What Matters is the Result

Photo by Simon Matzinger on Unsplash

I started my career in consulting. I was a terrible consultant. The arbitrary demands, shifting client work, and the short-term nature of the work never fit my nature. But, there is something valuable to be learned from those who excel at contract work — they deliver!

In consulting, there is a purity to the relationship that often gets lost in a full time arrangement. No matter consultant or employee, you are here to solve a problem. To elevate the organization and help it to get results unachievable without you. Your job is to deliver on that promise.

Mike Monteiro runs Mule Design, an agency in San Francisco. He strips away the mystique of the consulting arrangement in a way only he can. In Mike’s words, “The most important thing a client can hear from you is, ‘I’ve got it — the problem you put in my hands is taken care of’.”

We all hire people and tools in our own life, and when we do, we too are looking for the result. We aren’t really interested in the hard work the dry cleaner put in, we want clean and pressed clothes in 24 hrs. We aren’t really interested in the chef’s passion for French herbs — we just want a great tasting meal at a fair price. We don’t really care about the engineering challenges of long battery life — our phone’s charge needs to last the whole day!

Somehow when it comes to our work, we think the rules don’t apply — that in our case, the work behind the work actually matters. As much as I’d like to think my joy of writing code or interviewing users matters to my customers — it doesn’t. It’s just stuff I have to do to to solve the problem I’m being hired to solve.

“Stop using your work like a time card.” — Mike Monteiro

People may be polite. They may listen, they might even high five your efforts, but if you don’t deliver, no one will care how much time you spent on something, how hard it was to do, or how much you love your process. Let your work speak for itself.

What matters is the result.

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