Is there a Cockroach at the Table?

Who would be better qualified than a cockroach to hire an exterminator? Nobody has the perspective. Nobody would know better that there’s an infestation. Yet, when was the last time you talked to your exterminator friend and he told you about how much new business he’s getting
from cockroaches?

So how the heck does that relate to what you’re doing? Well, what I find when you’re selling your content, when you’re selling your solutions at the organizational or enterprise level that you actually have a cockroach at the table.

There’s something wrong that your content can fix. There’s something lacking in the organization that your work can make better. However, somebody at the table’s job was to actually do that.
And by bringing someone in with the expertise, with the insight, with the outside domain experience, it might make them look bad. It might potentially exterminate their career.

So you need to be thinking about when you’re having conversations with your clients or potential clients, is there a cockroach at the table? Is there someone at the table who is at risk by bringing you on board when it seems perfectly logical to bring you in to fix what is so obvious to you?

So again, cockroaches don’t call an exterminator. And people that are at risk don’t hire people that will increase their risk.