I get great joy and personal satisfaction from assisting someone or a paying client with the IT challenges they face, specifically in software development. Some 20 years ago, I discovered this about myself, and realised that consulting and coaching was my calling in life and have dedicated myself to it. I have spent years, honing the skills to help mentor, coach and consult with my clients. The mantra of my service and the measure of my success is that I become replaceable. If I cannot be replaced then I have failed.
So why do I think I have failed? Over the years as I look back at my clients requirements, I notice that most of them were looking for a technology that would solve their problems, but instead I sold them problem solving techniques to better understand their problem spaces. Oftentimes, upon analyzing the issues that a client is struggling with and trying to solve with technology, I find that the real issue is a lack of understanding of the problem space. Badly designed systems irrespective of the technology is usually the result of not understanding the problem space sufficiently. Changing the technology is not going to fix this, only resolving the problem space will. So what ensues is a new, badly designed system, with new technology. Yes, while the new technology may or may not ease the problem somewhat, it does not remove the underlying cause.
I could easily sell my clients the latest fad like micro architectures, agile processes etc. and they will possibly eat it up, love me and I would feel really successful, and in a few months time I could sell them the next new fad again and so and so on. But for most IT departments the latest technologies is the least of their problems in my opinion, so instead I provide them with pragmatism and a reality check, which no one seems to want to hear….So I have failed, and end up trying to rescue these new technology projects.
