I’ve never been to Africa, but I imagine it’s a rare sight to see crocodiles running around on land looking for food. Those sneaky bastards have a better set up – they just sit in the water and lurk until a baby gazelle comes to get a drink.
For the record, I don’t really relate to crocodiles and typically root for the escape (except in the case of monkeys.) But there’s a lesson in there that a surprising number of companies never seem to ever learn: don’t leave your swamp.
Now that I’ve effectively made what we do sound both slimy and cold-blooded, I should probably bring it around…
The quickest way to ruin your reputation as a monster in your field is to venture outside of it. As tempting as it may be to give chase to projects outside of your core competencies, sticking to what you know is precisely what keeps companies (/ freelancers / consultants / etc.) in business.
More on this topic coming soon. In the meantime, if you find yourself tempted to venture outside of what you know, feel free to borrow my mental image of the dry land crocodile chase. The grassland gazelle is best left for the big cats.