Outsource thyself

What happens when you develop new business competences through your side interests, competences that are not related to your employer’s range of services? Well, you either leave the company, or waste those competences… or convice your boss to widen that range of services a bit.

In other words, if you happen to need a consultant on communities of practice and knowledge management, now you can get yours truly for the duration. Even if you’re a competitor (after all, my employer does not do KM or CoPs), you can now outsource me. There’s already a short but consistent list of prospects, which is gratifying.

Ain’t it a curious thought. I get to do more of the things that interest me without the risks of setting up an independent shop (bad time for that). My employer sells more value-added services. Everyone’s happy, apparently.

Of course, if you think long-term, you’d save a bundle hiring ;-).