Monthly Archives: June 2009
Whom Do I Hire, Consultant or Contractor?
As an executive, you find yourself in unfamiliar waters. You have a groundswell of demand for collaborative and Web 2.0 technologies and many are currently used within your organization. While you have concerns over reliability, security, availability, on-going support, and a variety of other topics, you realize the value of these technologies and know that the promise they show will be of tremendous value. Given your extensive knowledge and relationships within the company, you know that of the 360 degrees on the compass in which you can direct your company, you have narrowed the down a possible directional choices to “generally northwest”. Continue reading
Demonstrable Leadership
Nuts and bolts time. As a leader how do your demonstrate your leadership? Are you doing anything to position yourself as something other than a leader?
There are probably hundreds of tasks and activities which you can do during any given day. The items with which you choose to interact with people, and how you choose to interact with people, will play a big part in your ability to lead them. Continue reading
How to Organize for Success
There are four building blocks to the model. Each of which should be followed at a high level to understand the bigger picture and in doing so define the parameters to work within. Once this has been performed at a high level, an additional level of detail should be produced to provide additional specificity to each of the four building blocks of the template. Continue reading
Technical Architecture – Static or Active?
What happens when the technology platform which you have adopted is eclipsed by newer more efficient or effective technology? It is easy for this to happen. The decisions made today will have a shelf life. Vendors of software platforms are frequently purchased leaving the acquired platform in limbo. Different technologies and platforms which perform similar roles can gain more market traction leaving the chosen platform in question. Continue reading
Blood Type of a Contractor
True contractors have a specific blood type. It is a different blood type from that of a consultant, but a blood type none the less. True contractors also are distinguished from people who work on a contract while between full-time employees (contractor by convenience).
I differentiate contractors from consultants by a simple rule of thumb. An organization will hire a consultant to advise them on a course of action. An organization will hire a contractor (or many) as a source of external labor to execute against a pre-defined plan. In the IT arena roles of project manager and programmer are frequently filled by contractors. Continue reading
