kafka & associates, inc.

current dealings at work involve an outside technical service provider, id est: consultant, and here's the thing about consultants - it behooves them to do just enough to keep you hooked. they are masters of diversion and... and... what's that word for when you say you are going to do something but then you sort of avoid it but you act like you are doing it? starts with a "d"? sheesh. ditch? duck? defer? digress? delude? diddle? doodle? drag one's feet?

ANYWAY. they are masters of taking the smallest thing and stretching it out. when you press them for dates and attempt to hold them to milestone deadlines, they wiggle out of it. these guys keep saying they need more time to analyze the data, and sure enough, they come up with the questions. jeezumpete, the questions! you'd think they had never seen a document or piece of data - like they think cut & paste involves scissors & glue. c'mon guys!

oh, and don't suggest that they do anything differently than they had planned, because the circuitous route they have chosen is quite circumspect. the frustration is immense because it's not possible to pin them to any false move, any overstepping of the bounds. they aren't meeting the dates, and they manage to turn it around and make it OUR fault! gaaa!

this is seriously a case where if they would expend this brainpower on doing the project, they would have been done by now. of course, they are racking up the change orders, so you have to hand it to them - they know how to work-it-work-it-work-it like a polaroid picture. or, something. the point here is that the feeling that they are playing us is overwhelming. twice i have made suggestions that would have saved them significant hours, and one they turned into a change order and required us to pay for it, and the other they turned into an excuse for lateness. things that make you go - huh?? «here's a way you can save time & money.» «hey, thanks. that will cost you more money and take us more time.» WHAT?!THE?!

at this point, the goal of getting the project done well, done right, done in a quality manner -- is being dwarfed by the dual goals of extracting my career reputation intact & getting the freaking project overanddonewith!!