It’s not my job!

We have all heard it, may be even said it. It can be an annoyance to hear it but comforting when saying it. Consultants unfortunately have little luxury when it comes to saying, “It’s not my job”.

In every consulting assignment there is a point in time when the client will request for some thing outside the scope of the immediate project. A good engagement management manager can do certain things to control scope, but the fine words of “Goodwill” often take precedence over “By the book”. Fortunately for the internal employees, they have the, “It’s not my job!”

Enough of the, who can and who can’t… the important question is why is it not someone’s job? Could it be stature of the job, may be priorities, may be capacity or may be capability? There are a million theories one can conjure up. It sometimes feels like I am playing 20 questions with myself.

Every case of, “It’s not my job!” is typically followed by check with “Mr. X”. I have always interpreted the later to mean, “I am capable but I do not desire to do this for you. Sorry!”, it could only mean “hey mister there is no reward for doing this work and infact this may become by chore if I do it this one time”.

As far as this Blog goes, it’s not my job… it’s my passion. But that may just be crazy talk…