by Consultant's Mind | Graphics
What’s the so what? You will hear this phrase used on projects a fair amount. It is not the best usage or even politely worded, but it’s critical: Your presentations need to have a point Since consultants are paid for insights, recommendations and...
by Consultant's Mind | Learning
DMAIC Ask any consultant, and I mean ANY consultant (strategy, process, IT) and they will know what DMAIC stands for. It is an abbreviation for Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, Control. It is a tool often used in process improvement projects. I am not a fan of...
by Consultant's Mind | Fun
I am an iPad addict. Crazy convenient, and new apps everyday. Always inspired by the ingenuity of app developers. Useful, fun, powerful. Here is how I find awesome apps AppAdvice.com Excellent reviews of app by category. It is well-curated and gives you a real...
by Consultant's Mind | Learning
In 2002, I read a book that compared business with poker. It had a very catchy title: MBA Poker: Winning in Business No Matter What Cards You’re Dealt, with a simple premise that business people could learn a lot from poker. (Affiliate link) poker = Business At...
by Consultant's Mind | Consulting
Good speakers pause After they finish one thought, they don’t rush to the next sentence. They don’t rattle off useless verbal fillers (uh, ah, um, well, so, right, hmm). Instead, they embrace that millisecond of silence, harness the awkwardness, and force...
by Consultant's Mind | Fun
All television is not created equal. Some of it is interesting, some of it is tepid and inane. The good news is that some TV is like eating vitamins or high fiber. I am talking about documentaries and the stations that show high-quality, narrated non-fiction such as...
by Consultant's Mind | Fun
$1M for a recommendation they did not use In 2006, Netflix offered a $1 million prize to anyone who could improve the algorithms used to recommend movies to customers. Essentially, the solution had to beat the in-house software by 10%. It was a close battle among more...
by Consultant's Mind | Consulting
Management consultants are always on the prowl for good data. After all, it is the stuff that client recommendations are made of. To a cynic, it might seem obvious. The title of this post would be a kin to: “Why chefs love ingredients” or “Why district attorneys like...
by Consultant's Mind | Graphics
Death by PowerPoint Presentations can be boring. We have all sat in large conference rooms held captive by a speaker wielding a poorly thought-out PowerPoint. To misquote a bumper sticker, “PowerPoints don’t kill, people do.” Don’t put lipstick on a pig Some people...
by Consultant's Mind | Learning
Management consultants love analytical tools and www.FinViz.com is amazing. Take a look. It’s intuitive, fun, and gives you a macro-view of the US-based financial markets. I imagine this set-up would have cost $20,000+, twenty years ago, and now, it’s...
by Consultant's Mind | Learning
I read a NY Times story (2012) about a a Boston University professor who asks for student feedback every class. Most professors might be satisfied with a student evaluation once a semester, but not this professor. Dr. Muhammad Zaman gets feedback daily from his...
