Category Archives: Consulting

Expectation Setting and Timing

Expectations setting is a necessary ingredient to any success relationship. It’s as simple as, “Here’s what I expect.”  But, mastering expectation setting timing might be more crucial than the expectations themselves.

Tell your cab driver you have a sensitive stomach and need him to drive smoothly is okay before the ride begins.  Set that expectation halfway through the ride and…

Tell your girlfriend that you value experiences over material things on your first date, and she’ll be cool with getting less [material] gifts than she has before.  Set those expectations after six months and…

Tell a potential employer that you need to earn X dollars and be home for dinner at Y o’clock during the interview process, and that’s what you’ll get if you’re hired.  Set those expectations during your first review and…

It’s true that you might not agree on what’s expected.  So what?  There’s another cab right behind.  There’s plenty of fish in the sea.  And there’s other good job opportunities out there.

More likely than not, you’ll find a match that can meet your expectations.  If not you can always adjust.  But adjusting expectations, especially from none at all, usually ends in disappointment.

And that feeling is always mutual.

ALT Tab all day

Leaving your traveling-consulting job.  Or your position as a small business CFO.  Or your role as GM of a restaurant.

Leaving a good job is not easy.  Nor is it right if you’re doing what you love.

In fact, if your work is what you love, stick with it.  You’ll probably live longer.  Like Frank Lloyd Wright, 91.  George Burns, 100.  Grandma Moses, 101.

Selective sample?  Science actually suggests that “time can actually expand to contain the work with which you choose to fill it”.

Ready to start doing what you love?  Your boss will never know.

Mine didn’t.

Dreaming, humming, stacking

Ask any traveling consultant about their work.  Quickly you’ll hear, “Just living the dream.”

Ask any commodities trader about their work.  Quickly you’ll hear, “Just humming along.”

Ask any blue-collar worker about their work.  Quickly you’ll hear, “Another day, another dollar.”

Following up with “What’s your dream?”, or “Where you humming to?” or “How many dollars do you need?” is interesting.  They’re usually not so quick to respond.

But shouldn’t they be?

The anecdote

What’s on your calendar today?  Don’t keep a calendar?  What’s on your task list today?  Don’t keep a task list?

Well.

Put it on your to-do list.  Your productivity tomorrow will soar.

3 Life Lessons From Last Night

Good acts are tough to follow.  Last night’s Breaking Bad made Dexter look 10x worse than it actually has been this season.  Even if your act is good, everything is relative.

Allow things to progress naturally.  Dexter went on four seasons too long.  It progressed ever-so naturally up until season four.  Breaking Bad has been naturally progressing throughout its entire run.

Under promise, over deliver.  How many ads did you see hyping this premier or Breaking Bad?  Could last night’s episode have been as good if you were expecting a “shocking” premier?

Bonus lesson.  Don’t mention last night’s Breaking Bad to anyone who hasn’t seen season 1. Why?  See above.

Matt, Trey, Dave Chappelle Walk Into a Bar

South Park and Chappelle’s Show have made Comedy Central millions.  Same with their creators.  So why are Matt & Trey still going strong while Dave Chappelle vanished after a few incredible years?  Few theories.

Scope creep.  The scope of Trey and Matt’s duties have’t changed despite the shows evolving sophistication in animation, effects and sound.  These guys still make shows in one week using a few meetings in a conference room.  When Chappelle’s show got bigger, however, so did the scope of his work.  More filming, more promos, more writing.

It’s lonely at the top.  For Chappelle, who had his back?  Who was he sharing the highs and lows with?  Chappelle had a couple co-creators, but he was the star.  For Trey and Matt, it’s always 50/50.

Not in it for the money.  Trey and Matt may have been at first, but certainly aren’t now. Today, they have more money than they could ever spend.  And yet, they’re still working hard.  Dave Chappelle was just a stand-up comedian.  He worked his butt off to reach the top of Comedy Central Mountian.  Why?  To get paid.  The ending credits to his show said it, “I’m rich, biatch!”

Lessons here?  Be more like the South Park guys.  Set some expectations, find a partner in your work and do what you love.

Good talk.

Here’s a classic clip of Dave Chappelle on Late Night with Conan O’Brien in 2001

You get what you pay for. Usually.

If you hire developer for 50 cents on the dollar, she is going to do a half-ass job.  Usually.

If you pay your consultants like a pimp, in decent pay, love and drugs (alcohol), they will be hard-working, loyal soldiers.  Usually.

But, if you take money out of the equation completely, what do you get?  Nothing in return? Nope.

You get their best. Always.

The answer should be easy

On the most important days of your life, who’s gonna show up?

You’ll always remember who showed up to your grandma’s funeral.  Just being there.

You’ll always remember which colleagues reached out upon hearing you were leaving the company.  Just an email or a call.

You’ll always remember who donated to your fundraiser.  Just a few dollars.

The people who didn’t show up?  They had a reason.  And that’s reason enough.

But, those that did show up?  Those that were there, or reached out, or gave?  Those people will live forever.

Which way to Oz?

As the pressure builds and stress increases, sometimes you have to laugh.

When my girlfriend tells me she has earned the right to take the elevator down three floors because she works out every day, I have to laugh.  Didn’t she read the athlete and the elevator?

When my condo’s management spends 200k on a new fitness center, only to, without first  benevolently communicating concerns to the residents, remove half the weights and machines because of a single resident’s (out of 350 units) over-sensitive noise issues, I have to laugh.  How could you guys be so dense?

When some of my best friends are still slaving away for an IT consulting firm working on meaningless projects during all their waking hours, I have to laugh.  Why are you wasting your life to make someone else rich?

No, situations like these aren’t inherently funny.  In fact, when I’m tired or stressed, little things like this are, at first, aggravating.  Infuriating, even.  But, what’s the point in feeling that way?

It’s like a fork in the road.  One way is “get angry”.  The other is “have a laugh”.  And when “have a laugh” path seems the toughest, most uphill, that’s when it’s most important to go that way.

Are you one of those people who takes the “get angry” route?

LOL.

 

 

NOTE: I can’t stand it when people use the term LOL.  But, I have laugh at the irony of it being the only substitute to me actually doing my “have to laugh” laugh.

Where have you been?

Let’s grab lunch?  Wanna get a beer?  C’mon, man, I miss you.

“I can’t, man.  This project is really consuming me.”

Oh, okay.  You’ve been working on the project for a year now.  Can’t wait to see what you created.

“Dude, it’s IT consulting.  We work with huge companies on big teams, day and night.  So, we obviously create stuff, but not sure what I’d show you.”

Oh.  That does sound consuming.