The 12-step program has become a fixture of American life. In fact, there are now so many recognized addictions — with 12-step programs to match — that you’d think we’d run out of new ones to treat.
Not so. In talking with tech movers and shakers through the years, we’ve identified a pernicious codependency that commonly
infects IT organizations: an addiction to consultants. That realization was the genesis of this week’s cover story, “12 Steps to Recovery: Escaping Services Addiction,” by Contributing Editor Dan Tynan.
Let me assure you that we’re not making light of addiction — a ruinous blight, capable of destroying lives, careers, and families.
Nor do we mean to demean 12-step programs. They work, as millions of recovering addicts can attest. Although an overdependence
on consultants may not be as devastating as a truly serious addiction, it is a real problem that can drain an IT department’s
budget in a hurry. A 12-step regime seems in order.
Not surprisingly, the big firms weren’t all that keen to talk with Tynan about this affliction. But the smaller consultants
he interviewed, most of whom had worked for major consultancies in previous lives, gave Tynan an earful. “These folks, who
I like to think of as recovering Big Four consultants, confirmed all the horror stories. There’s a reason so many consultants
show up and seemingly never leave. They get paid to find new problems — and there are always new problems,” Tynan explains.
“It’s not that consulting services, even the big ones, are bad,” Tynan adds. “It’s just that IT can easily grow too dependent
on them, until they become a crutch.” As many techies have learned, it’s hard to recognize when you no longer need a crutch,
especially when the crutch doesn’t want to leave.
At least now, IT has a 12-step program to aid recovery.
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