Many of us have run across that shocked moment of confusion when we discover someone we thought was an employee was actually a "perma-consultant." You likely know the type: the man or woman who occupies a desk adorned with pictures of their family and other signs of a long-lasting presence, who perhaps plays on a company sporting team and seemingly has been at the company for years.

As someone who routinely extols the virtues of consulting, the perma-consultant is rarely in company's best interest. Generally this type of person is an indicator of a gap that needs to be filled or of a management "crutch." If this consultant brings some specialized skill to the table, often some esoteric technology or methodology, after paying their invoices for more than a year, one should ask themselves if they bring such a critical skill to the table, why are you not developing an in-house capability to meet that need?

If there is a concern that someone with that technical capability is difficult to find or too expensive to train, consider moving the consultant to a retainer or part-time basis, or find someone to work with and "shadow" the consultant to acquire the skill in question. More often than not, this type of perma-consultant has become such a fixture that no one questions the continuing need for their skill set or actual utilization.

In the case of a consultant acting as a crutch, hanging around the company corridors waiting to jump to the rescue of their sponsor, investigate what services they are providing and how they are being delivered. Is the consultant there to serve as "muscle" for their sponsor, stepping into discussions armed with charts, graphs and esoteric terminology to verbally bully the sponsor's plans into place? Is the sponsor lacking in a particular skill or perhaps confidence in their current role, and relying on the consultant to give them credibility?

Occasionally looking for and investigating lingering consultants can not only provide insight into deeper organizational problems, but also might save a buck or two along the way.

We have all heard the old admonitions to "stop and smell the roses," however most quintessential moments of "smelling the roses" are the work of hours, if not years of planning. From a look of affection in a child's eye, to a sublime evening with a loved one, one finds far more opportunities to "smell the roses" if you spend the time planning how to pass by a rose garden rather than hoping chance will find you there.

The business community is all aflutter about Twitter, the "microblogging" tool that has made it from tech triviality to front page news in a span of months rather than years. Pundits make bold claims that if your company and its executives are not on Twitter, you will miss out on the next big gold rush.

Perhaps recent events have dulled memories of the tech boom and bust cycle of a decade ago, but in dusting off old memories one might remember bold claims about how the technology du jour would reshape business and communications as we know them overnight, and anyone who did not hop upon the bandwagon would be left in the dust.

Obviously, compelling new technologies present a competitive advantage. Even the smallest companies have a web presence these days, and no one would take someone seriously that claimed the web is a passing fad. What is illustrative of the evolution of the web and a fine example of how technologies like Twitter will evolve, is that once technical magic wore off, everyone realized normal business rules still applied to the new technology. When the web was young, merely having a web presence was enough, and drab pages with obnoxious flashing graphics were en vogue since the technology was so cool. After the coolness wore off, tried and true principles of good design and layout, compelling copy and a consistent message took hold. While the medium was new, the fundamentals remained the same.

So shall Twitter and many of the other "Web 2.0" technologies run a similar course. If you currently do a poor job communicating internally and externally, throwing Twitter into the mix will merely allow you to poorly communicate at a more rapid and public pace. While some of these technologies will become as ubiquitous as the web, consider what fundamental rules apply to fully utilizing the technology, rather than getting blinded by the technical sound and fury.

I am perennially fascinated with border crossings. As an American, I grew up in a vast land with a superficially homogenized culture and nary a border from one ocean to another. The concept of something like the Berlin wall, with two different regimes and ideologies controlling different parts of a city fascinated me, and I was actually somewhat disappointed that my first travels in Europe occurred after the foundation of the EU, and there was nary an authoritarian figure demanding "Papers, please."

I loved getting my first few stamps in my passport, and to this day flip through the visa pages while bored in an immigration line, each stamp bringing back a memory of a business trip or holiday to some part of the globe.

Once again I am back in southern China, and this weekend planning a trip that will have me acquiring six stamps in my passport in a mere 48 hours, all without leaving one country. I will be visiting Macau, the former Portuguese colony now reconstituted as part of China, as well as spending an evening in Hong Kong. I find it fascinating that a single country has assumed control of two former colonies, keeping their culture and borders intact, yet also amalgamating them into the larger of China. While the cultural and political implications and nuances are beyond my current grasp, I certainly appreciate the Chinese willingness to add stamps to my passport!