Discussion on:

10 personality traits of a highly effective independent consultant

My wife started this whole post for me by commenting on me waking up at 3AM with a solution to a design problem (again). She's starting to realize that this isn't just a quirk -- it's a requirement.

What do you think?

I too have come up with some of my best solutions in my sleep. Once, when working on a database to develop work hour tracking for a university with 9 differently regulated programs I was literally dreaming in code...about a field of sheep (well better dreaming them then counting them...)- each object had its own individual code and the overall "picture" summarized a solution for a problem I'd run into.

I've also found that just getting up and walking away (literally or figuratively) can do wonders - the problem percolates as you take a walk, work on a simpler problem, ruminate on your belly button, or whatever. Then the "ah-ha" moment comes - there have been times when I was surprised that a little light bulb didn't literally appear over my head.

When I was in college I was working for the University Data Processing department and going back and forth between COBOL and the Assembler. At the same time, I was studying Hebrew and Greek. I would sometimes dream in a mixture of all four. I talk in my sleep sometimes, and my roommate wrote down some of the strange babble that came out of my mouth all night.

There have been plenty of times when I faced a frustrating problem that I thought I could not solve. I would spend hours staring into my monitor to try to figure out a problem. When I would walk away and go onto somthing else then go back to it, I usally find the solution. Somtimes the solution for one problem is in a different project. There have been times when the project I am working on has presented a solution to a differet project. Witch is why I have disk after disk of code from previous projects. I don't think I have ever drempt in code, but I have had dreams about a problem that I was haveing and was able to solve it.

but my "eureka" moments come in the shower. I avoid thinking on problems at night, so I can sleep, but when I'm in the shower in the morning - half-awake - my mind wanders on the previous day's problems and bingo!

There's only so much you can concentrate on in the shower, so naturally your brain simmers on the other problems you're dealing with.

But inthe last few years I have also made a rule of not working on a problem too long.

I tell people "The peoblem that needs two hours starting a 6pm takes ten minutes at 9am next day"

Basically, as soon as I start making more typos than usual it is time to stop for the day.

I call that the point of diminishing intelligence. Just as investments have a point of diminishing returns, if you worry at a problem too long your brain starts dropping in IQ points until you stop...

It's also the limitations that you unwittingly place on your own thinking. The "box", if you will, that you draw around the problem. Leave it alone for a while, and your mind will wander outside that box.

I find I work the best after I have been awake for a wile and had some caffine. My best work comes in the late hours. I seem to get my second wind and get alot of work done.

By late afternoon, I've either had too much caffeine or it's wearing off. That's when I make most of my mistakes.

Better to spend that time reading.

It takes real wisdom to know when you're too tired to work productively. I don't know about you, but to my mind I seem just as sharp at any time of day -- but if I do something specific to measure it and I can really see the difference. From experience, I know that I'm sharpest first thing in the morning, right after a walk and a shower.

you have your best insights while doing a walkthru with the 2 yr old instead of telling them a bedtime story. Better yet was the time the Sheltie barked at a point in a walkthru where the problem was ultimately found. Strange, but true.

Maybe it wasn't a coincidence. Maybe the Sheltie sensed some conflict about it in your own mind of which you were unaware.

I would add #11 - Trustworthy. This is something earned by being honest, doing good work, and delivering on your promises and commitments.

Regarding flexibility, this should extend to your work plan as well. I've always been a proponent of providing at least three alternatives, providing the pros & cons of each, and then making my recommendation. If they go with my way, great. If they want me to do something else I will analyze it, point out potential issues/problems, make suggestions (all in writing), and then do as they want since that's what we're being paid to do. If what they want is just grossly wrong then it might be time to walk away. A good reputation is a difficult thing to build and an easy thing to lose, and is far more valuable than a few weeks of billable time.

Here's a link to a complementary article that I wrote a few years ago. Those interested in this topic should find the article useful as well.

http://articles.techrepublic.com.com/5100-10878_11-5059462.html?tag=search

Best regards,

Chip

And your article is quite good, too. I have also seen many "have vim, will travel" free-lance programmers who call themselves consultants but don't consult.

You are so right. Many people oversell themselves (e.g., consultant vs. contractor, business intelligence expert vs. report writer, system architect vs. application designer, etc.) and usually end-up doing themselves a disservice. They disappoint their customers and fail to get the repeat business and referrals, or worse yet get a bad reputation.

Customers generally are not in the business of paying a "hired gun" to learn. But, it can be done if approached properly. There have been times when we've made deals with a customer where they provide training (formal or informal / hands-on) and we don't bill them for that time. They realize that there will be some ramp-up time so we are investing in each other, but as long as the consultant delivers (and this was agreed to up-front) it has worked out well.

The other aspect that I've seen so many time is that contractors / consultants fail to consider the business aspects of being independent. Accounting (bookkeeping, invoicing, payroll, taxes, etc.), marketing,
sales, business planning for profitability and growth, etc. are usually an afterthought.

Many of those people will work exclusively through a large contracting organization at reduced rates to avoid having to deal with this and avoid purchasing insurance, but this limits their growth potential. Planning and active management take time and effort, but add considerable value in the long run.

BTW, thanks for the positive comments.

Cheers,

Chip

Ideally, what you want to communicate is exactly what benefit you'll be able to provide. Thus, exaggeration is counter-productive. The only "coloring" you should provide is the right light in which your prospect can see how you can help them.

You're absolutely right about the fact that independent consulting is so much more than finding and doing the work. There's the whole business of running a business that can take up a lot of your time.

Don't blame Vim for bad freelancers.

There's nothing wrong with a gun, either -- it's the character of the gunslinger that makes him a peacekeeper or an outlaw.

Too bad I'm not sure I can say the same thing about VB.NET.

VB.NET is so simple and easy to use that it more closely resembles a long rope -- with a noose tied on one end.

Most independent contractors fail because of a lack of a support system when something does not follow the plan. This impacts not only their clients, but their outside relationships as well.

If you are a "confederacy of one" and rely on no one and no one relies on you, you need to get a backup plan. Illnesses, accidents, delays in a project, or other personal emergencies can make you look ridiculous in front of your client without a solid support system that allows you to weather the unexpected. You need to find a group of professional associates who can step in and finish the job without disadvantaging your client if you are to maintain credibility with them. Otherwise, when it all falls apart in your life....and it will from time to time....you are going to lose clients.

You also have to set expectations and get agreement with the significant personal relationships in your life. Nothing will create more stress that diverts your mental energies from the job at hand than chronically disappointing people who are important to you. Make sure they know when they can count on you and when they will have to cope on their own. It beats trying to work those issues out on the fly. Make sure that they know that having a client is not like having an employer. Clients do not have to understand.

I've been guilty of going it alone far too much. So far, it hasn't bit me. (touches wood)

We would never permit our clients to run face first into a wall because they lacked a disaster recovery plan, but we tend to try to do it from the consultancy side....even the Lone Ranger had Tonto.

I think it's a defense against madness when it comes to some problems.

Some problems would never get solved if you could get them out of your head after punching the clock.

in the shower and driving home from work.

I'm sure this one will get pasted in many to-do boxes. (I got it) As for the sleep-think process, I've many discussions with supper creative and intelligent folks, it seems to be a common trait. With recent research into sleep itself, they're finding what some of us already know. The Human Brain continues to function after the rest of the body rests. When free of all the outside interferences of our normal daily lives the brain has the ability to concentrate on complex problems. Quite often comming up with solutions in what to most (normal) people seem to be odd hours. Give your wife a big hug and a thanks for being understanding of that. (She most be rather intelligent as well, to have reconized the connection.) -d

How about being a good listener, ask the right questions and knowing when it's time to suggest possible solutions. Some consultants don't listen enough to ask the right questions and they jump into a proposal stage.

Very cautious

This was an excellent article, and one new (and old) consultants alike should take heed of.

It also gave me a bit of reassurance, since it described me (and many others in this line of work, I'm sure) very accurately.

It's always good to have a "yardstick" to measure one's suitability for a given occupation, particularly by others in their field.

Thanks for the insight!

It's nice to know I'm not the only one with some of those quirks.

Your list of character traits is spot-on. I have a couple of specific comments to offer, though.

#2: problem solver

You talk about some stereotypical ways some people enjoy solving problems. Unfortunately, in IT consulting, the problems one has to solve are often not very unenjoyable. In fact, I don't usually like math or word problems, and both competitive problem solving games and individual "diagram" problem solving games (crosswords, sudoku, et cetera) annoy me. I don't really find optimization challenges in day-to-day life particularly fun, either.

Rather, I find them obsessing. I feel kinda like I simply must solve optimization problems in my life. My problem-solving penchant isn't so much about enjoyment (though I do enjoy some types of problem solving activities, a lot of the time, including some programming tasks) as it is about an undeniable internal motivation to make things work better. When I write a program, I keep wanting to fix it, to make it better. When I implement a backup solution, I keep wanting to make it more robust and make backup tests more simplified and automated. When I play a roleplaying game, I keep wanting to fix the inconsistencies, arbitrary clunkiness, and impositions of unreality in the game system (and, in fact, I've been writing quite a bit about RPG system design in my personal Weblog lately).


#10: realistic

When you talk about giving yourself a life outside consulting, you touch on a sensitive area for me. The problem is that, even though I have quite a bit of a life outside of consulting, I don't really have a lot of life outside of work, in some sense.

Major activities in my life include:

1. consulting -- and I do a lot of related work outside of actual work, because it's a subject that interests me, but it's still very work-like activity a lot of the time.

2. writing -- Not only do I write about subjects related to consulting (thus not breaking free of consulting), as in the TechRepublic IT Security Weblog, but I also write a lot in my personal Weblog, SOB. When I write, it's usually not much of a "leisure" activity; I tend to aim more for thoughtful analyses of a variety of subjects important to me. That tends to take on much the same character as the professional writing I do, with research, cross-referencing, and long hard thinking, which means that it's mostly a case of yet more "work" in my life -- even when I'm writing about gaming, as I mentioned above.

3. gaming -- I play roleplaying games, of course, but since I took up GMing again about a year ago I've gradually ended up doing more and more of the GMing amongst the games in which I participate. Of the amount of effort I put into gaming, the lion's share by far is preparation for the (roughly) weekly game I run. Of all the games I play, the one I run on Thursdays is by far the most structured, with the largest group of players, which means that -- though I enjoy the experience -- it's also the game that's the most work for the GM, and of course the GM is always the player with the most work to do in a well-run game. Even when I'm playing games in my off-time, I'm "working", to some extent.

4. politics -- I devote a fair bit of time to matters related to politics, too. I care about the world in which I live, and try to improve it (and its livability). That's not exactly a pursuit I'd list amongst "fun" and "leisure" activities, though. In fact, if you're involved in politics and it's "fun", you're probably either not aware enough of the issues with which you're dealing or doing it for the "wrong" reasons.

I could go on in some more depth, of course -- like the fact that a lot of the reading I do is work-related, or the fact that a lot of the reading that isn't strictly work-related is for autodidactic purposes so that there's kind of an element of work ethic involved. A lot of my supposed online "leisure" time is spent reading things that tie back into various avenues of work.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that, in some ways, I don't seem to know how to "shut off" and just relax. The closest I seem able to get to that is sitting in a movie theater from time to time (very rarely, these days, in part because I don't care to give the MPAA much of my money) and of course sleeping.

For years now, it hasn't seemed to affect my work, and it gives me purpose -- reasons to roll out of bed in the mornings. I wonder if I'm bound for a crash and burn in a few more years, though. I think I handle the stresses pretty well, taking things in stride that many people might find almost unendurable, but I guess I'll know for sure when I find out whether I'm going to have a stroke or heart attack at 40.

Wish me luck.

Sincerely. The mind that doesn't shut off sounds very, very familiar.

ANd by only a few months. Of course there were some rather unique situations on that. I was supprised when I hit 40. Still can't believe I'm 56 and still living. Just goes to show...
oh-well it must show something. -d

... but he was a smoker, heavy drinker, overweight, and in charge of the ALPA. He was a bit over-stressed.

... is making sure you don't feel trapped in the squirrel-cage. I also enjoy doing some work-related things, like reading a book on programming, for instance, when not at work. But if I start to feel that it's something I should do, instead of something I want to do (in my off time), then I'll drive myself into the ground. Did that once already -- it cost me my job, my marriage, and a good part of my sanity -- but I came out better on the other side.

Well, I'll definitely have to keep an eye on that hamster treadmill feeling, try to keep it at bay.

... I wouldn't worry about whether you're doing what you're supposed to do by not doing what you're supposed to do.

Well, I'm certainly happy with the news from the SCOTUS today, I'm happy with my SigO, and I'm happy with the way today's Iron Heroes game went (someone couldn't show up for D&D, so we bit-shifted to another person's game). I guess that makes for a good day.

Actually, with regard to the SCOTUS, I'm pretty happy with this whole month (considering the decision in Boumediene v. Bush on the 12th, as well as today's DC v. Heller decision -- on the last effin' day of the '07-'08 session).

Sort of like the winning goal in the last seconds of the game. Whilw most of the world is bewildered by that part of the US Constitute, I heard nothing nothing but possitive coments on the SCOTUS decission. Strange. It seems that even if people (here) don't agree with certain portions of the document, they aplaud when it's rightously up held. Rule of Law is paramont over Concept of Law. General (even popular)Opinions are just that, and in no way enforcable, while (Constitutional) Law is. Just my take on it. -d

If we allow exceptions to the rule of law via "interpretation" instead of following due process to change it (should it need changing), then we open the door to all sorts of discretionary powers of government. In this case, the only proper way to remove the right to keep and bear arms would be via a Constitutional amendment repealing the 2nd. I certainly hope that never happens.

I'm not sure how 'Happy' fit's in though. For me it's more of a satisfaction factor than anything else. Maybe I'm just getting old. -d

This is a big help, as becoming a consultant is one career move that I am considering.

Thanks Chip