The Pragmatic Programmers reposted this
Someone told Johanna Rothman that ChatGPT could already tell everyone what her 21 books say. Her reply "Yes, ChatGPT has absolutely stolen all of my books. So has Claude. That's fine. You can get the information. You won't get my value that adds to that information." Johanna has worked as an independent consultant since 1994, so she has watched a long parade of tools arrive and fade. Her line about her own worth: "My value is not in how fast I think. My value is in how I frame the problem and explain it to my client, and then how we converge on solutions together." The information in her books is everywhere now. What is not everywhere is the ability to decide which idea fits this client, in this context, with these constraints, and the skill to bring the client with you while you work it out. She makes another distinction I keep thinking about: principles last because they come from how humans actually work, while the brand new thing is usually a tactic that will soon be replaced. Here is what I would add. The reason that such discernment is scarce is that it takes years of real problems to build, and younger professionals are getting fewer of those problems to learn on. That makes what experienced consultants already carry more valuable over time. Johanna Rothman is the author of Successful Independent Consulting. Our full conversation is on the Wisepreneurs Podcast: Johanna Rothman Independent Consulting: Principles That Outlast Every Trend https://lnkd.in/ghURjY8p