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by tyingq 3219 days ago
I have met plenty of very skilled Thoughtworkers. However the consulting model doesn't reward doing things right. It rewards things like selling the "A team", then swapping them out as you sell the next big client. And shortcuts that enable payment milestones, etc. They have zero incentive for what code does, how maintainable it is, etc, after they leave.

TW can deliver well, but you have to manage them closely.
2 comments
gaius 3218 days ago
TW can deliver well, but you have to manage them closely.

So closely you might as well just have hired a bunch of contractors and run the project yourself for a fraction of the price?

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tyingq 3218 days ago
Not really. The TW devs are mostly guaranteed to be competent without interviews. They also already know how to work together, have a shared idea of tools, methodology, lingo, etc. The "manage closely" part is around watching for people swapouts, architecture shortcuts, etc. That's managing their managers/architects vs the entire team.
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Firegarden 3219 days ago
From my experience in the last year-and-a-half I would say that the Consulting model is changing to one where the developer team is an outsourced arm from the business yet it's an invaluable part of the business. For example there's a company called clear measure who I believe are looking at driving the bottom line and creating a long-term relationship where growth in the client results in higher profits for the Consulting company through either raising their rates or some other agreement. I know personally as an independent contractor my Approach is to look at how I can affect driving business growth and not so much understanding what the client is asking for as a programming task
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toyg 3219 days ago
> looking at driving the bottom line and creating a long-term relationship

That's always been the case for large-scale consultancy: land a gig and keep it forever, or as long as it will last. It's the small ones who have an incentive to leave quickly, because they don't have the manpower to keep shackled to a single assignment for too long; but the big ones are body-shops, they have a virtually-infinite supply of fresh graduates to place - they will pull all the stops to keep the gig running as long possible.

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