Dann Sheridan: Adventures of a Free Agent

Sun, 14 Jul 2002 02:09:57 GMT

I had a very interesting discussion with my wife this afternoon. As I launch myself down the path of free agency, she is working for Accenture, LLP, the world's largest consulting firm that employs more than 60,000 people and is a spin off from Arthur Andersen. As I went through one of my usual tirades about the culture, mind set, general debauchery of a company like Accenture, and an employee's responsibility to themselves I actually saw some of what I was saying to her start to click in her brain. She wasn't offended by what I was saying, but she was actually pondering it. When I was done she added her two cents about people who don't need or want the excitement of being on their own and who enjoy the rat race and the illusion of security it provides. We decided there are two people kinds of people in this world when it comes to work: those who work to live and those who live to work. She works to live. I live to work. It is not like I am a workaholic, but I have to enjoy my work and it has to have meaning. She could care less if she enjoys the work or if it has meaning as long she feels she is getting compensated fairly.

Sat, 13 Jul 2002 17:36:01 GMT

I see a lot of places where it is really necessary to mentally untangle that ball of twine. I think a lot of it has to do with the work culture instilled by the management of a company or institution. I have seen similar in none business environments as well, which leads me to believe that it is a characteristic of human nature, or, at the very least, American culture.

Sat, 13 Jul 2002 17:20:33 GMT

I have some reservations about starting this project at AT&T. It feels a lot like an Accenture project, meaning that the start date has been uncertain until just this week even though the project has been sold for a month now, very little is known about the client by the team that will be on the ground, we have not talk to the client team that we will be interfacing with yet, and there seems to be a lot of jocking for political position by the guys managing the project. These are what I call "Big 5" games. For the most part, it is all bullshit. All of these games or characteristics of the start of this project simply reflect people's inability to communicate clearly and concisely and keep themselves organized. What is particularly frustrating is that they think it is OK to behave in this manner even when it effects other people. People need think about how to work smarter rather than harder. It is like untangling a mental ball of twine.

Wed, 10 Jul 2002 21:57:29 GMT

It all began back in February 2002, when I left Accenture, LLP, the world's largest consulting company. I had been with them a little under a year and suddenly found myself thrust into the realm of being a Free Agent. I began to look for a permanent job but there were none to be found. So I packed up my resume and started pounding the pavement looking for contract work. I did some work for UserLand Software, which eventually landed me my first contract with "Bank Street". During the course of that work, I continued to marketing myself. I found a firm called "Darwin Partners" that markets themselves as a consulting firm, but they keep a virtual workbench of consultants rather than carrying the overhead of people like Accenture. They offered me a position on a contract in London for Sun Microsystems, but I had just signed the contract with "Bank Street". So I turned it down. That was four months ago. My first contract with "Bank Street" came to an end on June 30, but I am still doing work for them. I am currently pushing for them to keep me on retainer to do odd jobs through the remainder of the year. As this contract came to an end, I contacted Darwin Partners again. This time they had a position on a contract in Seattle for AT&T Wireless for me. I accepted and we are preparing to start the project on July 22nd. Getting ready to the project has been interesting to say the least, but that is a topic for another post. The work at "Bank Street" is worthy of a few posts itself. More later.