As a consultant, I get to work with more companies than if I would be employed at a non-consulting company. Even though the problems I am hired to solve can resemble each other, they are not quite the same. Yes, most involved setting up infrastructure using Kubernetes in cloud or on-prem and there would be some infrastructure-as-code tool used, but that is where the similarities would end.
The rest is context. It would be relatively easy for me to come at a customer and after a brief look to say they should use this tool and that tool, because they are the best. But reality is different.
Ownership
An important component of me being successful in an assignment is to facilitate ownership in the customer team of everything I worked with while there. Ideally, there wouldn’t even be required a hand-over. If I come and start shouting technologies and tools at the customer, there is a small chance ownership will happen. Why?
Because in order for the customer team to own the work, the tools and technologies we use need to be adjusted to their context. There is no best tool and nothing else. If they are all Java developers and I tell them they should use Python, because it’s the best programming language in the world, not only I might start a flame war, but I doubt we would be able to get much done.
Context is king 👑
Most of the time I adjust to customer context. We use whatever technologies they are accustomed to that gets the job done in a good way. Or whatever technology aligns best with their long-term strategy. Sure, there might be exceptions, but these have been quite rare. This doesn’t mean I never propose tools or technologies or take initiative in these matters, but I do so only after some time where I was paying attention at the context.
Me adjusting to context also means that we might be using tools and technologies that I know nothing about at first. That is fine, learning is something I do every day. I was not hired as a specialist on those tools. But I need to learn them to be able to help with what I was hired to do.
Value is not in the tools themselves 🛠️
I don’t see knowledge of using specific tools or technologies as some of the most important components of the value I can bring to a customer, unless they hire me to teach them that tool or technology. No, the tool is just a tool and there are many tools that can be used to achieve the same thing. Choosing the right tool and how to apply it to the context is more important.
This also means coming as a consultant with as little preconceived opinions as possible when approaching a new customer. Sure, I can have opinions and ideas and there are some things that can apply universally, but it’s good to set things aside, including tools, and observe and assess. Then build on those observations choosing from my shelf of experience whatever tools or approach seems to fit. Or learn completely new ones and improvise as we go.