Developer vs. Consultant
A colleague at work posted a rather controversial post we've been discussing.
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Doing billable work
Developer: doesn't care, happy to churn away at some code, billable or not
Consultant: uneasy if not doing billable work, keen to get billable work
Asked to work with awkward or outdated technology
Developer: moans that the client should move to a better technology
Consultant: understands the values it gives the client and does it
Asked to do something beyond their skill or knowledge
Developer: not possible, not doable
Consultant: can be done, but give me more time to find out how
Asked to do a variety of tasks
Developer: not very keen, only wants to write code
Consultant: happy to: code, design, test, support, do meetings, team lead, manage customers, etc...
Big picture
Developer: only cares about own code
Consultant: cares about the big picture and the strategic competitive advantage it gives the client
Complex problem
Developer: code first
Consultant: think/design first
New technology
Developer: jaw drops, wow, awesome, I want to use it now
Consultant: what are the advantages/disadvantages?, is it stable enough? does it deliver value?, let me assess it first
Who is number One?
Developer: code
Consultant: client
What's the consensus on these thoughts?