Once upon a time, in my very-late 20s, the company I was working for hired a consulting company to come in and try to improve our operations. The company I worked for was a pretty big tier-one automotive manufacturing company with plants across Canada and the US. I was a production manager at the time, working with my team closely on the shop floor. I has production supervisors, some logistics people, millwirghts, electricians, robotic technicians and toolmakers "reporting" to me. It was a fantasic job, even with the 12 hour days.
OK, back to the story. I was fairly young, but I had a lot of hands-on experience from this job and previous jobs. I did a lot of travelling and worked with more people than I could ever count. I tried to learn everything I could wherever I worked. The consultants decided to interview key people within the company, and I sat down for over an hour with them. They asked a whole bunch of questions, to which I answered what I thought was the way to go. They took notes, as expected. They finished their job and left a couple of weeks later.
When they issued their final report to the CEO, which was shared with the rest of the management team, it noticed that A LOT (most) of it was taken right from their interview with me. I felt a sense of pride because I "nailed it"... but then I realised that they were paid a lot of money to compile an operational template that I could do have developed myself, if asked. It was at that point that it "clicked".
Later, I must have come across a quote, or maybe I created it myself, 'if great ideas come from inside the company, you're called a "smartass", if they come from outside, you're called a "consultant"'. It was around that time that I started my company, connected with other smart and experienced people, and became a 'consultant'. I didn't quit my job, just did other jobs when people needed help. It has been pretty good so far, working and learning and helping.
OK, back to the story. I was fairly young, but I had a lot of hands-on experience from this job and previous jobs. I did a lot of travelling and worked with more people than I could ever count. I tried to learn everything I could wherever I worked. The consultants decided to interview key people within the company, and I sat down for over an hour with them. They asked a whole bunch of questions, to which I answered what I thought was the way to go. They took notes, as expected. They finished their job and left a couple of weeks later.
When they issued their final report to the CEO, which was shared with the rest of the management team, it noticed that A LOT (most) of it was taken right from their interview with me. I felt a sense of pride because I "nailed it"... but then I realised that they were paid a lot of money to compile an operational template that I could do have developed myself, if asked. It was at that point that it "clicked".
Later, I must have come across a quote, or maybe I created it myself, 'if great ideas come from inside the company, you're called a "smartass", if they come from outside, you're called a "consultant"'. It was around that time that I started my company, connected with other smart and experienced people, and became a 'consultant'. I didn't quit my job, just did other jobs when people needed help. It has been pretty good so far, working and learning and helping.