Feb 2, 2011 Posted by John MacIntyre

Consultants are advisors, not decision makers.

Overview I was having lunch with my friend & colleague last week and we had a disagreement about whose decision it is to make a change when you see something wrong in the client’s software. Mechanic analogy My colleague used an analogy about a mechanic; it was a good one, so I’ll use it here. Let’s say you bring your car in for a $30 oil change, and your mechanic notices a problem with the timing belt.  My colleague suggests, he doesn’t just ignore it, he tells you it’s an emergency must be changed immediately (the emphasis is my friends). Well I agree the mechanic shouldn’t just ignore it, and I was relieved my friend didn’t suggest the mechanic should simply change the timing belt, driving the bill from $30 to $930, but I’m not sure if telling the car owner they must change the timing belt ‘now’ is appropriate either. In my opinion the mechanic should tell the customer what he found, the risk in not fixing it, outline the options to fix it, and the cost & associated risk with each option[1].  Then make a recommendation. It’s the customer’s decision, not the mechanics, and even if the customer makes a foolish decision, it’s his decision, not the mechanics. Fortunately, all the mechanics I’ve dealt with seem to understand this. As consultants we’re advisors, not the decision maker In my opinion, our role as consultants / advisors includes the responsibility to inform the client of any problems or potential problems you’ve noticed, the risks in not fixing it, options to resolve the problem, along with the costs and risks associated with each. Unethical behaviour To me it seems unethical to go rogue, and just start making changes the client doesn’t know about, and didn’t approve. It’s also unethical to purposely instil fear, uncertainty, and doubt when explaining the options to the client so they make the decision you want them to; regardless of your intentions. The client owns your time After all, the client does own the software, is responsible for its maintenance, and they do own your time to direct as necessary. Wait, what?  Who owns your time? Yeah, when you’re consulting, your client (or employer) owns your time.  … you sold it to them; remember? Every consulting and/or employment agreement is different, but if you’re charging by the hour, it probably says something like this; they bought your focused efforts to solve their problems for a... read more