One of the things I hate the most about doing business, or otherwise being employed in New Zealand is the reverence granted to big companies purely because they're big. Now, granted, it's probably the same everywhere.

Case in point: Contact energy have employed big-ass consulting firm Beca to design a 184 turbine wind farm, a billion dollar gig (the build, not the consulting .... thankfully). Beca put one Chris James in charge of the project, a man whose many talents do not include civil engineering. Or a civil engineering qualification. And I quote:

Perhaps the most telling question of the day came from Mr Lumsden. "Do turbines require a power supply to operate?"
"I am not sure," Mr James replied.

So, next time your big name consulting firm screws something up, don't say you weren't warned. Regardless of who they work for, there really is no replacement for talented and experienced people.