In the past as a consultant, I’ve tried to find what the actual in-house “do-ers” need to get done… then recommend that to management. For one notable example, I was on an extremely specialized stone working project. Now the stone mason on that project knows far more than I’ll ever know about working with stone, but the client needed reassuring from someone with a PhD. I spent 4-5 hours with the mason and his assistant, took a few measurements of the stone properties, and told the client what the stone mason needed to finish the job.

From the in-house side, I’ve always had trouble understanding that doing a good job sometimes (often) takes back seat to local politics. Having an expert “in-house” could be risky. Suppose the expert is in a competing group? There’s no upside at all to bring such a person in. Zero.

Good article. Great references.