by Consultant's Mind | Consulting
Consultants break down problems Open up any newspaper and you see that problems abound. Problems vary from the specific (e.g., corporate concerns about market share) to the global (e.g., accelerating climate change). Yes, to some this may seem negative and a bummer....
by Consultant's Mind | Consulting
Operational transparency is exactly what it sounds like. Showing the customer how hard you are working for them. Think of a restaurant with an open kitchen format so you can see the food being made. Think of Amazon that let’s you track the progress of your...
by Consultant's Mind | Consulting
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,...
by Consultant's Mind | Consulting
It is interview season for consulting firms. People are writing up cover letters, fine-tuning their resumes, and practicing their cases. This is what I said to a packed room of students. Before the interview It’s all about curiosity. Great problem solvers...
by Consultant's Mind | Learning
This 21 letter hyphenated-phrase generates $billions of management consulting work. With M&A booming the last few years, it’s no surprise that companies need lots of post-deal support. Whether a company hire outsiders to help or not, post-merger integration...
by Consultant's Mind | Fun
Jigsaw puzzles are fun, meditative, mindless, and dopamine-filled. It’s a good way to stop scrolling. Listen to some music, have some coffee, and puzzle with your spouse. The good life. I have 10 reasons why this is a useful metaphor for problem solving. Some...
by Consultant's Mind | Learning
This book is all about focus It is like the Pareto Principle to the extreme. The authors argue that by narrowing your focus to ONE thing in each area of your life, you will be happier, more successful, and find things easier. It turns out that pseudo multi-tasking,...
by Consultant's Mind | Team
This is my least favorite expression in all of consulting. “Are you sure?” Built into the question is a lack of trust, glibness, superficial concern with accuracy over meaning, and honestly, a bit of disdain. It’s a superficial question It’s...
by Consultant's Mind | Fun
am moving My wife and I lived in the current house for 11 years, and we are moving closer to her work. The new house will be 30% larger, and a whole lot nicer. The big difference is that we are building it from the ground up. So we choose the floor plan, exterior...
by Consultant's Mind | Consulting
Who does not love using the whiteboard? It makes the experience creative, tactile, interactive, and open-ended. It’s a running joke with my teams that I will take any opportunity to pickup a dry-erase pen and head towards the whiteboard – like a moth to a...
by Consultant's Mind | Consulting
It’s one person’s opinion, but here are 130 blog posts which I wrote over the last 3 years to describe my world-view of consulting. Hope you find it useful. Consultants are a strange breed We span all industries, but ultimately we are in the business of...
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 | 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 | 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
Consultants use buckets I know it sounds pedestrian and unsophisticated, but it’s harder than it looks. When you are trying to crack a complex problem, inevitably you will start to group things. Buckets, I tell you. Consultants use buckets. When you have a...
by Consultant's Mind | Consulting
Who, What, Why, When, Where? These are five questions kids learn in grade school or when first learning a language. It covers the basics and helps you understand the situation and context. My high school friends can attest to my poor memory, but even I can remember...
by Consultant's Mind | Consulting
Recently, I was reminded that there are three types of influence in the workplace. You might not have all three, but you better have some. . . Positional, Relational, Expertise. I first heard this on a manager-tools.com podcast, but please let me know if you heard of...
by Consultant's Mind | Consulting
Client wants more for the same money Not pretty. It’s no surprise that consultants dread it. It usually means late nights, grumpy analysts, dissatisfied clients, and potentially lower project margins. All bad things. In the end, it is a fancy word for...
by Consultant's Mind | Consulting
Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In (affiliate link) is arguably the most famous book written on negotiations. It was written by Roger Fisher and William Ury in 1981 and has been compulsory reading for negotiations classes at Washington, Columbia,...
by Consultant's Mind | Consulting
Hypothesis-based consulting Yes, this sounds fancy, but some cynics might call it educated guessing. Either way, it is a smart way to break down complex or ambiguous problems, and quickly start driving towards an answer. At its heart is the scientific method –...
