Remember the opening scene of Raiders of the Lost Ark? Indiana Jones is in the cave, he has found the Idol for which he has, presumably, been searching for some time. He replaces the Idol with a bag of sand, thinks he is out of the woods, then the drama begins. The stone platform begins to slip down, the walls start caving in, and Indiana, with the Idol in hand and his guide, run as fast as he can past shooting darts, falling stones, and floors that are opening up to get out of the building.
The guide makes if over a large crevasse first. Indiana agrees to throw him the Idol in return for the whip he needs to get across the gaping hole. Only the guide doesn't fulfill his end of the bargain. Indiana is in the cave without the Idol or an obvious way out. This is Indiana Jones, though. He leaps, jumps, runs, and makes his way out of the cave safely, retrieving the Idol from the guide before he makes it out. When he gets out, though, Belloq - his arch nemesis - and a band of native warriors are waiting for him. They take the Idol and threaten to kill Indiana.
Indiana is able to break free, running toward Jacques - his pilot - and the plane. He makes it to the plane, with 10s, if not 100s, of warriors chasing and shooting at him.
So what does this have to do with Consulting? Well, if you have ever been a consultant, you know what I mean.
Consultants are tasks with on-time / on-budget delivery of value added serves for their clients. They are often assigned to 3-5 projects, or more, at one time. Their clients have expectations about what will be delivered to them by when. So, consultants carve out time to work on tasks and deliverables to ensure project objectives are met and clients are happy.
However, like Indiana Jones, consultants rarely get to truly focus on the task at hand. Like most busy professionals, they are over worked and inundated with significant disruptions throughout the day. Each warrior chasing Indiana Jones out of the woods represents a Sales Rep that unexpectedly needs the consultants help to close a deal today, or a Client that needs something earlier or different than planned, or a manager or team member looking for time and help on another project.
Indiana makes it to the plane with Jacques, but as the plane pulls away from the river bank, Indiana is compelled to look down only to find big, ugly snakes at his feet and starting to crawl up his legs. In case you don't remember...Indiana Jones "HATES SNAKES." Consultants have a snake or 2 that we hate, too. We'll talk about them next week.
If you are an IT or Management Consultant and this story resonates with you, I'd love to chat with you, share battle scars, and learn how you reduce the disruption in your day-to-day so you can focus on getting the most important work done on-time and on-budget. Reach out to me at amulligan@sophity.com.
Oh, and if you haven't seen Raiders of the Lost Ark - you should...its awesome! #RaidersoftheLostArk #IndianaJones @SophityPSA
The guide makes if over a large crevasse first. Indiana agrees to throw him the Idol in return for the whip he needs to get across the gaping hole. Only the guide doesn't fulfill his end of the bargain. Indiana is in the cave without the Idol or an obvious way out. This is Indiana Jones, though. He leaps, jumps, runs, and makes his way out of the cave safely, retrieving the Idol from the guide before he makes it out. When he gets out, though, Belloq - his arch nemesis - and a band of native warriors are waiting for him. They take the Idol and threaten to kill Indiana.
Indiana is able to break free, running toward Jacques - his pilot - and the plane. He makes it to the plane, with 10s, if not 100s, of warriors chasing and shooting at him.
So what does this have to do with Consulting? Well, if you have ever been a consultant, you know what I mean.
Consultants are tasks with on-time / on-budget delivery of value added serves for their clients. They are often assigned to 3-5 projects, or more, at one time. Their clients have expectations about what will be delivered to them by when. So, consultants carve out time to work on tasks and deliverables to ensure project objectives are met and clients are happy.
However, like Indiana Jones, consultants rarely get to truly focus on the task at hand. Like most busy professionals, they are over worked and inundated with significant disruptions throughout the day. Each warrior chasing Indiana Jones out of the woods represents a Sales Rep that unexpectedly needs the consultants help to close a deal today, or a Client that needs something earlier or different than planned, or a manager or team member looking for time and help on another project.
Indiana makes it to the plane with Jacques, but as the plane pulls away from the river bank, Indiana is compelled to look down only to find big, ugly snakes at his feet and starting to crawl up his legs. In case you don't remember...Indiana Jones "HATES SNAKES." Consultants have a snake or 2 that we hate, too. We'll talk about them next week.
If you are an IT or Management Consultant and this story resonates with you, I'd love to chat with you, share battle scars, and learn how you reduce the disruption in your day-to-day so you can focus on getting the most important work done on-time and on-budget. Reach out to me at amulligan@sophity.com.
Oh, and if you haven't seen Raiders of the Lost Ark - you should...its awesome! #RaidersoftheLostArk #IndianaJones @SophityPSA
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