Hello from my extended-stay hotel room, where I am just about to start the next leg of my first foray into the world of consulting. I'm trying hard to not use military jargon (what's a synonym for foray?!) but it's turning out to be quite irresistible. Indeed, I had always looked on consultants as the "mercenaries of the professional world", dropping into to crisis situations, fighting through it, and pulling out once peace is restored. Now that I have had a taste, there is one very significant misconception about consulting I was carrying that has really surprised me: the Human Condition. I figured that consulting work would be objective and detached, since one is on a project for a "good time, not a long time". I couldn't have been more wrong! The bonding with the local team began immediately, with the force of a tidal wave. Before I realized it, this was "my team". After just a few days on the job, I knew I was going to miss them. What was going on here? I tried to rationalize it by this being my first physical interaction with people in several months (not knocking all the virtual work, but in person is so much better - you'll see) but now I just think it's what humans do. It was my first pleasant surprise about consulting.

I still consider this to be a short term activity until the next, great, permanent opportunity comes along, but I'm a better person for having experienced it.