The real value of a consultant

The most valuable asset a consultant brings is an outsider’s perspective.

That aside, the most valuable asset a consultant brings is a collection of good questions and the willingness to ask them.

Somewhere down the list of valuable assets, there’s the consultant’s specific expertise that can be brought to bear on a variety of topics. This isn’t optional by any means—without subject matter expertise, a consulting engagement is almost bound to fail. It’s what informs the outsider’s perspective with contrasting experiences, and guides the productive dialogue between consultant and client. But the most valuable outputs of a consulting engagement are unlikely to be checked into your source control repository.

If you’ve got a consultant that’s heads-down writing code all the time, you have a contractor. This may well be exactly what you need, and can really increase your velocity! But it’s not going to change the way you look at your business, or the way your team works together. Don’t reinforce your blind spots by convincing yourself they’ve been addressed.