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Subject:Re: Contractors of Questionable Ability From:JIMCHEVAL <JIMCHEVAL -at- AOL -dot- COM> Date:Wed, 7 Jan 1998 12:53:56 EST
In a message dated 98-01-07 10:33:02 EST, ANONYMOUS writes:
<< Obviously, lawyers get involved somewhere in here.
Obviously, the detail of the contract is going to determine much of
what happens next. That will likely be your best weapon.
>>
Well, maybe.
I've only noticed a few posters so far point out the perilous - and possibly
central - fact that this consulting firm may be implicitly allied with the
writer's higher-ups. If their prestige (real or imagined) is bound with that
of the consulting firm they selected, it may be much hard (and riskier) for
one of their employees to frankly point out the defects in the firm's work.
I worked on one project where the consulting team had been brought in by the
highest level of management (as is often the case). Though I tried to make my
own part productive and professional, I was astounded at what gibberish was
foisted off on the client and at times even praised publicly by the head of
that organization. The fact that the project was continually being tweaked
and re-scheduled months later than planned at each 'milestone' didn't seem to
impact management's confidence in their hand-picked consultancy.
Meanwhile, I worked with dedicated, competent staff people who knew exactly
what was going on and did their best to salvage some usable result from all
this. But no way would they have risked their professional futures by
questioning the value of their bosses' prize bull.
The lovely irony in all this is that the consultant project leader introduced
a 'new and exciting concept in management': "Let's all work as a TEAM - forget
hierarchies and responsibilities; let's have an OPEN and TRUSTING environment
where everybody just works for a common goal [said goal was never actually
enunciated, just the fact that we had one]."
The staff people regarded this new management plaything with pure dread, and
worked very hard to figure out what management wanted to hear from them in
this new "open and trusting" environment.
Morale in this group can best be summed up by the following, which was posted
in numerous cubicles: "Some people are only alive because it's against the law
to kill them."
Jim Chevallier
Los Angeles
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Visit Chez Jim: Jim Chevallier's Home Page - http://www.gis.net/~jimcheval
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