2023-01-30 at

Emotional Labour, and the Consulting Business Model

My friend was complaining about their boss. It was a common pattern - the sort of imbecile that gives business to consultants, because they did not bother to hire staff who were capable of being their therapists. 

(1) Many bosses are not good with language yet, (2) they are unaware of their deficiency ... they cannot explain to staff what they want in detail. (x1) A staff will produce details, but the deficient boss will be frustrated because they did not get what they want - (x2) and if that boss is unaware of their deficiency, they will simply tell the staff they made a mistake. (x2.1) This kind of waffling criticism is of no use to any staff. 

But a consultant is someone who is willing to deal with such bosses -  they are merely therapists who exist to sooth the subconscious confusions of a client. The business model is the performance of therapy for business leaders.

It is a popular trope ... some people would rather do XYZ than go to therapy. Therapy by any other name is what it is. 

Addendum : this also illustrates nicely why you don't often see me working as a consultant. I'm primarily a technician, and people who think I'm a consultant actually don't understand what to use me for. LOL

Sometime my colleagues call me a consultant. That's probably inaccurate because I'm primarily a technician. But many parts of the world are lacking in management resources ... even a technician ends up taking over the management of people. First things first ... get good managers first, get good technicians later. This is why my technical hobbies will probably remain at home for a while. I have been doing this for about 14 years now.


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