I get parachuted into companies as an interim “technology problem solver” with a variety of different titles, whatever suits the business and task at hand. Spoiler alert: technology is rarely the problem.
I always set the expectation that the first three months or so will be passive - lots of clients want results right now, since by the time they call me things have escalated, projects are out of time, budget, and some execs somewhere are out of patience - those first three months or so I spend time listening to everyone, understanding how they got to that point, understanding how the business works, understanding the project(s) and the reason for it, etc. Once we have that map we can work towards finding a way forward. This is usually something that has to come from the team and cannot be dictated by an “outsider”, and my role here is mostly to guide and mentor. We then identify any impediments and work to remove those. All of this is about process and approach, we are not really talking about technology.
“A deeply opinionated SME” is still an SME, asshole or not, and their role can possibly be re-framed to accommodate their strengths and weaknesses.
Of course, some (many) organisations are directly or indirectly institutionally toxic, and they demand immediate technology rip and replace approaches and firings to go along with that (“who was to blame for this mess?!?” Is often the ask in these places) - I don’t engage with those organisations as a rule.
I get parachuted into companies as an interim “technology problem solver” with a variety of different titles, whatever suits the business and task at hand. Spoiler alert: technology is rarely the problem.
I always set the expectation that the first three months or so will be passive - lots of clients want results right now, since by the time they call me things have escalated, projects are out of time, budget, and some execs somewhere are out of patience - those first three months or so I spend time listening to everyone, understanding how they got to that point, understanding how the business works, understanding the project(s) and the reason for it, etc. Once we have that map we can work towards finding a way forward. This is usually something that has to come from the team and cannot be dictated by an “outsider”, and my role here is mostly to guide and mentor. We then identify any impediments and work to remove those. All of this is about process and approach, we are not really talking about technology.
“A deeply opinionated SME” is still an SME, asshole or not, and their role can possibly be re-framed to accommodate their strengths and weaknesses.
Of course, some (many) organisations are directly or indirectly institutionally toxic, and they demand immediate technology rip and replace approaches and firings to go along with that (“who was to blame for this mess?!?” Is often the ask in these places) - I don’t engage with those organisations as a rule.