Ethan Roberts

"Sometimes, only sometimes,
I question everything.
And I'm the first to admit,
If you catch me in a mood like this,
I can be tiring,
Even embarrassing."
- Depeche Mode

As a consultant I have 3 favorite words: Always, Never, and Sometimes. 

Let me explain... <more>

In my first two years of consulting, I translated the words this way:
The client says, "Always"-  I heard "Always."
The client says, "Never"- I heard "Never."
The client says, "Sometimes"- I heard "Oh, this is interesting."

From years 3 to 5, it went more like this:
Always: Maybe
Never: Until next week, if not sooner
Sometimes: Kill me now

Now that I'm over a decade in, this is what I hear:
Always: -Ish
Never: Until next week, if not sooner
Sometimes: Oh, this is why I'm here

We, as consultants, live in the world of, "sometimes." It could be, "sometimes our client does this and we need to be ready for it;" or, "sometimes this happens, but it's rare;" and what you'll find over time is that, "sometimes" should really be intrepreted as, "take good notes."

"Always" and "never" are the cases that are easy to program and plan for, business as usual. Our job is to help the client realize this, and pull all those, "sometimes" cases out of their minds.

Here's an example: In high school, I worked in a grocery store as a cashier. At least twice a day an even, "$X.00" balance due came up on the screen... as in, "$4.00," and the customer would say, "Wow, that doesn't happen often." And I'd  reply, "Sometimes." At least twice a day.

When you start talking about these cases, you'll find they happen a lot more often than your client thinks they do. Granted, there will be some extraordinary one-offs that just can't be accounted for, but with very little digging you will find out that there are more instances of whatever case they are describing than they realize. And that's why you're there.

"Sometimes," (quoting Depeche Mode), "can be tiring, even embarrassing." But it's worth it to track down the answers, for both yourself and the client.

Note 1: I thought about making this a, "300" style epic where we're the Spartans and, "This is where WE FIGHT! This is where SOMETIMES DIES!" but then realized a metaphor about consultants as brilliant fighters who are overwhelmed and die to the last man (person, in this case) would not be terribly motivational.

Note 2: "Sometimes" is real, kids. It lives under your bed and is waiting for you. It's not in the use cases, the budget, or the system requirements. Call it, "scope creep" if you want, but if you aren't looking for it, it WILL find you. Be afraid. Be very afraid.

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