Consulting from Hornby Island

My, oh, my: today is New Year’s Day, 2012. It has certainly been a long time since I’ve posted.

Why? A combination of poor excuses and a robust year of “management consulting.” This was certainly not expected; hoped for, yes, but not expected.

One of our basic concepts of living out beyond included the whole notion that with technology a person could stay connected in a way not previously possible. The future economic outlook for places such as Hornby Island could be rosier through such a piece of infrastructure. (As well, many corporations are moving in the direction of remotely-located employees for both cost saving objectives as well as higher engagement.)

Indeed, it turned out that way for me.

In April, as I recall, an old colleague from TELUS made contact with me. He had seen my profile in the social media portal, LinkedIn. It’s used extensively by professionals and consultants looking to expand their network of contacts. He had been doing some consulting work for a credit union in the lower mainland; they had asked if he could facilitate some strategy development for them. It wasn’t really his area of expertise but asked if it was something I could take on, since that was what I did at TELUS. Timing-wise it was perfect for me. He set up a call with the chief technology officer there, we chatted, and I got the gig.

It was an intense couple of months to fulfill the contract. Then, they asked if I could stay on for another five months to help execute the plan. Then, they asked if I could stay on for a couple of months to transition the knowledge to someone. So, here I am starting my last month. The contacts are great and I have picked up another contract with a consortium of large credit unions across the country. It should be another busy year on the work front, but hopefully a little less than last year.

What have I learned?

As expected, in the initial weeks and months, a fair amount of face-to-face time was required to meet and work with the various people on the project team and to let them get used to me. Progressively, more meetings could be held via audio conferences and they were very productive. So, I became a frequent BC Ferries traveller and acquired a corporate rate at a hotel. It wasn’t so much fun being away from Hornby that often – kind of defeats the purpose of being here – but was hopefully a worthwhile investment of time that may be rewarded with ongoing work that can truly be done remotely.

As time rolls by, I will need to continue to weigh the benefits (money) of consulting with the desire for a different kind of lifestyle here. However, it’s great to know that the option is there.

Once the new house is complete this year, and the finances have settled down, it will be time to take our walk to “decision rock” (an outcropping along the path towards Ford Cove that we take Kepler to during long walks) to map out the next steps in this journey.