There are only two times when you should start work.
One – when you have customer demand. Two – when you’re curious.
Modern manufacturers start building a car only once a customer places an order.
We need the same discipline in consultancy.
It’s very easy to burn time working for free doing studies or pilots.
But we shouldn’t confuse delivery work with exploration.
I also spend a lot of time with customers and prospects – talking through their situations to understand what needs doing.
It looks like unpaid work. It isn’t. It’s an investment.
Time spent exploring a situation with a client shows us what needs to be done.
And that sometimes leads to paid delivery work.
Work should be pulled by demand, or by curiosity. Nothing else.
Handcrafted insight 