“Idea fight club”

I coined this idea in 2015, this was the scenario:

The consulting team had an ambiguous client problem (no surprise there) and the team had not set on an approach yet. Differing ideas, pros vs. cons. It was all on the table in a smart consulting environment where we a) agreed on the goal b) we trusted each other enough to not get easily offended c) we had enough time to listen and reflect d) there was a decision-maker (me) e) it was fun to think about the problem. 

Perhaps an homage to the movie, but more of a simple admission that consultants should be confident in their ideas – backed up by data, research, and thinking – and be willing to allow their ideas to stand the testing of their peers, managers and clients. Yes, strong opinions, loosely held.

Meaningful decisions are difficult

There are hundreds of small decisions everyday. For those, just decide.  No drama, just heuristics. 

More difficult and meaningful decisions requires more diverse input, reflection, and constructive tension. Why?  Because the easy problems have been solved. The complex problems have nuanced trade-offs and influence more people than yourself. Basically, executives earn their money because decisions are tough. 

leaders are intellectually humble

Leaders are learners. They surround themselves with smart, trusting people different than themselves. They understand:

• We cannot be experts in everything (and don’t want to be)
• We all have biases and blind spots; we are not as “objective” as we’d like to be
• We suffer sycophants’ behavior all the time  “yes, boss your idea is great, as always”
• We are too far-removed from the customer, competition, the sale
• We understand that there are no simple answers to complex problems

Everything sounds smart in your head

No surprise, fledgling ideas sound smart in the warm comfort of our own heads. Those same novel ideas sound less great when they hit the cold, wet reality of the market, client’s (un)willingness-to-pay, competitor’s move, cash flow limitations, risk tolerance, or even our silly lack of confidence. Basically, ideas needs to be vetted.

Wonderful story of how the Bain & Company founders first met at BCG here. BCG ran an experiment where they divided the company into 3 different teams (blue, red, green) and had them compete with each other. It worked (a little too) well. The blue team did the best. This team was led by Bill Bain and Patrick Graham, who would 3 years later leave BCG and form a new company, the eponymous Bain & Company.

Ideas get stronger the more they are tested

Consulting teams are smart and diverse. Having a trusted group of critical thinkers (even if their ideas are different than your own) is a powerful accelerant. Test your ideas in a safe environment. Beat up on the ideas a little bit, for the good of the client. Think of it like training for a young Spartan. Think of it as a strands of braided wire which gets twisted and turned, reinforced and stronger.

1.Get competent, do the hard work

It all starts with the quality of your own individual work.  Good ole’ Vince Lombardi quotes like: 

“To achieve success, whatever the job we have, we must pay a price.”

“Second place is meaningless. You can’t always be first, but you have to believe that you should have been – that you were never beaten – that time just ran out on you.”

“There is no substitute for work.”

There’s some odd satisfaction when you’ve spent the hours mulling through the data, then create a unique chart. It feels good to dig through the reading and sharpen your understanding of the case. It’s refreshing to become a mini-expert on a topic to the point that you can divide the story into buckets. Like Neo in the Matrix, you can see the patterns.

2. Structure your thinking

Consultants are paid to help executives with clear thinking and persuasive communications. Namely, can other people follow your logic? If it only makes sense to you, then you have a blog – not a consulting business. It’s not enough to do good work, then just pile it into a 80 page presentation. Don’t forget to edit, revise, and improve.

3. Be confident; advocate for your (Good) work

No one will be more confident in your work than yourself (and probably your mom). If you’ve done great work, stand up for it. Be proud. Clients are paying us for our work and our opinions. Persuade without misleading.

4. Get feedback from peers and friends

If you are sensitive to criticism, you are in the wrong business. In professional services, we get nearly daily feedback on our thoughts, behaviors, and intentions. Consulting is an apprenticeship; healthy, but brutal. 

Don’t be afraid to share initial ideas and WIP (work in progress) with those closest to you. It’s all built on trust. Chances are they are working on a parallel work-stream (same client), and can clarify some of your thoughts.  Friends are often encouraging; they will help you think of novel ways to get your point across. They can do the mindless proof-reading, format checking and things often overlooked.

5. Get feedback from your manager

This can be tricky. If you have a good working relationship, you know “how baked the cake needs to be” before sharing it with your manager. Some chiefs are happy to see very early prototypes and course-correct with you. Others would give you a bad review for sharing “rubbish” with them and wasting their time. Know your boss.

Tip: Either way, be flexible enough to share progress reports by email, verbally in the rental car, or with simple 1 pagers that give status updates. Don’t get so far down the analysis, that you are building something useless.

6. Revise selectively

Yes, get diverse, pointed feedback. Yes, stay open-minded. No, don’t take everyone’s advice. This is your work and you have ownership of this. It’s your responsibility to make sure the soup is tasty and doesn’t taste like there were “too many cooks in the kitchen.” Don’t let people randomly throw stuff in your soup. You are a consultant, not an order-taker.

If you left the final presentation on someone’s desk, would they understand the logic, and be convinced on its own merits? If so, wonderful – have a glass of wine on me, and enjoy your Friday afternoon. If not, then you’ve got some work to do this weekend. Clients are paying us to worry about their problems. They are paying us for our point-of-view. 

Idea fight club with each other, and with the client

Flashback to 2015. We had the final presentation with the client. In blackjack terms, it was a 20 on the dealer 5. It went well. Was proud of my team, the client was engaged, and people were happy. The project lasted 10 weeks, and we spent the last 3 weeks in idea fight club. Every time there was a change (there more than 100), the deliverable got better. It made more sense and was stronger. The presentation actually had scar tissue.

Unlike the movie, it is okay to talk about the idea fight club. The more you use it and talk about it, the better.