Singing Or Dancing To The Music
It seems as though that I’m always trying to find that sweet, yet slippery point of balance that lies between the acts of consulting and creating. On some days the two overlap succinctly with my client work. Those are, by far, my favorite days to be alive.
Having a conversation with a client that expands both of our perspectives on information systems or content syndication or the difference between a usable and a useful interface and leads directly into the guts of a design approach, culminating with a clear deliverable for build… well, that’s what it’s all about. I get paid to listen, teach, learn, evolve and create.
Can it get much better than that?
Creation is a collaborative process, which in my mind, equates with the concept of consulting.
See, I don’t walk into a domain flashing my “expert” card as a well-paid consultant, ignoring the domain knowledge of the folks who’ve hired me. I’ve seen too many “professional” consultants do that, nodding and smiling to the client while emanating more noise than signal and then laughing behind their backs as they collect their fee for providing zero value.
But on some days, consulting has nothing to do with collaboration. Some days, consulting becomes relegated to setting a pace for pushing on through, remaining professional in the midst of an internal political firestorm or a rapid shift in focus and delivering the best solution possible under the worst of conditions.
On those days, I try to remember that without ebb, there can be no flow; without a crescendo, calando has less impact.
I have to believe that perspective is one form of “singing or dancing to the music,” as Alan Watts so eloquently states in the closing of the embedded video.
I must believe it.