by Consultant's Mind | Consulting
Performance reviews In management consulting, there are performance reviews going on constantly. No seriously. . . constantly. Consulting readers, please disagree. A review for every project. A mid-year review. A year-end review. To the optimist, this is an ideal...
by Consultant's Mind | Learning
Industry and company lifecycles I was first introduced to the concept of company life-cycles in 1997. Working for a US manufacturer overseas, our President hired a consultant by the name of Adizes to take us through a 2 day workshop to understand the potential growing...
by Consultant's Mind | Learning
Christmas morning and I am pretty comfortable at home. Warm, well-fed, and laughing. This is in stark contrast to many kids in the world. Pope Francis pointed out the plight of children in his Christmas address here: “. . children displaced due to war and...
by Consultant's Mind | Learning
Ran across this article on the four chemicals that are responsible for our happiness. Sad to think that our happiness is just a bunch of chemicals – but science does a great job of de-constructing our world, for the good of our health, but the death of mystery....
by Consultant's Mind | Team
love coaching It is one of the most meaningful parts of this consulting job. Sometimes I am more focused on coaching the junior resources than the client. Probably not a good mindset, but that is the part of the job that I get excited about. I am not a certified...
by Consultant's Mind | Fun
Act like Europeans Team dinners are by-far one of the best parts of consulting. It is a combination of smart people, good food, wine, and story-telling. As I told a friend, if there were no team dinners. . not sure if it would really be worth it. It is the rare...
by Consultant's Mind | Consulting
In consulting, writing proposals and statements of work are the lifeblood of the firm. It is akin to fisherman throwing out nets, or farmers planting seeds. If you are not putting together proposals and pitching potential clients, you are dead. I’ve been...
by Consultant's Mind | Learning
This week I coached a new consultant in creating an excel model. Here are some of the words of advice I gave him. I wish I knew these pointers 20 years ago. Excel model structure = easy to understand Put all the assumptions, drivers at the top of the page. This...
by Consultant's Mind | Team
Professional services is about people That should come as no surprise, of course. Clients pay our salary. There is no real “equipment” that we are operating. It’s just a lot of smart people, trusting each other, and working together. Simple. Yes, we...
by Consultant's Mind | Consulting
I know what success looks like I have been consulting executives for the last 15 years – as an external management consultant, as a strategic planner, or as a organization design project lead. Spent a fair amount of time with CEO, COO, CFO, VP of this, and...
by Consultant's Mind | Fun
I have been on vacation for 2 weeks. Family visiting from overseas. During that time I wrote a handful of emails, and took a few conference calls, but largely, I was on a break. See some photos from the cruise. Ah, a sampling of retired life. Consulting gives you...
by Consultant's Mind | Consulting
I recently read a 4,300 word article in the Harvard Crimson school newspaper that helps to explain why more than 14% of the Harvard graduating class goes into management consulting. If you are interested in understanding the psyche of young top talent that goes from...
by Consultant's Mind | Consulting
Feedback keeps you sharp All professionals should be thankful for authentic and well-meaning feedback. It’s a way to gauge our performance, impact, and influence. Good or bad feedback is useful, when it comes from someone we respect. Companies pay $millions to...
by Consultant's Mind | Learning
I voted, I always do Today is an election day in the United States for Congress and Governors. I always vote, as it is one of my rights as an citizen. That said, very little gets done with state and national elections – it is largely marketing, divvying up of...
by Consultant's Mind | Learning
Gender blind consulting? For any of us in management consulting, we are fairly blind to gender in the work place. You see men and women partners, principals, senior managers, managers, senior consultants, consultants, analysts, and interns. Yes, I do believe there...
by Consultant's Mind | Learning, Real Estate
am an real estate investor I have rental properties. Something on the side, something my wife and I do on the weekends. I am a firm believe in real estate as an asset class for many reasons: Everyone needs housing Real estate gives you leverage because banks will...
by Consultant's Mind | Learning
When I was working overseas, I was on a competitive intelligence project. It might sound super-crafty, and Mission-Impossible, but it was not. It was actually quite boring. Lots of meetings to share information, and try to piece together the competition’s...
by Consultant's Mind | Fun
Was recruiting on Friday. This was on the wall of the business school’s career management center. All good advice I believe. Related Posts: Case interviews: Time to start practicing Why culture trumps strategy...
by Consultant's Mind | Consulting
Two workshops tomorrow: FedEx or print at the office? Tomorrow, we have 2 workshops, totaling 30 people. It amounts to 1,900 pages of color printing and binding. Since Fedex usually charges 69 cents per color printed page (retail), it comes out to approximately $1,300...
by Consultant's Mind | Consulting
Sometimes we are the bad guys People hire consultants for many reasons, one of which, is to be the bad guys. Look at this article about how Deloitte is helping some of Iowa’s public universities cut costs here. Consultants usually stay behind the scenes This is...
by Consultant's Mind | Consulting
I do a fair amount of work in the hotel concierge lounge. Lots of snacks, stimulus, and a nice large marble table to spread-out and work. Last night, I was the last to leave at 10pm, and this morning I was one of the first in the door at 630am. The concierge person...
by Consultant's Mind | Learning
After reading some news this morning, I wanted to re-post this from 2 years ago about US foreign aid. For my non-American readers, hope you find this not-too-boring. Consultants make tables and graphs That is a large part of what we do. Please see some visualization...
by Consultant's Mind | Team
Tonight I told a client that I believe there are really only 3 things that distinguish high-performing organizations from losers. Direction, leadership, and trust. Direction: Where are we headed? Who are we? Too many companies do not know what they are trying to...
by Consultant's Mind | Learning
MOOCs are not new Massively Open Online Courses (MOOC) have been around in their current form for about six years. They continue their march to democratize education. If you are not familiar with these free online courses taught by some of the best professors in the...
by Consultant's Mind | Learning
Consultants are in the business of taking messy, unorganized data and turning it into information, and hopefully, some insights. Here is a simple example of excel clean up, and the steps to copy, paste, filter, sort, and cleanse data. For most consultants, the data...
by Consultant's Mind | Learning
Written 03/15/2018 Humble pie part 2. Elizabeth Holmes charged by the SEC for fraud. So apparently, the deception was deliberate – saying they had $100M in revenue, when they had $100K. Claiming that their blood testers were working, when in reality they were...
by Consultant's Mind | Learning
Boston Consulting Group (BCG) just released a report called 2014 BCG Global Challengers which lists the top 100 fast-growing and formidable companies from emerging markets. It’s their 6th study and argues these companies are not only growing, but reaching a new...
by Consultant's Mind | Consulting
This week I went out to dinner with team mates twice. On each night, I heard inspirational stories from my team mates – 1 personal and 1 professional – that really made me think deeply about how I am living my life. One story was about friendship; staying...
by Consultant's Mind | Consulting
Meeting minutes are not boring Most people see this as a bureaucratic habit straight out of Mad Men, where Joan is typing notes at an old typewriter. I disagree completely. Meeting minutes are a way to shape the conversation, improve your professional brand, and add...
by Consultant's Mind | Consulting
Client executives are busy Sometimes it takes weeks to get on a client’s calendar. Yes, that’s even AFTER they’ve hired you to do work. Get time when you can Some of the best conversations you have with clients are the ones on the way back from...
by Consultant's Mind | Learning
When I speak with eager MBAs on what they should do to prepare for management consulting, I often fall back on this basic idea: reading. We don’t read enough I really started enjoying reading when I turned 25 years old. Obviously, that is a fail because my brain...
by Consultant's Mind | Graphics
Tableau Yes, this is french for Table. It is also the most user-friendly, powerful, and amazing desktop visualization tool for consultants. Tableau is a company based out of Seattle Washington, founded in 2003 to commercialize work out of Stanford. Fast-forward 10...
by Consultant's Mind | Fun
Today was a holiday in the United States. Went to the beach. This is all that was on my mind . . . basically, nothing. ...
by Consultant's Mind | Consulting
Consulting Mailman This is a phrase that I have used many times this week. It has come to be a short-hand way for me to say “overhead.” Like the post I wrote about not supervising others here, if you find yourself sitting in meetings where you are only...
by Consultant's Mind | Consulting
This is what consultants should be thinking. This is what consultants should be demonstrating through their work. When you have earned the right, say these words: I am here to make you successful There are all kinds of people in this world – selfish, petty,...
by Consultant's Mind | Consulting
Everyone who reads this blog, knows that I am a huge Drucker fan. This quote from The Effective Executive here (affiliate link), published in 1967, sums up how good consultancies run. Consultants are knowledge workers The knowledge worker cannot be supervised...
by Consultant's Mind | Consulting
So my blood pressure was WAY high this week. Lots going on with work – some good, a lot bad. A big part of consulting is knowing how to deal with stress, lean on team mates, and get grace when you make mistakes. As a friend says, “we are in the business...
by Consultant's Mind | Consulting
This is my favorite expression. Do you have what you need? I usually ask it of at least 3-4 people a day. It’s simple, but clear. I don’t know the entirety of your situation, but I am here to help. It can be small (proof reading) or big (career advice);...
by Consultant's Mind | Consulting
When you are on a large consulting project, it’s easy to get lost. Lost in the activities, status reports, client meetings, and project management mess. It’s easy to forget the basics. . . Get back to basics Think What a great job where clients pay you...
by Consultant's Mind | Team
“I do this” said the newbie manager I gave this advice to a newbie manager this week. The manager kept acting like an individual contributor, as if that was enough to succeed. He kept saying, “well, I do this” and “I do that”. Wrong...
by Consultant's Mind | Fun
We all need motivation Here is mine for today. Kacy Catanzaro completes the American Ninja Warrior course. Just watch it here. 18 million views and counting; the 7 minutes of crushing athleticism will power you through this work week. Uh, no more words needed. Just...
by Consultant's Mind | Learning
Be. Do. Say. I heard this for the first time 3 weeks ago. It makes so much sense. In the overly-marketed world we live in, there is incessant advertising noise, propositions, and promises. Through the clutter of insincerity and puffery, which brands and people can...
by Consultant's Mind | Consulting
I listened to a lot of whining this week It was partly sad, partly frustrating. New consultants – unaware of what consultants really do – had a list of reasons why it is hard: I can’t get the data, so that’s why I am behind I sent an email;...
by Consultant's Mind | Learning
If you like your boss = winning There is significant evidence that shows that “liking your boss” is a huge source of work satisfaction. Put another way, if you don’t like your boss, you will not be happy. Accenture says 31% of people leave their job...
by Consultant's Mind | Learning
We all like to talk This is not always good. It is often good to stop talking. Don’t re-iterate what the person said. Don’t overdo it on the paraphrase. If you agree, nod your head. Say “it makes sense”. Say “Great”. Stop talking....
by Consultant's Mind | Learning
This is my calendar from a recent week. Granted some of these were client interviews, but needless to say, the real work and thinking was done between meetings, or at night at the hotel. The time before and after the meeting were also “wasted” because I...
by Consultant's Mind | Learning
Sunk cost This is a simple economic concept that we often ignore. The idea that “resources already spent cannot be recovered” seems simple. You cannot “un-spend” money or time. We intuitively know this and yet, we constantly don’t follow...
by Consultant's Mind | Consulting
This is a post I did 2 years ago. My new edits are in red color. Management consultants use the phrase “best practices” often. Perhaps too often. You will see that magical phrase mentioned numerous times in white papers and research on these...
by Consultant's Mind | Consulting
What’s the deliverable? You will hear this jargon often. A deliverable is the final product of a consulting phase or project. It comes in many forms: excel model, marketing plan, master facilities plan, workshop, customer research, or presentation. As an...
by Consultant's Mind | Consulting
Nice things about consulting. . . Good food, restaurants, and wine New experiences and places New problems to solve, and things to learn People to teach and learn from Getting to know your team, becoming fast friends In my opinion, the 2 BEST things about...
by Consultant's Mind | Team
Your content goes here. Edit or remove this text inline or in the module Content settings. You can also style every aspect of this content in the module Design settings and even apply custom CSS to this text in the module Advanced settings. Be likable This sounds...
by Consultant's Mind | Learning
Scalability This is my new favorite business-y word. It applies to our careers, client’s success, and business generally. We all want to scale our businesses. In a perfect world, this word describes the ability to copy/paste the good parts of the business with...
by Consultant's Mind | Learning
There is a famous TED talk by Simon Sinek called How Great Leaders Inspire Action. 57 million have watched it so far. If you have an interest in consulting, management and persuading people into action, you need to watch it here. The concept is basic, but powerful...
by Consultant's Mind | Learning
Consultants solve ambiguous problems So do lawyers I recently watched an interview with Kenneth Feinberg, a famous lawyer, and was struck by his confidence, poise, professionalism, humor, and mindfulness. All traits that consultants should try and emulate. Even...
by Consultant's Mind | Learning
Opportunity cost = what if? I first learned about opportunity cost in college. It was a radical idea for me at the time, and frankly, clients and consultants probably don’t think about it enough. The idea is simple, but powerful; resources you plan to spend...
by Consultant's Mind | Learning
BCG has a new book They make the argument that companies have a bad habit of responding to complex business environments by simply getting more complicated. This is so true. For those of us who have worked with Fortune 500 clients, there seems to be an endless number...
by Consultant's Mind | Learning
Poka-Yoke This is a the Japanese phase for “mistake-proofing.” Basically, you design things so well and people cannot help but use them correctly. It prevents errors by design. Basically, awesome and practical design. An everyday example of this is that...
by Consultant's Mind | Graphics
Never My colleagues and I disagree about this. Some use clipart or photos to demonstrate the emotion or “mood” of a PowerPoint. Not me. Call me a puritan. I tell my team to not include clip art or superfluous photos. It shows a lack of substance. If you...
by Consultant's Mind | Consulting
Over the last 15 years, I’ve interviewed lots of candidates. Beyond the resumes and case interviews, it comes down to fit. When I think about the most important characteristics of a consultant – or anyone I plan to work with – it gets narrowed down...
by Consultant's Mind | Learning
It was a tough week For all of my positive energy, pro-client attitude, and traveler’s stoicism, I remember one week that ran me over. Meetings going awry, data being wrong, unmet expectations, miscommunication among the team, cancelled flights, false...
by Consultant's Mind | Consulting
Consultants, lawyers, accountants bill for their time For good or bad, the traditional time and expense way of billing still prevails. This means that your time is valuable to you (as a professional) and to the client (as an expense). Every hour that you bill, the...
by Consultant's Mind | Fun
Have some gratitude There is a lot of research that shows that when you are grateful, you are happier. I firmly believe this, and it applies to everyone, not just consultants. Small things Current project has a nice conference room. Nice and sunny, private,...
by Consultant's Mind | Consulting, Learning
You cannot know everything As consultants, clients know more about their business than you do. Fact. However, we have the logical structuring, resources, focus, and objectivity to do great work. It’s a life-saving skill to get smart quickly on the topic, client...
by Consultant's Mind | Consulting
How many consultants are there? Like a typical market sizing problem you might get during a consulting interview, it’s an interesting question. According to the last population census, there are 700K+ people in the United States who identify as a consultant. Of...
by Consultant's Mind | Consulting
Save face This is a simple concept that is critical for consultants and sales people to understand. Never put your client in a situation where you are directly and publicly disagreeing with them. Never box them into a corner where they might be ashamed of the...
by Consultant's Mind | Fun
Get-away day My friends and I joke that Thursdays are get-away days. You have been at the client for 4 days, slept in a hotel room for 3 nights. Too much restaurant food, and it’s time to go home and get your life in order on Friday. On Thursday many management...
by Consultant's Mind | Graphics
Are you a management consultant? Related Posts: Great consultants vs. good consultants Consulting is a team sport Consulting jargon: Airport Test “On the beach” means you are consulting...
by Consultant's Mind | Graphics
I have subscribed to the Economist for 20+ years. Solid reporting. Libertarian angle, but with a strong heart. Another benefit are the excellent graphs. Consultants love graphs Executives are visual people, and graphs can make an enormous impact without using too...
by Consultant's Mind | Fun
Wordpress reminded me today that it was my blogiversary. Two full years blogging. When I told my wife, she said we should celebrate. Thanks to Associatesmind for encouraging me to start this because it has been one of the most fun and meaningful things I have done...
by Consultant's Mind | Consulting
Leverage is how consulting firms make money As I discussed in a previous post, professional services firms – lawyers, accountants, marketers, consultants – are built on organizational pyramid structures. There are fewer partners than analysts, no surprise....
by Consultant's Mind | Consulting
Sigma You will hear about this a lot in operations consulting. It is the idea that a process is very consistent and repeatable. Six sigma means there are only 3.4 defects per 1 million units. Essentially, it is almost perfect. Motorola coined the term in the 1980s...
by Consultant's Mind | Consulting
Deloitte published its 5th annual Top 10 technology trends recently here. It’s 137 pages, but very readable. Deloitte included lots of client interviews and real-life examples. They kept the consulting-y talk to a minimum. Thank you. Even if you don’t...
by Consultant's Mind | Fun
I was reading an article in the Economist about immigrant diasporas. Overseas Chinese, Indians, and Jews are a few examples of tight-knit, highly-educated, geographically-dispersed groups, who are extremely successful and make things happen. The article argues that...
by Consultant's Mind | Consulting
Best practices After 15+ years in Fortune 500 and management consulting life, I am convinced that business problems are similar. Yes, industries differ. Yes, companies are different. Yes, products are different. But many of the problems are similar Common problems...
by Consultant's Mind | Consulting
Today I fired my CPA I have been thinking about it for a while. A few things have bothered me over the last six months, and in the end, it was the lack of courtesy and communication that really tipped the scales for me. Customer service is an attitude which makes the...
by Consultant's Mind | Consulting
I have never worked at McKinsey. Yet, I have 10+ credible reference points and 10,000 words of interview-worthy comments written by previous employees. Is this an ebook that you purchase for 99cents on Kindle? No. It’s on Quora, and it is free. What is it like...
by Consultant's Mind | Consulting
What does success look like? During a consulting interview, a candidate once asked me, “What are you looking for in a candidate?” No surprise, I answered “It Depends.” As I described in a previous post called Finders, Minders, and Grinders,...
by Consultant's Mind | Consulting
This is the most important thing you need to know as an operations consultant. Bold statement I know, but Lean is so pivotal and fundamental, it precedes other concepts I M H O. Lean cannot be overstated. Lean is a philosophy of management, corporate culture, set of...
by Consultant's Mind | Consulting
Everyone understands inventory It’s the stuff sitting on Walmart’s shelves. It’s the frozen pizzas in the freezer. The unsold house in the neighborhood. The empty hotel rooms and empty movie seats. Non-billable consultants are no different....
by Consultant's Mind | Consulting
Does your project require excel / Tableau? Whatever your project scope, if you are not using excel – to categorize, count, calculate, or correlate things – I would argue that you really don’t have much of a project. It’s my bias, but a project...
by Consultant's Mind | Consulting
Clearly, this is some type of slang, but what does it mean? David Maister coined this term to describe the different roles you find in a professional services organization. Yes, he advised law firms on how to build their practices, but this advice applies to...
by Consultant's Mind | Learning
Yes, that’s right. . . supply chain Many of us don’t think of supply chain in our day-to-day life. Instead, we go to the store or order something online and expect it to be available. Welcome to life in the rich North. So, 2020 was a milestone year for...
by Consultant's Mind | Consulting
Oh, ERP ERP stands for Enterprise Resource Planning (pronounced “E-R-P”) and anyone working in a Fortune 500 knows what this is. Many people use it daily at work. Quite simply, it is the software backbone that runs most large businesses. In the early days...
by Consultant's Mind | Fun
Don’t use jargon It is usually nonsensical and a boring way to talk. It is precisely why the British – who generally have excellent word choice – find Americans to be lazy speakers. Think before you speak. You will have better word choice. Less...
by Consultant's Mind | Consulting
Consultants are structured thinkers They may not have as intuitive a grasp on the topic as the client – after all, the client has been living in this field their entire life – but consultants excel at piecing together bits and pieces of data until it...
by Consultant's Mind | Consulting
Supply chain seems boring To most people, the phrase “supply chain” creates little excitement. To the chagrin of operational consultants everywhere, it probably ranks close to the bottom on the list of sexy MBA topics – somewhere close to the...
by Consultant's Mind | Consulting
Vegetable pricing machine I was walking through Walmart the other day and saw this simple machine that weighs and prices veggies and fruits. On the surface it seems simple enough – shoppers can price their produce, and save time at check out. To this...
by Consultant's Mind | Consulting
It’s a marathon The hours are long, and the schedule erratic. It’s not for slackers or sleepy-heads. Including travel, it’s easily a 70+ hour a week job. Days start early This Monday, my flight was at 6:45am. Same thing this coming week. I live an...
by Consultant's Mind | Graphics
Veteran’s Day This date was chosen to commemorate the ending of WWI, and is a national holiday that honors all veterans. Anyone willing to risk their life and health for their country deserves honor. No question about it. Canada, the UK, and Australia also...
by Consultant's Mind | Learning
I am not in HR, a recruiter, or even a super linkedin.com user. That said, I was on the recruiting team at a Big 4 consulting, and we looked through hundreds of resumes every year and 90% of them went into the trash. We probably spent less than 15 seconds on a cover...
by Consultant's Mind | Learning
So one of my best friends had his book published today. He is a lawyer by trade and by heart. The publisher is the American Bar Association. Yes, that Bar Association. The one that was founded in 1878. Completely Relevant to Consultants If you read through the table...
by Consultant's Mind | Fun
I shop at Whole Foods Not all the time, but enough to be embarrassed by it. Have to stop making fun of bourgeois-y people since I have become one of them. Look what I saw in the check-out aisle at Whole Foods. Not People magazine. Not Oprah magazine. Nope. Impulse...
by Consultant's Mind | Consulting
IT implementation is “bread and butter work” It often involves dozens of consultants, multiple locations, and sometimes 2-3 years for a full roll out of an enterprise resource plan (ERP) like SAP or Oracle. These are big hairy projects that cost dozens, if...
by Consultant's Mind | Consulting
Mergers In 2013, Deloitte acquired Monitor. Now PWC is picking up Booz&Co for what some believe will be 1x sales at approximately $1 billion. PWC got PRTM 2 years prior. Towers Perrin & Watson Wyatt merged in 2009. Six reasons this trend will continue: Growth...
by Consultant's Mind | Fun
Management consulting = travel No way around it. If you don’t like business travel, you will hate consulting. Here are some things I have experienced. Know your airline frequent flyer number, but not your mom’s phone number Take too much pride in the type...
by Consultant's Mind | Fun
Two kinds of people Had a strange week. Lots of ups and downs. Rough client interviews, laborious data cleaning, too much travel, and so-so sushi. With the ebb / flow of consulting life, I was struck by the fact that there are 2 kinds of people . . . . . People you...
by Consultant's Mind | Consulting
Consulting = Team Sport Consultants work in teams. Consultants work in packs. We are hired to work on messy problems which are often complex, ambiguous, political, and time-sensitive. Basically, it’s a lot of work that has to be done in a short(er) amount of...
by Consultant's Mind | Consulting
Management consulting is changing Don’t take my word for it. There is a recent a Harvard Business Review podcast interview with Clayton Christensen of the Innovator’s Dilemma fame (affiliate link) and Dominic Barton (global managing director of McKinsey)....
by Consultant's Mind | Graphics
Last week I used the term “S-curve” 3 times in different conversations, so either it is worth blogging about, or I need to develop a better vocabulary. For those unfamiliar with the concept, I am sure you would recognize it if you see it. Like the name...
by Consultant's Mind | Consulting
With the recent publication of The Firm: The Story of McKinsey and Its Secret Influence on Business (affiliate link) by Duff McDonald, McKinsey has been in the news a lot. As a disclaimer, I have not read the book, but even the reviews have some juicy facts: CEO...
