Scribbles

Still battling jet lag and needing a break.  Going to blog a bit about my current assignment.  My firm defines projects as 1+X's, meaning 1 project leader plus X consultants, X usually ranging from 1 to whatever.  In the case of the US office, it's usually 1 or 2.  And of course there is the partner in charge who occasionally parachutes in to schmooze with the higher ups and to crack the whip.  This is normally the partner who sold the project to the client in the first place.

This is my second 1 + 2.  The organization of work looks like a two-level pyramid, with the PL at the apex and the consultants forming the base.  Each individual at the bottom rung takes charge of a module and runs with it.  It's the PL's responsibility to interact with the client, behave as the buffer between consultants and partner, and ensure that work gets finished.  Pretty straight forward stuff.

As for my current module, I work on something very closely related to my last project, except with much wider scope.  It encompasses all of what three of us did on the last project.  Obviously that's not feasible for one person, even if I don't sleep.  Fortunately the client organization has previous exposure to this methodology, and existing tools in place for executing it.  Nonetheless, it is definitely more challenging than my previous engagement from a workload perspective.  While I am really not that thrilled about working on something so similar, this will ensure that I learn this for good.  The question is how valuable I find this methodology.  I definitely refuse to get pigeon-holed as a resident expert in this area for future assignment considerations.

The other annoying aspect of the project: it's an extension of a benchmarking project, meaning what needs to be accomplished in the second phase has already been defined and mapped out.  It's a consultancy trick.  Sell a project, show some promise, and then entice the client to re-up for the implementation project.  Sure it's great for the firm, but for me, it limits the creative boundaries of my problem solving.  We always say that consultants are paid to think.  Yes I still have to use my brain 75% of the time, but I find myself exercising that muscle much closer on the ground level than at the 10,000 miles above I'd like to be.  So, less critical, strategic thinking, and more client team interaction, them being the folks doing the implementation and not C-level execs.

More on Atlanta and Georgia later.