Bullshit detection and clue procurement
by Volker Weber
I made a small change to my openBC* profile:
Bullshit detection is so easy. Usually everybody knows the b/s already. But they are afraid to talk about it. Clue procurement is much harder. There are people who won't listen. On the other hand, those would also never ask for my services. :-)
On a related note: A new customer calls today. Smart move! Can I help them? Yes, I can. Do I need a contract? No.** Customer sends fax. I say thank you, but I really did not need it. It turns out he needs it. Not a problem.
Corollary: I never called for work. Work calls me. Don't ever feel intimidated to ask for my service. Yes, I can be hired. And you will never see any customer references here. There is one exception: Speaking at a public event.
*) Still not a member? Be my guest.
**) Trust me, you never want to be on my bad side.
[Hat tip to Karen Hobert for "clue procurement"]
Tags: bullshit+detection clue+procurement
Comments
I had the same experience this year. A customer came to me - all they wanted was a licence for some software I had written. So no work involved just a "You can use it".
I think it was 10 pages of forms so I could be an "authroised supplier", half way through it I did think can I be bothered to do this for the small fee.
Its paperwork gone mad! Who knows how they cope when they run out of milk and have to dash to the supermarket - I can just see the checkout assistants face when asked to fill the supplier form in!
Steve, very different here. It was a very relaxed thing. The customer needed it as buy-in from his superiors.
Hey, and "bullshit detection and clue procurement" is even a unique selling proposition (at least within the OpenBC community). But then, you're not calling for work, so why bother to have a USP? :-)
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