next installment, I will outline the drivers that have taken me down this path.. Please read my entire blog here.