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Is this "consulting" or "contracting"? In my mind, "consulting" is knowledge work. Your role is to lend knowledge and expertise, help with strategy, architect

Is this "consulting" or "contracting"? In my mind, "consulting" is knowledge work. Your role is to lend knowledge and expertise, help with strategy, architecture, tool/platform selection, etc. "Contracting" is high-skill grunt work. Your role is to code your fingers off, deliver-deliver-deliver, typically according to someone else's (possibly ill-conceived) plan. Have these things truly become synonymous?

jpitz 5y ago
They're not always synonymous. Much of the time it's a little of column A, little of column B. Even so, I try to ensure that my contracting engagements demonstrate my value as a consultant.
chrisseaton 5y ago
> Is this "consulting" or "contracting"? The former is an activity and the latter is a business relationship, so they're orthogonal. Many consultants are contractors but not all are. Many contractors sell consultancy but not all do.
kerneloftruth 5y ago
No, you've got the distinction right. Many folks don't understand that difference. Many consultants crank out a lot of code, but they also do advising, planning, recommending, analyzing,...
wrnr 5y ago
I understand what you are trying to say but it is also a form of master-slave dialectic, you don't like something and feel above it and try to organise your social life with strict rules to isolate you from it. It's not even always a bad thing to do, like I an a coder who tries to avoid working with people who think like you.
- immutology 5y ago
  I find this intriguing. Care to elaborate on it?
baobabKoodaa 5y ago
You got the types of consulting right, but the terminology wrong. Yes, one type of consulting is lending your expertise, another type is lending a pair of hands. Either of these types of consulting work can occur under "contracting", "freelancing", or other types of business relationships. Often a "pair of hands" consult is hired "until further notice", so it's not always contracting.
datavirtue 5y ago
I end up doing both.
goodpoint 5y ago
> "Contracting" is high-skill grunt work. Your role is to code your fingers off, deliver-deliver-deliver, typically according to someone else's (possibly ill-conceived) plan. Not at all. Contracting, in itself, is just the business agreement but most of the time contractors are experts and have plenty of autonomy. The very opposite of grunt work.

jpitz 5y ago

They're not always synonymous. Much of the time it's a little of column A, little of column B. Even so, I try to ensure that my contracting engagements demonstrate my value as a consultant.

chrisseaton 5y ago

> Is this "consulting" or "contracting"? The former is an activity and the latter is a business relationship, so they're orthogonal. Many consultants are contractors but not all are. Many contractors sell consultancy but not all do.

kerneloftruth 5y ago

No, you've got the distinction right. Many folks don't understand that difference. Many consultants crank out a lot of code, but they also do advising, planning, recommending, analyzing,...

wrnr 5y ago

I understand what you are trying to say but it is also a form of master-slave dialectic, you don't like something and feel above it and try to organise your social life with strict rules to isolate you from it. It's not even always a bad thing to do, like I an a coder who tries to avoid working with people who think like you.

immutology 5y ago
I find this intriguing. Care to elaborate on it?

baobabKoodaa 5y ago

You got the types of consulting right, but the terminology wrong. Yes, one type of consulting is lending your expertise, another type is lending a pair of hands. Either of these types of consulting work can occur under "contracting", "freelancing", or other types of business relationships. Often a "pair of hands" consult is hired "until further notice", so it's not always contracting.

datavirtue 5y ago

I end up doing both.

goodpoint 5y ago

> "Contracting" is high-skill grunt work. Your role is to code your fingers off, deliver-deliver-deliver, typically according to someone else's (possibly ill-conceived) plan. Not at all. Contracting, in itself, is just the business agreement but most of the time contractors are experts and have plenty of autonomy. The very opposite of grunt work.