Consultants Saying Things

Is Agile methodology a revolutionary approach to software development, or has it become corrupted into expensive consulting theater that ignores organizational context and culture? Watch the show for the 5 big things you need to know about agile.

We Discuss:

• Where did Agile come from and what is its background?
• Does it matter where the concept of Agile started if it works?
• Is there data to support that Agile fails more often than it succeeds in large enterprises?
• What should individual practitioners do when they're stuck on an Agile team that feels like bullshit?
• What do developers actually think about Agile frameworks in practice?

5 Takeaways:

1. Agile itself isn't bullshit, but the way it's commonly sold by consulting firms—as a one-size-fits-all solution without considering organizational context—often is bullshit.
2. Successful implementation requires understanding your organization's culture, people capabilities, existing processes, and appetite for change before attempting any Agile transformation.
3. Top technology companies like Google, Facebook, and Uber don't rigidly follow frameworks like SAFe or Scrum; instead, they customize practices to fit their specific culture and needs.
4. The Agile Manifesto's core principles align with established industrial engineering concepts like Deming's 14 points and lean manufacturing—it's fundamentally about systems thinking applied to software development.
5. When hiring consultants for Agile adoption, organizations should demand practitioners with real implementation experience rather than those who have merely read books and will leave behind expensive "shelfware."

Solving business problems is programmatic, right? That is, if one follows a specific, prescribed formula, all business problems can be recognized and addressed.

Or would you say that every good solution to a business problem is arrived at via gut instinct? That it is more through nuance and flexibility in the face of ambiguity that success can be achieved?

In our first episode of Season 2, I'm joined by Shashi, Phil and Bill to discuss whether Consulting is more of an Art or a Science.

Hint. We didn't agree.

We Discuss:

• Is consulting an art or a science?
• When bringing in consultants, should you hold them to the letter of the statement of work, or be flexible as the approach changes?
• What do you do when a client suddenly changes direction after you've staffed and planned for a specific statement of work?
• How should an individual consultant navigate between the art and science aspects of consulting?
• What type of problem in the spectrum (art vs science) do you like to solve as a consultant?

5 Takeaways:

1. Consulting work fundamentally splits into two categories: execution-focused contracting where you already know the solution but need resources, versus strategic consulting where you're hiring expertise to help discover unknown answers.
2. The most successful consulting engagements often succeed on relationship management and adaptability rather than the formal deliverables outlined in the statement of work, revealing that client satisfaction frequently depends more on the "art" than the "science."
3. Effective consultants must learn to say "yes, but here's the trade-off" rather than blindly accepting every client request, as managing expectations and providing honest counsel is more valuable than unconditional agreement.
4. Large corporations have found success by creating small internal strategy consulting teams that define problems and maintain vision while engaging external boutique or large firms for specific execution pieces, rather than outsourcing entire strategic initiatives.
5. Individual consultants should understand their personal position on the art-science spectrum because thriving in ambiguous, discovery-based engagements requires different skills and temperament than executing well-defined, specification-driven work.

In this year-end special, our experienced consultants share their personal triumphs, challenges, and lessons learned from the past year. Join us as we delve into the ups and downs of the consulting life and explore insights on adapting to change, maintaining work-life balance, and navigating ethical dilemmas in an ever-evolving industry.

9 Takeaways:

1. Chris' harrowing experience with pulmonary embolisms highlighted the potential health risks associated with the demanding consulting lifestyle, emphasizing the importance of prioritizing personal well-being.
2. Phil's successful expansion of Tech After Five networking events to Bangalore, India, demonstrates the potential for global growth and the adaptability of his business model to new markets.
3. Bill's key learning from his startup experience is the necessity of addressing secondary and tertiary market problems to effectively solve the primary challenge at hand.
4. The consulting industry must evolve to embrace a more probabilistic approach, moving away from purely deterministic plans and outcomes, to remain relevant and effective in an increasingly uncertain business environment.
5. Shashi emphasized the importance of understanding and adapting to the unique working styles and expectations of the new generation of consultants to ensure effective management and motivation.
6. The development of clear ethical frameworks is crucial for consultants to navigate situations where they may be asked to engage in questionable practices, maintaining their integrity and professionalism.
7. The group discussed the risks of getting caught up in the consulting "rat race" and the importance of making conscious decisions to avoid burnout and maintain a healthy work-life balance.
8. Shashi shared his personal growth in recognizing the value of spending quality time with his daughter, highlighting the significance of cherishing family and personal relationships amidst a demanding career.
9. The conversation underscored the responsibility of senior consultants to guide and nurture the next generation of talent, ensuring the long-term success and sustainability of the consulting industry.

As companies navigate mergers or acquisitions they invariably run up against sticky post-merger problems that often prevent them from realizing their potential. Here are 6 things to consider when thinking about M&A.

We Discuss:

• What are the major areas prone to M&A failure? (Hint: Security)
• Why do so many deals fail? - What role does technology play in M&A failure rates?
• What is the impact of culture on deals that work out great?
• What can consultants do when working M&A to help ensure good outcomes?

6 Takeaways:

1. Legacy technical debt, like outdated systems and programming languages, can necessitate more IT consolidation post-merger (26:47).
2. Effective security in M&A scenarios requires broad organizational maturity as most business leaders don't understand security implications (32:52).
3. The business drives M&A decisions based on strategic goals, not to acquire IT systems, so technology enablement should align to business needs (33:36).
4. Cultural alignment and change management are critical for integration success but often overlooked in M&A planning (35:25).
5. Customer impacts from the merger like billing changes need consideration in addition to internal system transitions (37:57).
6. There are often unknown cultural nuances in an acquired company that must be learned in M&A before full value realization (39:42).

Most don't understand what DevOps is about. When business and technology are collaborating to deliver capabilities, clarity of purpose and communication are critical. Here are 8 things to know about DevOps.

Pete Heard joins us. He is the founder of Logic Room. He works hard to help clients achieve clarity by cutting through the theory, hacks and buzzwords that don't help them address their pain points.

We Discuss:

• What is DevOps, really?
• Why does it help organizations?
• What are the key pieces to do DevOps right?
• Why should senior/executive management care?
• How does a practitioner start 'doing' DevOps?

8 Takeaways:

1. Removing uncertainty and providing absolute clarity on whether something works or not is key to effective delivery (2:04).
2. DevOps represents a culture of automation and integration more than just a set of technologies (6:42).  
3. Finding the right situational approach is more important than defaulting to a one-size-fits-all methodology (10:19).
4. Optimizing for employee happiness and fulfillment at the individual level builds stronger collaborating teams (17:10). 
5. Thought leadership ideas should be introduced carefully to avoid coming across as lecturing (36:11).
6. Position offerings around increased efficiency and output rather than cost savings (37:58).  
7. Lead with common sense and experience over buzzwords when engaging clients (42:47).
8. Accepting failures and mistakes as part of the learning process is important in determining what works (43:36).

Pete is a thought leader and is often posting great content on LinkedIn, Medium and Twitter. Check out his company's site for more information about how the smart guys at Logic Room can help your company build high performing teams.

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pete-heard/
Articles: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pete-heard/detail/recent-activity/posts/
Logic Room: https://www.logicroom.co/

Every framework, approach, process in the world won't get you the innovation you seek. Innovation happens when we listen to each other. Here are 6 things you need to know about empathy in IT.

Larry Gioia joins us for the discussion. He has been passionately delivering for his clients as a management consultant where he works alongside executives and innovators to improve the future of healthcare.

Larry is a technical humanist. By seeing how people and technology ideas come together to create a greater good, Larry is always connecting the dots for people and with people.

We Discuss:

• What is ABCD?
• Are technologists empathy-deficient by nature?
• How does focus on people improve technical delivery?
• What do I get out of sharing ideas in this fashion?
• What messages do we bring to senior management to convince them of the value of a more empathetic approach to delivery?

6 Takeaways:

1. The "always be connecting the dots" mindset views everything as connected in life and business, which can lead to innovation through perspective sharing and listening. 
2. Technology should enhance people's lives by meeting human needs with empathy rather than just focusing on the technology itself.  
3. Reframing automation as freeing up more time for human connection and empathy shifts thinking to see it as enabling more understanding between people.
4. Physically bringing people together still provides immense value even with remote work through technology, so it can't be overlooked.  
5. AI and technology present opportunities to detect emotional cues in online communication that facilitate empathy similar to face-to-face interactions.
6. Practicing skills like listening, having genuine dialogs beyond work, and proactively connecting with others are critical for building empathy and purpose.

Larry is always seen on LinkedIn and Twitter sharing great ideas. But you should also check out his other work at Dynamic Paddlers and watch some of his talks about connecting the dots:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lgioia/detail/recent-activity/posts/
Dynamic Paddlers: http://www.dynamicpaddlers.com/
Larry at the Going Deep Summit 2018: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pDqw_4luD_o
Larry talking about the Key Principles Shaping the Future of Work: https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6442844202463162368/

Unmask the myths and powers of machine learning, deep learning, and AI, the invisible forces shaping our every click and swipe. Watch this episode for the 5 things you need to know about deep learning.

We're joined by James Kobielus. James is an expert on AI, Data Science, Deep Learning, and Application Development. He was a Big Data Evangelist at IBM and Senior Analyst at Forrester, Burton and others.

We Discuss:

• What is Deep Learning?
• Deep Learning's relationship with Machine Learning, AI, Big Data and Robotics
• Is it all just more vendor/consultant hype?
• What are the practical applications of it right now?
• How do enterprises leverage Deep Learning? What do they need skill wise?
• Where is it going? How will it be used in the future?

5 Takeaways:

1. Machine learning and deep learning are advanced techniques that automate the analysis of patterns in data (2:02).
2. There is a lot of hype and misunderstanding around AI-related terms like deep learning and big data (1:38).
3. AI models need continuous retraining on fresh data or their performance will degrade rapidly (17:12).
4. Most small and medium sized businesses will rely on AI capabilities embedded in vendor software rather than building their own (28:07).
5. Applications will increasingly have AI capabilities embedded without requiring developers to have data science expertise (32:09)

James writes routinely at various outlets:

• SiliconANGLE: https://siliconangle.com/author/jameskobielus1/
• Wikibon Research: https://wikibon.com/author/james-kobielus/
• His blog: https://jkobielus.blogspot.com/
• InfoWorld: https://www.infoworld.com/author/james-kobielus/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jameskobielus/detail/recent-activity/posts/

Integration is more than just putting Tech A together with Tech B via an API. Integration goes to the heart of how things work together: people, process and THEN technology. Here are 6 things you need to know about Integrations and Value Networks.

We Discuss:

• What is meant by 'integration' ?
• What is a value network?
• Why should we care?
• How do you become a network node and drive value?
• Where can you learn more?

6 Takeaways:

1. Integration needs to be considered holistically - beyond just tools and technology. Need to integrate behaviors, people, processes.
2. Integration is not a linear process of connecting systems. It's a nonlinear network with multiple nodes.
3. Lack of a modern integration strategy focused on business value rather than just technology tactics.
4. The C-suite doesn't prioritize integration because it's pitched as technology not business strategy.
5. To enable good customer experiences, integrate technology, people, processes and partners across ecosystem.
6. Integration is a corporate strategy problem first, not a technology problem.

The future of customer experience involves more efficient and targeted sales enabled by technology while high-value interactions will still need human expertise. Here are 10 things organizations must do to survive seismic shifts in customer expectations.

In this episode we discuss:

• How do Sales & Marketing, Customer Experience and Customer Relationship Management relate to each other in the modern enterprise?
• How do traditional companies deliver on customer experience and how is that different from digital companies?
• What role does technology play in managing the customer?
• What is the future of push vs pull marketing and sales?
• What does the future of customer experience look like?

10 Takeaways:

1. Customer experience requires collaboration between all customer-facing functions like sales, marketing, service. Silos create disjointed journeys. 
2. Sales messaging must have consistency across mediums and client interactions to avoid brand dilution. Digital tools help enable this.
3. Balance personalized sales interactions with standardized core messaging. Adapt language but not meaning.
4. Marketing automation will reduce but not eliminate the need for human sales concierges, especially for complex B2B sales.
5. Leverage data and automation to enhance interactions, but allow for human connection. Poorly executed automation frustrates customers. 
6. Improve collaboration between sales, marketing, product teams to align messaging and meet customer expectations
7. Shift to smaller, specialized sales teams focused on individual products rather than large teams selling wide portfolios
8. Make sales more efficient, move away from high-volume cold calls, focus on responding to buying signals
9. Leverage technology like bots for automating repetitive sales tasks, but high-value sales need human interaction
10. Transition knowledge, expertise and marketing from print/analog to digital channels you control, like your website

Continuous Learning can have a transformative impact on personal growth, innovation, and organizational success. Here are 9 things you should know about Continuous Learning...

For this conversation, we're joined by Tom Graves, author and world-renowned expert on Enterprise Architecture.

Among the topics covered:

• Why aren't companies learning from mistakes?
• What are some best practices for continuous learning and continuous improvement in a modern, Agile, DevOps environment?
• How can a technology practitioner incorporate these best practices into daily routine?
• What role does executive management have in ensuring quality is a built-in behavior?

9 Takeaways:

1. The group discussed the lack of feedback loops and continuous learning in many software development processes today. There is a focus on speed and methodology over learning from mistakes.
2. Tom Graves argued that many organizations are good at "doing things right" with processes like DevOps, but not "doing the right things" that actually solve customer problems.
3. Continuous learning is key - both as individuals and collectively as teams. Learning from mistakes avoids repeating them.
4. After action reviews, borrowed from the military, are a simple but effective tool for teams to quickly share learnings. It involves answering 4 key questions after an activity.
5. Alignment of business and IT is critical. When IT is seen as just a cost center rather than integral, continuous learning is harder.
6. Quality must be built in upfront, not inspected in later. The end goal should be a "minimally useful product", not a "minimally viable" one.
7. Commitment for continuous learning needs to come from all levels of an organization, not just individuals. But individuals can drive change even without top-down mandates.
8. Look to other industries like manufacturing that have used practices like Deming's work for decades that apply directly to software delivery.
9. Key is focusing on purpose and people, not just process. Learning must become habitual.

Tom Graves’ website, http://www.tetradian.com, is a one-stop location for all things Enterprise Architecture related. His blog at http://weblog.tetradian.com/ is updated constantly with useful tools and insight gleaned from decades of work in the field.