20. For the love of Go, Don’t be a “Bob!” with John Arundel

March 24, 2021

This week, our heroes talk with former consultant and author of "For the Love of Go," John Arundel. We discuss the importance of British accents while consulting and discover how accurate Office Space is.

Consulting is not an easy gig. Executives hire you, with high expectations, to swoop in and save the day. Meanwhile, the people doing the actual work usually think you’re full of it. To say you face impossible odds is an understatement.

This week, Derek and Jeremy talk with former consultant and author of the “For the Love of Go” Series, John Arundel about his experiences with consulting. He shares some great tips on how to win the “asymmetrical war” that is consulting for large companies.

They also explore John’s love of Go and his struggles to master the language. He explains how he pushed past “the peak” stress of learning something new and how he now finds joy in sharing what he learned about Go in his series “Code Club.

Topics:
• 01:40 – British accents make you sound smart
• 02:15 – The highest level of consulting is helping by not helping
• 04:16 – Clients are like children. We hope they will eventually stop needing us
• 06:20 – It’s always a people problem
• 09:30 – Give the team hope
• 11:00 – Consultancy is like fighting an asymmetric war
• 13:36 – The hardest part of consulting is changing the culture
• 16:15 – If you can’t change your company change your company
• 16:55 – Don’t be one of “The Bobs”
• 20:10 – good consultants send the boss out of the room and listen.
• 21:00 – For the Love of Go
• 22:30 – Go is a small language
• 23:22 – Be careful about your reflexive aesthetic reaction to a language
• 25:50 – We need to get through our MaxQ moment
• 27:30 – Sometimes all we need is someone to tell us we can do it

Helpful Links:
• John Arundel
• For the Love of Go
• Code Club
• Blakes7
• Secrets of Consulting by Gerald Weinberg
• Antoine de Saint-Exupery Quote
• Peter’s Interview with “The Bobs”

—–

Thanks for listening! We hope you enjoyed today’s episode. If you liked what you heard, be sure to like and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts! If you enjoyed today’s episode, please leave a comment and a five-star review. It helps us out a ton.

If you haven’t already, sign up for our email list. We won’t spam you. Pinky swear.

• Check out our website
• Follow us on twitter
• Find us on Facebook
• Subscribe on Google Podcasts
• Subscribe on Apple Podcasts
• Subscribe on Spotify
• Subscribe on Stitcher