July 4. More G.E.M. and less F.E.A.R.

July the 4th is Independence Day in the United States. It’s exactly the right time to reflect on what it means to be American, and how America fits in the world. Yes, its more than fireworks, BBQ, and swimming pools. Exactly six years ago, I blogged saying July...

Compare and Contrast: Texas, California

Consultants excel at making sense of disparate, messy, and sometimes conflicting data. This is not a robotic exercise in copy/paste into an excel – no – you’ve got to think through the problem. What’s relevant? What’s valid? Can you find...

Naval Ravikant: How to be Wealthy

Naval Ravikant is an angel investor, creator of AngelList, billionaire, and philosopher. After recently listening to a few interviews, my wife and I have been mesmerized.  1) What he says makes massive sense. “Yeah, totally.” 2) He’s got a strong...

Deloitte: Pivoting to Digital Maturity

Deloitte recently published Pivoting to Digital Maturity: 7 Capabilities Central to Digital Transformation here. They surveyed 1,200 executives (74% C-level executives, remainders VPs) and identified 7 PIVOTS that can help organizations push the digital transformation...

CNBC 16 min video on McKinsey & Company

Recently read The Firm: The Story of McKinsey, by Duff McDonald (affiliate link).  Before I do a write up, please find a 16 min video by CNBC which highlights some of the strengths (reputation, history, alumni, 17,000 over-achiever consultants), and controversies...

Who wants the global talent?

For all of its faults, the United States has been the destination of choice for emigrants since – well – for half a century. Personally, I have friends and family who got their green cards just within the last few years. The US continues to be a magnet for...

Bain: Healthcare M&A in 2018

Bain & Co released a Healthcare Private Equity and Corporate M&A Report 2019 here. (1.7Mb, 64 pages) Last week’s blog post was on private equity portion. This week, I am covering the M&A portion. Healthcare M&A = $435 Billion in 2018 As a...

Bain: Healthcare PE in 2018

Bain & Co released a Healthcare Private Equity and Corporate M&A Report 2019 here. (1.7Mb, 64 pages) First blog post on the private equity half. Bain & Company notes that “there was significant activity across all segments of the value chain.”...

Who is Chris Sacca?

Yes, you may have seen him on Shark Tank. He is an UBER-successful angel investor and venture capitalist. Famous for his wearing vintage cowboy shirts and being on the ground floor of Twitter, Uber, Instagram, Facebook. Listened to a 90 min interview of him by Tim...

Great Podcast Interviews

  Gift for you – podcast playlist  Someone recently asked for a few podcast recommendations (hat tip: JZ), so I put together a playlist of 60+ podcast interviews.  Two ways to subscribe:  From your Iphone, click here and hold down for 1 second. It will open...

100+ Healthcare Links

Yes, US Healthcare can be a puzzle. Or worse, a labyrinth, a Gordian knot. First, I would probably spend 5-10 hours skimming The Health Care Handbook 3rd edition, 2023 Askins, Moore. Google things of interest. As a second step, here is my resource list of 90+ links to...

US Healthcare Strategy?

US Healthcare has so much potential, yet, it remains a super-fragmented, inefficient, and often unjust system. In sum, it’s broken in many places. In the fall, I facilitate a graduate-level course where we try to grok the root causes of an industry which is 1/5...

d.School bootcamp bootleg deck

Stanford d.school is the gold standard for all things experience, design, and honestly, cool. What do you expect when you combine smarts, engineering, meritocratic Groove-style culture, VC money, and graphics. So, it I was fairly delighted to find this 90 pg+ free pdf...

Executive status reports

Successful client service means doing great work AND exceeding the client’s expectations. If the client worries unnecessarily, gets surprised, or is somehow unaware of the scope of work, the consultant has done a poor job of communicating. For experienced principals,...

Strategy: Getting back to basics

When is the last time you heard the word “strategy” or “strategic?” They are common words and largely misunderstood. While strategy is certainly important, it’s means more than just “long-term” or “impactful.”   I...

YES, process AND purpose

Consultants, by the nature of their project-based work, are process oriented.  Projects have a start-middle-end. That’s part of the luxury, tempo, and fun of the work. At the beginning, proposals are signed and kick-off meetings held.  At the end,...

Proposal = Answered Questions

It’s the beginning of the year and firms are lining up their projects and consultants. Proposals and statements of work are getting written and signed. My students (management consulting class M 10-1pm) have a proposal-writing assignment due, here’s what I...

SOW: How detailed?

Had statements of work (SoW) on my mind a lot. Writing some, fulfilling others. What you put in a SOW will affect the quality of your life. Do it well.  For the consulting finders, proposals and SOW are the lifeblood of business development. If a fisher, these are...

Amazon package = supply chain

So I am very Amazon. My first order from the website was in 1998 – yes, it was this book (affiliate link) Have 2 Echos, 1 Echo dot.  Yes, I own AMZN shares. So yesterday, as I was working from home,  heard the doorbell / thud outside the door, saw the Echo light...

Charles Aris: 2019 compensation survey

Charles Aris is an executive recruiter out of North Carolina that all consultants are Linkedin.  They have a great track record of placing ex-consultants in great roles. Here is their annual compensation survey here.  This came from 500+ consultants at the big 10...

Music for Spring 2019

Every semester, ask my students what they’d like to listen to as we prep for class. Here’s the play list for Spring.   ← Consultant's Advice: Use numbers Charles Aris: 2019 compensation survey...

Consultant’s Advice: Use numbers

Numbers are compelling. They are easy to see and remember. They serve as proof. No wonder your resume bullets should have them.  The Economist uses numbers to great effect. In fact, they love fractions. Copy/pasted quotes from last two issues of the Economist. All...

Winter reading list 2018

Reached out to readers of the ConsultantsMind blog and asked what they recommend for students on winter break. Here’s a list of books and podcasts. Using first name initial, title, and any other words they might have shared. Caveat: affiliate links.   E,...

Career day

On the last day of class, I have career day. Double meaning – students do their course evaluations (impacting my career), and I dole out what career advice I have from the last 25 years. Caveat: 90% are blog posts that I have written since 2013. As a summary of...

The Internet is Thin

Pre-internet I am Generation X. This means lots of things – but for me, it means that I remember life pre-internet. Yes, 1994 was a pivotal year. Crappy job, serious career angst; but the dawn of unlimited information thanks for the Mosaic Netscape browser. Yes,...

Economist – November 2018

Read the Economist. Full stop. It’s well-written, free-market, slow-news, and entirely useful. If you pick up a copy from 6 months ago, it’s still relevant because they talk about trends, and key drivers. Not the day-to-day gyrations of public opinion,...

BCG: Synergies take center stage

M&A continues to boom; 36,000 deals announced in 2017 BCG published a report on 2017 M&A called M&A: Synergies Take Center Stage (Sept 2018) here. (2.7Mb pdf). It’s 33 pages, and gives a run down of all the major deals and trends. Here’s my...

Halloween, give out water, not candy

It’s Halloween in the United States on October 31.  Kids (and their parents) dress up in costumes head-to-toe and go from house-to-house in search of candy and chocolate. It’s great fun, and nothing is cuter than kids in their outfits. Costumes are hot and...

WSJ: How I Work

The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) has a series of HOW I WORK video interviews (2-3min) with CEOS. Microsoft, Infor, Reddit, Anthem. Very short and snappy questions like “what is the best advice you have ever been given?” You’ll find that these 20+ CEOs...

Oh, storytelling

Most everyone will agree that storytelling is important for professional success. When I recently surveyed some working professionals MBAs (read: folks with jobs), they rated it a 6.3 (out of a 7 point scale) with a stdev: 0.7, n=62. No pushback here. Storytelling...

In memory: Lehman Brothers (1850-2008)

This week is the 10th anniversary of the beginning of the global financial crisis of 2008, and the end of Lehman Brothers, one of the most storied Wall Street firms. A new play opened in London called the “Lehman Trilogy”, and there’s a great...

Excel Basics – Things You Gotta Know

For weathered consultants, Excel is not new. In fact, we teethed our brain on it many years ago as analysts, consultants, senior consultants. In fact, it’s possible – just possible – that we have gotten pretty slow at it in our, uh um, old age....

Great Advice from Students

Advice from Students. Shouldn’t we learn from those with more experience and great track records. Stand on the shoulder of giants. Use best practices. Learn the hacks. Work smart. I started asking students who crushed my class last year, what their advice was...

List of 800+ Planet Money Podcasts

Love Planet Money podcast. It’s my wife’s favorite podcast, for good reason. Engaging, clever, informative, well-curated, and whimsical. Overall, a great use of your half hour. Here is a list of their episodes from 2009-2018. 170+ page PDF of 800+ Planet...

The Noun Project

The NounProject is a website where you can search, download, and customize millions of icons. Consultants are continuously “bucketing” ideas and concepts, and icons are a classy way to draw the viewers attention to a bucket. This is different from clip art...

Listen up: internship advice

Reached out my network, and asked: “What advice do you have for interns?”  Here is what 25 senior managers and owners said (slight editing, and my emphasis in blue color) on finishing your internship well. Be proud of your work Summarize the project. Recap...

Consultant’s packing list

Now that you got your consulting offer, what should you pack in your bag? Here is a list of things I have used and favored when I travel. Some are common sense (shoe polish), while others are personal preference (Tumi vs. Briggs and Riley). Feel free to chime in with...

Company analysis: Pandora Media

Wrote this blog post in 2018, it was prescient  Reading Pandora Media’s financial statements is like rubbernecking at a car crash on the highway. Completely not necessary, not classy, and perhaps a waste of time. Two years ago I wrote about Pandora’s...

Who is David Rubenstein?

If you are in private equity, this is a name you already know.  Rubenstein is the co-founder, and co-chairman, of the Carlyle Group which invests $200+ billion on behalf of their limited partners. He sits on dozens of boards, and is the chairman of the Kennedy Center...

US Guns, complex issue that needs resolution

I wrote this post 5 years ago after the Newton tragedy. After Las Vegas, this is all too common. This how this consultant thinks about the problem. It’s a complex and charged issue that needs real mature discussion. US gun violence is a problem.  Approximately...

Learn how to learn, think about thinking

These two phrases have become my pedagogical mottos. Learn how to learn. Think about your thinking. If we value a liberal arts education (I do), and believe that the nature of work will be forever changing (I do), then the smartest thing we can do: 1. Learn how to...

Feedback on Final Papers

Grading papers is work Grading papers is a double-edged sword; it’s insanely time-consuming, and yet enormously valuable. As a ballpark estimate, last semester I reviewed 500+ written pages (MS Word, double-spaced) and countless presentation slides (MS PPT)....

Ideo: Make your ideas tangible

Three years ago, I wrote about idea fight club – the simple, fun, true idea that consultants should start projects with an open mind, then systematically, democratically beat up on those same ideas, until the best one emerges victorious. Making ideas stronger...

What is the DuPont Method?

(geek alert) The DuPont Method is one of my favorite things from B school. Yes, it’s a way to calculate return-on-equity, but it’s also a great way for a consultant to get smart on a company quickly. It’s a great first step in tearing apart...

Company analysis: 1 hour version, Agilent

Consultants should be a quick study. Imagine that you find out on Friday afternoon that you are going to be staffed on a new project on Monday. You better spend 2-3 hours getting smart on the industry and company. To that effect, wanted to choose a random company and...

Speaking to 800 people tomorrow

Tomorrow is a big day in my journey.  Was voted by students as the distinguished educator of the year. Super winning. Speaking at the graduation celebration. This is the venue. Here is the outline of my talk. (My) Past:  Did not always know what I wanted to do The job...

Presenting to 30 people instead of 3

In the corporate world, most presentations are to small groups. In fact, the most common format is actually with 1 person in his/her office. The slides typically have more details (think: 18-22 font arial) and should be completely self-explanatory. They are skimmable...

What is positioning? It’s everything

Start with positioning Marketing strategy is an enormously vast, fun, and exciting topic. In that forest of thinking, I would argue that positioning is the first-domino idea to consider. It’s a 40 year-old idea that is just as important as it was in 1972, when...

Great next job? Yes, please. . .

Charles Aris is a recruiter out of North Carolina that places ex-strategy consultants. Yes, you should sign up for their newsletter. They do great work. Some of their post-consulting job postings here. EVP of Strategy & Corporate Development (Boston –...

“Here” start the meeting

Hands down, the best part of any day for a manager is working with a junior consultant who “gets it”. In the busy crush of client work, deliverables, over-commitment, and fuss – when you are working with a team that instinctively knows what needs to...

Bill & Melinda Gates: 10 Tough Questions

The Bill and Melinda Gates foundation is awesome by most any measure. They tackle global problems as wide ranging as education and clean water. They fill some of the societal gaps that public companies and government are missing – nudging nation states,...

Subway piano: Make “good for you” fun

This is something all consultants should watch, reflect, and incorporate into their client work.  How can you make “good for you” fun?  People want to be engaged and experience life.  How can we tap into that curiosity and shape “good for you”...

Oh, that makes sense, let’s do that

Stories matter If you type “storytelling” into Amazon, it spins up no-less-than 20,000 book titles. Yikes. It’s a popular business topic and for good reason, we humans are wired (think lizard brain) to tell and remember stories  Business storytelling...

What makes good prioritization slides?

A student recently asked me for clarity on prioritization slides.  Yes, we’ve all seen these before. They usually come at the end of a performance improvement presentation with the intent of narrowing down the choices. Super useful, almost simplistic....

Bain: Private Equity Report 2018

Bain published a 2018 Private Equity report (80pg) which you have to sign up to get here. The high-level message seems to be that private equity is doing well (perhaps too well) and there is a lot of investor money looking for returns. This is driving up valuations...

Taxes: A Fine Mess (T.R.Reid)

Working on my taxes this weekend, which is no fun. I’d rather be blogging. Recently read T.R. Reid’s book on taxes, aptly titled: A Fine Mess (affiliate link). If you’ve read any of his previous books, you know he is a pretty expansive thinker,...

How to download Linkedin data

Huge fan of Linkedin. It’s the primary way I stay in touch my friends and work colleagues from the last 20 years. Barely use Facebook, but use Linkedin daily. So, when I was trying to filter some of my connections – frustrated, and not working well –...

Why roses? They’re the toughest

Happy Valentine’s. For those of you who gave / received roses, bravo. Life is short, enjoy. Indulge yourself and make others happy. So do you know why roses are so popular? B2C: It’s the epitome of beauty and elegance. It’s what people want B2B: They...

Strategic Management in 20 Icons

I teach Strategic Management  I work with 400+ students every semester. We read 10+ cases, watch CNBC videos, read the Wall Street Journal, use Finviz, research with S&P industry surveys, grok the DuPont formula, question the validity of RBV, try to Cross the...

US stock: 8 great years, now rising rates

The US stock market fell on Friday and Monday in large part due to fears of inflation. The logic goes: economy is doing well, inflation is creeping up, Fed might get over-eager and raise interest rates too much, companies might have difficulty making profits, stocks...

The best advice I ever got

Today I found an old Fortune magazine on my shelf dated March 2005.  Warren Buffet is on the cover – looking a good bit younger – and the title proclaims: “The best advice I ever got.”  Perhaps this had more significance to me because I was wrapping up my...

What is book-to-bill ratio?

Book-to-bill This is a ratio that many B2B marketers watch closely because it gives an early indication of where the company’s business is headed (up or down). It is pretty simple math; take the bookings (orders) / billings (revenue). When you have long...

Looking for some new music? 120+ songs

Looking for some new music? Tired of the same Michael Jackson, Led Zeppelin, and Cat Stevens? Curious what smart young professionals are listening to?  I was, so I asked my business school students. Please find 4 Spotify stations curated from my business students....

What is your Venn Diagram?

What’s a Venn diagram? Yes, you’ve seen these overlapping circles before. It’s a simple and visual way to show different data sets. What is separate and what overlaps? Consultants and executives love diagrams, right? I Used to not like them For the...

Did you know that BCG blue team = Bain & Company

If you are a consulting geek, or like to read business history, The Lords of Strategy (affiliate link) is a fascinating and easy read. Helps you understand the economic, regulatory, and business trends that gave rise to the Big 3 consulting firms (McKinsey, BCG,...

Syllabus: What is management consulting?

Teaching consulting Teaching management consulting this semester to a select group of 40 students. I imagine 1/2 of them will have consulting internship or full-time offers already. This is an elective, and they are elite. That said, I wanted to describe management...

Online market for consulting?

Platform for consulting? A few ex-consultant friends and I mused over this concept several times in Marriott hotel bars across the country. “Why not set up a two-sided platform (think: VRBO, UBER) where companies can hire consultants for 1/3 of the price? Cut...

Good is predictable, great varies

Managers assume too much We get busy and think to ourselves, “I have seen this problem before, I know what to do, why don’t you get it?”  We (falsely) assume junior consultants should know what we know.  Silly bias. As result, expectations can be...

Why are UPS accountants delivering packages?

In the WSJ today, learned that UPS encourages / asks its office workers to help sort and deliver packages during the holiday delivery rush here. Quotes from WSJ article in blue italics. UPS normally has “ready teams,” or office workers that help to sort, load or...

What is management consulting?

Management Consulting. It’s a lot of things. It is an industry; we all know McKinsey, BCG, Bain, Deloitte, PWC, and others. It is a profession built on asking good questions. It is a team sport. It is a bit of an attitude. It is a tribe that is difficult to get...

15 Leadership quotes

Huge fan of quotes. Whenever I have something to say, I remind myself that someone has probably said it better, in fewer words.  For leadership, a few that made me really reflect. Get results Effective leadership is not about making speeches or being liked; leadership...

What do BCG presentations look like?

What does good look like?  All thoughtful business people are curious what good presentations look like. Here are a dozen+ presentations (freely and publicly available online) from Boston Consulting Group. These BCG decks may not be in your industry, or your function,...