CONSULTANTS – CON OR VALUE ADD?

Consultants are often seen as a necessary evil that is only going to make the project more expensive. They are seen as “experts” that take what you already know and twist it around to what they think you want.

Unfortunately this is true in some cases and some consultants deserve the reputation they have, especially in the entertainment industry.

Contrary to public belief, there are many consultants out there that actually do add value to projects.

I don’t need to tell you that technology is developing at a screaming pace and it has become very difficult to stay abreast of developments in your own field of speciality – never mind anything related.

This is where the consultant can add value – staying up to date with all the related fields. 

Convergence is a reality, especially in the show control area. More and more we see lighting incorporating video, a single “Go” command triggering sound, lighting and visual effects and comms integrating with video and sound. All of it running on IP based networks.

Consultants, like everyone else, have areas of speciality, but they should also have a pretty broad knowledge of other areas and see the wider picture. They must also be aware of what new products and technologies are on the horizon – future proofing.

A wisely chosen consultant will be able to advise you on current trends, locally and internationally, as well as on known issues with products, especially when it comes to interoperability and after-sales support. Do you really want to invest heavily in what you think is the latest and greatest, only to find out six months down the line that it has been superseded or cannot be repaired? Who of us has not fallen into that trap?

Another misconception is that you only need a consultant for big (read expensive) projects.

Not true.

Most consultants do not work to a minimum fee, we are open to negotiation. We mainly charge for time as related to size of project and budget. For the large theatre, R 10,000.00 may be petty cash, but for the smaller organisation, it may represent the annual capital budget. As far as I am concerned, your R 10,000.00 budget is as important as the millions the next guy wants to spend. Making a mistake at a smaller budget level can be devastating, not only to your organisation, but to your reputation.

Another area that is often misunderstood is who the consultant actually works for. It often seems like the consultant is working for the supplier, which leads to rumours of kick-backs… I am not saying this does not happen, but it shouldn’t. Ever. Under any circumstances. The consultant MUST be independent of any supplier.

Depending on the project, the consultant should always have your, the client’s, best interests at heart – after all, you are paying him. That said, the consultant should also be a buffer between you and the supplier. It is the consultant’s job to ensure that delivery and/or installation is up to specification. It is also part of his job to ensure that the client does not take advantage of the supplier – yes, this happens, often, and all it gains anyone is a sour client/supplier relationship.

I see my job as having two distinct parts; During the quotation/tender stage, I am only working for the client and will push the suppliers as far as possible; Once the order is placed, I work for both parties, acting like an independent referee, settling disputes, catching potential problems and solving the little problems before they become major issues.

A good consultant also does not stop when the project is handed over or final delivery made, his responsibility carries on until, at least, the end of the warranty period and most will take an active interest for the life of the equipment. Your consultant should be your first call for any problem – he can kick butt with the supplier as no supplier wants to upset a consultant – this could lead to not so glowing recommendations in the future.

I am not going to go into how to choose a consultant, very often this is a personal choice based on past experience. All I will say is, choose wisely, look at past experience and talk to more than one and discuss your project and its importance to you in detail. Negotiate and ask for a full project methodology and time frame.

Your consultant is on your side and none of us want to walk away from a project not feeling good about it, but knowing that we added value and saved the client money, if not immediately, at least in the long term.

TO BE, OR NOT TO BE...DEPRESSED

Depression is something that is far more widespread than most think, or will admit to. It is a pervasive and debilitating disease that, to paraphrase Shane Koyczan, “…cannot be cured by a pill from the first-aid kit.”

By the way, if you do not know who Shane Koyczan is, or have not heard or read his poem “To This Day”, do so now -  http://www.upworthy.com/the-most-beautiful-way-to-stop-a-bully-ive-ever-seen?c=go1 . If it does not affect you in any way, please stop reading and report to your nearest mental health practitioner, you cannot not possibly understand what the rest of this blog is about.

Depression is real, many of us live with it, too few admit to it. Depression is not only feeling like you are going to end your life at any moment, it is also that feeling of despair when you drop your favourite coffee mug and it breaks, when you ask, why me, what else could go wrong today? It can even be a constant feeling of anger, aggression or restlessness. 

Depression drags you down, you start to believe that it is pointless to continue, it is just not worth bothering…

Long-term depressives can become consummate actors – how many times have you heard “…but he always looked so happy”? Do yourself and your loved ones a favour, learn to spot depression and talk about it, and the reasons behind it.

Remember, men and women are affected by depression equally, men just tend not to admit to it as they think it is a sign of weakness – the weakness is in not admitting it.

What caused your depression is mainly you not dealing with your issues – they may be small, they may be big, but they are real issues that you have to face. It could be a series of events leading up to you giving up. Each of us have their own problems, each of us have to deal with them on our own level.

Face up to them, admit that they are getting to you, talk to your friends about it – this in its own will surprise you. You will receive help from people you would never have thought cared, but be aware, some who you thought really cared, will shun you. Too many people pay lip service to caring, but are so wrapped up in their own problems, they just don’t have the time to help others.

Only by exposing your fears and problems can you begin to address them, only then can you start to overcome them and deal with them.

As the late Douglas Adams said "I have terrible periods of lack of confidence. I briefly did therapy, but after a while I realised it was like a farmer complaining about the weather. You can't fix the weather – you just have to get on with it".

Accept the love and caring from those around you, they are truly there for you, to help you to become who you can be.

I again stress, if you have not yet followed the link above to Shane Koyczan’s poem, do it now. It will change your view on depression and life, it did mine.

CRIME & SELF-PUNISHMENT

I have had quite a few queries as to the lack of blogs lately. There are a number of reasons, the most important is sheer lack of time – if you have read the latest News Update on www.pkctech.co.za, you’ll understand.

The other reason is a bit more difficult, our area has been targeted with a spate of burglaries lately, fortunately, only attempts in our case. This has caused my usual positive attitude to take a nose dive and I find myself becoming a person I didn’t ever want to be – negative and prepared to do bodily harm to any intruder.

Crime is a fact of life and certainly not unique to South Africa – I can assure you that while our overall crime statistics are amongst the worst in the world, there are areas in supposedly safe cities elsewhere in the world, where things are even worse.

How you deal with crime is the differentiator – you can be a victim or you can be a survivor. I have never been a victim of crime, I absolutely refuse to be one, but I have survived:

• Being hijacked at gun point in my own driveway;
• A home invasion where my wife got woken up with a pistol in her face;
• Four attempted break-ins at our house – all stopped by our dog waking us up;
• Preventing a break-in at our neighbor by responding to odd noises at 2:00AM.

The Oxford Dictionary’s definitions:

• Victim: a person harmed, injured, or killed as a result of a crime, accident, or other event or action
• Survivor: a person who copes well with difficulties in their life

While I was not physically harmed in any of these instances, there was mental harm. A psychologist friend described trauma as any event where you, those near to you or your property was threatened.

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is a condition of persistent mental and emotional stress occurring as a result of injury or severe psychological shock, in other words trauma.

The bad thing about PTSD is that it is accumulative – each instance of trauma is added to the previous ones and your brain processes it as one huge extended trauma. While you deal with the first three or four instances, the next one, even if it is minor trauma, may send you over the edge into full-blown PTSD.

In my mind, admitting to being a victim is a negative emotion and accepting what happened without being able to do anything about it.

By being  a survivor I am not in any way minimising the trauma, I am merely saying it happened, now deal with it as life tends to go on, whether you are on board or not.

Which one would you rather be?