Sitting and reading while you count the dollars someone else is burning through can be rather therapeutic.
You could have said that before in other situations. Regardless of what your work situation is, you can always do this. I haven't but in retrospect realize I could have in more situations than I want to acknowledge. The downside to that is you end up having to live with someone else's decisions for far longer than they spent making the decision, which may often stink. But as an independent consultant you still have to do the same thing. The only primary difference I see is that you usually can see an end in sight when you won't have to deal with decision X, whether it's jumping to another client for the afternoon work, or getting a different contract 6 months from now.
Disengage, then say "let me know by XX:YY when you make a decision" and find something else to work on. Truly liberating.
So I sort of suffer from the same symptoms as the OP. Consulting has proven to be a good choice for me, as I do get some variety and dont get as bored as I did when I was a FTE somewhere...
I think having a niche specialized skill certainly helps, but you could probably find work at a "big 4" firm without it. Being either technical or functional AND personable helps. I am pretty easy going so I can get along with most, and have a pretty positive attitude most of the time. That said Im not overly extroverted, so that isnt a requirement. If you want to do it, work towards making it happen. Linked in(for better or worse) can be a good resource here. Join a professional group there, go to hh events, make connections. I dont think it is a tough field to break into.
Read this article and you'll thank me. http://www.hcamag.com/hr-news/people-leave-managers-not-comp...
The only way to really solve those problems and put yourself in a qualitatively different situation, is found your own startup where you'll truly be your own boss, or at least only have to answer to investors who care more about the big picture.
Do you need to become a partner for an ERP software company? How successful will you be calling yourself a 'consultant'.
They may have also been approached by consulting companies that have more work to do than they can handle, and are looking for independent consultants to help with the load. The rates on those projects are usually a little less than your normal rate, but quite good for getting into the groove of things early on.
You can also reach out to local consulting companies yourself and make yourself available to them.
If you have the choice between a short-term client that wants you 40 hours a week and a long-term client that wants you 10 hours a week, take the long-term client. They'll reduce the risk of being in business for yourself, and you can take on other part-time contracts in addition. When you've got the benefit of a long term engagement, you can experiment with your pricing more with the remaining time. I end up giving a pretty significant discount to the companies I'm engaged with over the long term, as my rates on new projects are constantly going up.
Note that this is for medium-to-long-term contract jobs typically lasting 6-12 months.
Starting up a business is pretty simple from a paper work standpoint and doesn't have excessive overhead costs or paperwork requirements if you aren't doing any work through said company. Now you have a company ready to accept checks or payment when the work arrives.
If you've got a few years of development experience in companies like that, I recommend you "find a boss [you] respect" by becoming your own boss. Start with consulting. These engagements are different than employment because often times they're not full-time and you can stagger a couple of contracts together at the same time. This is to your advantage because you now have two "bosses" (clients) instead of one. I know it sounds counterintuitive that more bosses are better, but if things aren't going as you'd like on one contract, you can move on to another contract as it becomes available without the sort of risk you incur when you're switching full-time employment at one company to another.
From there, you can further increase your independence by building a product that has many smaller customers. Again, many "bosses", but you need each one individually much less, so you're actually more in control of your circumstances.
If it doesn't work out, you can be reasonably confident you can just fall back into regular full-time employment. In this scenario, your definition of failure is most people's definition of success.