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Most big consulting firms are extremely inefficient. They succeed purely because they have a monopoly on large corporate and government contracts. These compan

Most big consulting firms are extremely inefficient. They succeed purely because they have a monopoly on large corporate and government contracts. These companies are not focused on delivering value. The real purpose of these companies is merely to be an excuse so that executives can keep filling each others' pockets without attracting scrutiny.

sharkweek 9y ago
I consulted for a while - my bosses boss told a few of us somewhat off the record that it was our job to just deliver enough value each month to keep the contract for the next month as well. Specifically if we found X,Y,Z things the company could improve the first month we were only to give them X and save some meat for the following months.
- yosyp 9y ago
  This can also be driven by unreasonable reporting requirements. Say you go against your boss and deliver X,Y, and Z in the first month, and during the second and third months you cannot deliver anything tangible because you have uncovered larger and more complicated problems that take longer to fix. Often in these situations the funding company would critisize you for underdelivering, since you have obviously demonstrated that you are capable of delivering X,Y, and Z in one month, but have since not contributed anything tangible in the following two months. On a graph, you would see a spike for the first month, and a plateau for the 2nd and 3rd. Execs do not like seeing downward sloping trends, and middle managers will do everything to avoid them since their job literally depends on them, hence your bosses boss merely understood the responsibilities and requirements of all stakeholders involved. A meaningful consulting relationship starts with detailed, reasonable, and sane reporting guidelines, which is very difficult to achieve and don't always work well with a programmers mentality.
gilbetron 9y ago
Was in the DoD contracting world for 14 years, was told explicitly never to actually deliver a finished product. Rather, deliver 80% and then tell them you need more money for the other 20%. Lather, rinse, repeat. Got to do a lot of fun stuff, but the BS is so deep, there is geologic stratification!
- provost 9y ago
  This is disgusting.
  - awakeasleep 9y ago
    There is an interesting disconnect where people can feel proud of this because they're "Taking it back from the government that taxes us unjustly," when really they're using the government as a tool to steal from their fellow citizens.

sharkweek 9y ago

I consulted for a while - my bosses boss told a few of us somewhat off the record that it was our job to just deliver enough value each month to keep the contract for the next month as well. Specifically if we found X,Y,Z things the company could improve the first month we were only to give them X and save some meat for the following months.

yosyp 9y ago
This can also be driven by unreasonable reporting requirements. Say you go against your boss and deliver X,Y, and Z in the first month, and during the second and third months you cannot deliver anything tangible because you have uncovered larger and more complicated problems that take longer to fix. Often in these situations the funding company would critisize you for underdelivering, since you have obviously demonstrated that you are capable of delivering X,Y, and Z in one month, but have since not contributed anything tangible in the following two months. On a graph, you would see a spike for the first month, and a plateau for the 2nd and 3rd. Execs do not like seeing downward sloping trends, and middle managers will do everything to avoid them since their job literally depends on them, hence your bosses boss merely understood the responsibilities and requirements of all stakeholders involved. A meaningful consulting relationship starts with detailed, reasonable, and sane reporting guidelines, which is very difficult to achieve and don't always work well with a programmers mentality.

gilbetron 9y ago

Was in the DoD contracting world for 14 years, was told explicitly never to actually deliver a finished product. Rather, deliver 80% and then tell them you need more money for the other 20%. Lather, rinse, repeat. Got to do a lot of fun stuff, but the BS is so deep, there is geologic stratification!

provost 9y ago
This is disgusting.
- awakeasleep 9y ago
  There is an interesting disconnect where people can feel proud of this because they're "Taking it back from the government that taxes us unjustly," when really they're using the government as a tool to steal from their fellow citizens.