There are technology changes of great magnitude marching towards us. The Internet, computers and fibre optic cable have achieved an interconnectivity that is ushering in a new era of change.

Big data, the Internet of Things, robotics and other advances will once again alter our lives over the next decade, probably for the better generally but with immense change along the way.

And this will fundamentally affect  the way we operate as professionals. A couple of weeks ago I attended the launch of Richard Susskind's new book "The Future of the Professions" co-authored with his son Daniel which addresses the dilemma this will propose for professionals. They state that 

" Our main claim is that we are on the brink of a period of fundamental and irreversible change in the way that the expertise of these specialists is made available in society."

I commend this book because it addresses the questions we all must face and address over the next few years whether we be lawyers, accountants, architects, dentists or doctors.

We are all living in the shadow of technology change.

One of the challenges and opportunities for many professionals is being asked to advise on a subject that is relevant to the transaction they are working on but outside of their core competency.

For example, if as a lawyer having provided correct technical advice the client asks for a view from a business perspective on the advisability of the deal.

Or when a financial adviser providing creative spreadsheets for a financial schedule is asked for commercial advice on whether to proceed with the contract or not.

I suggest that professionals of all disciplines in the business world should also be able to act as a trusted business adviser and provide generic as well as specific advice in these situations.

But in doing so it is important to make it clear that such advice is provided as general advice outside of the specialised advice the specialist has been engaged to provide. In other words compartmentalise the advice. And also make it clear that whatever the nature and context of the advice the ultimate decision maker is the business manager and not the adviser or consultant.

I learnt a new expression this week - pain points. These are problems real or perceived. They can surface in a meeting about some issue or other when a participant takes the opportunity to raise their own pet concerns of the moment.

Instead of contributing constructively to the discussion these individuals can side track the meeting towards some worry they may have that is peripheral to the subject under discussion but is really annoying them.

And typically this is not being done with the aim of solving that individual's particular bug bear either. It is just an opportunity provided by the discussion to raise a gripe.

However on the positive side  identifying and resolving say a client's pain points can also be a chance to recognise an issue and create a solution to the problem.

So listen out for pain points and stop them being a distraction whilst being aware of the opportunity they may present.

I spent most of today, Saturday, replacing a six foot garden fence. It's a hard and quite taxing physical task. Two of my sons helped me but it was still quite demanding - removing the old fence and various vegetation like ivy that had grown over the fence. Then digging holes, cementing in fencing posts and nailing the fence panels to the posts.

As I concentrated on this physical task which still has some skill involved - the posts have to be straight and the fencing parallel - it struck me what a contrast it was to my working week sitting at a desk driving a laptop or attending meetings and giving legal advice or negotiating contracts.

And I decided despite the hard work that this is really a good thing. The contrast makes you forget your work issues - you have to concentrate on not hitting your thumb with a hammer of having the old fence fall on you (it only happened once and I was unhurt!). The physical exercise is good too. We were simply not designed to sit at computers all day.

I am not sure I would want to make a career of fencing, but as an occasional and completely different activity doing something like this is rewarding - especially at the end of the day when you stand back and admire your work and the fence is still standing and pretty much straight. I am however now going to really enjoy a glass of wine.

In any professional career we can all expect to have to deal with difficult clients, for example, ones who are unduly demanding and ring you up at 3am in the morning, and then argue about your bill. Sometimes it can be colleagues or bosses.

The best way in my opinion to deal with this situation is to stay very focused and professional. Do the job the best way possible in the circumstances and keep a little distance.

And don't take it too personally. Often you will find that this is not about you, it is just how that client or contact works with everyone. If you are an independent professional then at the end of the transaction decide whether you want to work what one lawyer described to me as "the client form hell" again.