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> When a small business needs expert advice, they can almost always get what they need by hiring expert consultants. Yes let's create an outside dependency on

> When a small business needs expert advice, they can almost always get what they need by hiring expert consultants. Yes let's create an outside dependency on mission critical elements with a business who makes money on billable hours. Meanwhile the smart people you didn't hire took a job at your competition.

jodleif 2y ago
This ^ Also it’s not only about smart, it’s about owning and believing in what you do.
- cwillu 2y ago
  “This ^” doesn't work well when comments are sorted dynamically.
brunoarueira 2y ago
Couldn't agree more! Yet, the companies still continue to hire those experts and dump on us the issues when things goes wrong. I'd at least two times at the same company, the CEO called me and want me to fix things built by the experts!
creer 2y ago
It's a question of degree also. A small business may not be able to afford a full time X expert. Either at all because they are a small business. Or when X is nowhere near their core activity. X might be mission critical but also not core. Perhaps a lawyer, perhaps a sysadmin, perhaps an architect, etc. A good consultant is a part time adjunct who gives you the hints you need at a price you can afford and then gets out of the way. I think the more frequent problem is that it's HARD for a small business to pick the right consultant. After that, it's hard to establish what is the right question (so that the answer has a chance to be the right answer.) And then it's hard to understand the answer. Still a good idea simply because you can't afford "one of everything". (And then there is the consultant as a justification for something that would be hard to accept otherwise.)
- dools 2y ago
  Yes I agree, the types of experts I had in mind when writing this are technical reviews by subject matter experts such as fractional CTO/CFO type things, or security consultants to do penetration testing, design style guides by a highly paid, very experienced designer or sales training. I think the type of consultant people are thinking of in this comment thread are more like business coaches who say things like "vision, misssion, values" and then charge $10k. I'm not saying there aren't good business coaches and that there aren't shitty technical experts, I'm just stating what I think people are arguing against here (which is to say they are imagining the worst kind of consultant and then assuming that's the only thing available).
citizenpaul 2y ago
You are being sarcastic but my experience is that it seems to be the way things are generally done. Company gets an answer they don't like from employees. They spend at minimum upwards of six figures on consultants(or millions). The constants provide either no value or set them selves up an income stream at several times what it would have cost to listen to the employees. I think most upper mgmt assumes that if you work for them you are by definition a dumb loser that cannot do "business" I've even seen one time where the consultancy blatantly used it as a foot in the door to steal high value customers to their own businesses. The business owner was warned by his business development director and he blew it off as not understanding how this wall street money stuff works.
- jiggawatts 2y ago
  Hi. I’m that consultant. Two effects combine to create this reality: 1) Ass-covering. If Important Manager makes a Big Decision based on his own wits, they are risking their own judgement being revealed as less than what is expected from their position. If they can point at a “reputable” outside party, then they can claim that “even expert advice was unable to see this coming, so shouldn’t be expected to either.” They can’t get this kind of protection by listening to subordinates because even if they’re right, they have no reputation. 2) Hunter-gatherer tribe dynamics. We’re barely more than strategically shaved apes in suits, genetically speaking. The last ten thousand years of civilisation is a blip in evolutionary terms and hasn’t changed our behaviour much at all. Big important alpha male leader can’t be seen to accept advice from subordinates! That would not be “leadership” and would undermine their position in the tribe as a trusted elder. This makes all humans in such positions (but especially older men) incredibly resistant to even the most blindingly obvious advice if it comes from someone younger in the same group. External guidance is not subject to the same social constraints and is often accepted. I’ve seen both of these play out over and over, separately and in combination. It’s my job to talk to the junior underlings, collect their complaints, and then present it to their manager so they can have an acceptable source for the same advice. It’s nuts, but it is what is is, and I don’t expect it to change for 50K years or more. Evolution is slow and human nature is wired into us deep.
  - 2y ago
rowanG077 2y ago
This was my reaction. This posts sounds bonkers insane to me. It also takes smarter to mean "better at everything you do" that's not what smart means. There are tons of people smarter then me that I can outcompete in my niche.

jodleif 2y ago

This ^ Also it’s not only about smart, it’s about owning and believing in what you do.

cwillu 2y ago
“This ^” doesn't work well when comments are sorted dynamically.

brunoarueira 2y ago

Couldn't agree more! Yet, the companies still continue to hire those experts and dump on us the issues when things goes wrong. I'd at least two times at the same company, the CEO called me and want me to fix things built by the experts!

creer 2y ago

It's a question of degree also. A small business may not be able to afford a full time X expert. Either at all because they are a small business. Or when X is nowhere near their core activity. X might be mission critical but also not core. Perhaps a lawyer, perhaps a sysadmin, perhaps an architect, etc. A good consultant is a part time adjunct who gives you the hints you need at a price you can afford and then gets out of the way. I think the more frequent problem is that it's HARD for a small business to pick the right consultant. After that, it's hard to establish what is the right question (so that the answer has a chance to be the right answer.) And then it's hard to understand the answer. Still a good idea simply because you can't afford "one of everything". (And then there is the consultant as a justification for something that would be hard to accept otherwise.)

dools 2y ago
Yes I agree, the types of experts I had in mind when writing this are technical reviews by subject matter experts such as fractional CTO/CFO type things, or security consultants to do penetration testing, design style guides by a highly paid, very experienced designer or sales training. I think the type of consultant people are thinking of in this comment thread are more like business coaches who say things like "vision, misssion, values" and then charge $10k. I'm not saying there aren't good business coaches and that there aren't shitty technical experts, I'm just stating what I think people are arguing against here (which is to say they are imagining the worst kind of consultant and then assuming that's the only thing available).

citizenpaul 2y ago

You are being sarcastic but my experience is that it seems to be the way things are generally done. Company gets an answer they don't like from employees. They spend at minimum upwards of six figures on consultants(or millions). The constants provide either no value or set them selves up an income stream at several times what it would have cost to listen to the employees. I think most upper mgmt assumes that if you work for them you are by definition a dumb loser that cannot do "business" I've even seen one time where the consultancy blatantly used it as a foot in the door to steal high value customers to their own businesses. The business owner was warned by his business development director and he blew it off as not understanding how this wall street money stuff works.

jiggawatts 2y ago
Hi. I’m that consultant. Two effects combine to create this reality: 1) Ass-covering. If Important Manager makes a Big Decision based on his own wits, they are risking their own judgement being revealed as less than what is expected from their position. If they can point at a “reputable” outside party, then they can claim that “even expert advice was unable to see this coming, so shouldn’t be expected to either.” They can’t get this kind of protection by listening to subordinates because even if they’re right, they have no reputation. 2) Hunter-gatherer tribe dynamics. We’re barely more than strategically shaved apes in suits, genetically speaking. The last ten thousand years of civilisation is a blip in evolutionary terms and hasn’t changed our behaviour much at all. Big important alpha male leader can’t be seen to accept advice from subordinates! That would not be “leadership” and would undermine their position in the tribe as a trusted elder. This makes all humans in such positions (but especially older men) incredibly resistant to even the most blindingly obvious advice if it comes from someone younger in the same group. External guidance is not subject to the same social constraints and is often accepted. I’ve seen both of these play out over and over, separately and in combination. It’s my job to talk to the junior underlings, collect their complaints, and then present it to their manager so they can have an acceptable source for the same advice. It’s nuts, but it is what is is, and I don’t expect it to change for 50K years or more. Evolution is slow and human nature is wired into us deep.
- 2y ago

rowanG077 2y ago

This was my reaction. This posts sounds bonkers insane to me. It also takes smarter to mean "better at everything you do" that's not what smart means. There are tons of people smarter then me that I can outcompete in my niche.