The Territory and the Hierarchy: How to Navigate the Landscape

The Art of Consulting podcast · Host: Andy Fry · Runtime: about 23 minutes

Episode Summary

Andy Fry takes two ideas from Steven Pressfield's The War of Art, the hierarchy and the territory, and applies them to building a consulting career. The hierarchy is the ranked structure you work inside: family, school, employer, firm, client. The territory is the area of expertise you own outright. Andy argues that few professionals can succeed on just one. The best consultants build real expertise and also learn to work well within the hierarchies around them.

Short Description 

What's the difference between climbing the ladder and owning your craft? Andy Fry looks at Steven Pressfield's ideas of the hierarchy and the territory, why you need both to build a lasting career, and how to tell which one you need to work on. Examples include a three-legged coyote, a veteran oil-change tech, and a brilliant but difficult developer.

Chapters

  • 00:00 – Welcome to The Art of Consulting

  • 00:27 – Steven Pressfield's The War of Art and where these ideas come from

  • 01:30 – What a hierarchy is: family, high school, and the workplace

  • 03:57 – What a territory is: owning an area you're truly good at

  • 04:45 – The three-legged coyote who owned the neighborhood

  • 05:22 – Andy's territory: Oracle Projects / Oracle PPM

  • 06:13 – Working in strict hierarchies: Big Four firms and the military

  • 07:38 – The risk of relying only on the hierarchy

  • 08:05 – The veteran oil-change tech: a real-world territory

  • 09:41 – Most of us operate in both: the lone coyote vs. the pack

  • 11:23 – "I still have a lot of bosses": hierarchy for independent consultants

  • 12:11 – The two extremes: the yes-man and the brilliant loner

  • 14:15 – Introverts, extroverts, and which side you lean toward

  • 15:17 – Why you shouldn't "just focus on what you're good at"

  • 17:04 – Beyond IT: construction, military veterans, and the trades

  • 18:52 – Wrap-up: building both skills is a lifelong job

Key Takeaways

  1. The hierarchy is everywhere. From the family you're born into to school to your employer, there's always a structure with someone at the top and someone at the bottom. Know where you stand in it.

  2. The territory is something you own. It's a field where you're the go-to person, and people seek you out because you can solve their problem.

  3. Relying only on the hierarchy is fragile. Without real expertise, your advancement depends completely on politics and on staying on the right side of the people above you.

  4. Relying only on the territory is limiting. Brilliant specialists who can't work with people end up brought in only for narrow problems, and their careers stall.

  5. Fix your weaker side instead of ignoring it. For technical experts, the biggest risk is how they work with people. For people-oriented professionals, it's a lack of a skill they can stand on.

  6. Independence doesn't remove the hierarchy. Independent consultants still answer to consulting firms, clients, and family, and each has its own culture to learn.

  7. This goes beyond IT. The same ideas apply to estimators, tradespeople, military veterans, and anyone who has found a niche.

Notable Quotes

  • "The territory is the ability to own something."

  • "Now you're dependent only on the hierarchy for your advancement."

  • "I'm an independent consultant… a lot of people say, oh, it must be great working for yourself. Well, I still have a lot of bosses."

  • "They may not be able to own both, but you can definitely strongly function in both."

  • "We're not typically three-legged coyotes."

  • "It's a lifelong development. I don't think we really ever stop developing that."

Resources Mentioned

  • The War of Art by Steven Pressfield (Andy recommends the audiobook, which the author narrates)

  • The Art of War by Sun Tzu (the title Pressfield's book plays on)

  • Oracle Projects / Oracle Fusion PPM (Andy's area of expertise)

  • Earlier Art of Consulting episodes on generalists vs. specialists

Reflection Questions for Listeners

  • What's your territory, the area where people come to you first?

  • Do you lean more toward the hierarchy or the territory? Which side needs more work?

  • Who are your "bosses" right now (employer, clients, partners, family), and how well do you understand each one's culture?

Call to Action

If this episode helped you, share it with a colleague who's trying to figure out their next career move, and subscribe to The Art of Consulting so you don't miss future episodes.

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