by Consultant's Mind | Consulting
“Imposter syndrome” I’ve heard this 20+ times over the last 12 months, from new hires to 20-year veterans. Why is that? 1. Maybe a little insecurity is appropriate As a new person, recent graduates, recent hires, this makes sense. You got the job, but...
by Consultant's Mind | Consulting
In a world where GenAI makes everything easier, the scarce resource is disciplined choice. Essentialism, by Greg McKeown, is a strategic book. I re-read it recently (affiliate link); it’s a keeper. It asks the big questions we can be asking ourselves: What does...
by Consultant's Mind | Consulting
This McKinsey report, Agents, Robots, and Us (Jan 2026) was deserving of two blog posts. The first one here segregates the different combinations of work that will be done by humans, agents, and robots (and combinations therein). TLDR; change is coming. Be thoughtful...
by Consultant's Mind | Consulting
McKinsey published this 60-page GenAI report here which dissects how jobs, skills, and workflow are changing. This gets away from the “oh the sky is falling” generalities and tries to answer the question, “what should professionals actually do...
by Consultant's Mind | Consulting
You’re the average of the five people you spend the most time with – Jim Rohn Luckily, I’ve spent the last 20 years with many smart, ambitious, coachable, and billable people. When I reflect on this collaborative learning journey, these words keep coming up. ...
by Consultant's Mind | Consulting
Trust is not a new topic Lots of books have been written about trust. Heck you could argue that the Bible and other tomes were also about the human journey and trust. Without getting too metaphysical about it, let’s agree that we live in a not-so-trusting...
by Consultant's Mind | Learning
Got some Q&A from recent college graduates. Some want to get into consulting, some want to make sure they are not getting stuck in a job that doesn’t make sense for themselves. TLDR; skills, GenAI, relationships, questions, luck, focus Q1: My background is...
by Consultant's Mind | Learning
Exams are on my mind We just completed exam #2. This blog post has two parts: a) what exams look like in my Emory teacher world b) what this might teach me as a person, trainer, curious person in the world of GenAI. TLDR; At the bottom of the post, I have a...
by Consultant's Mind | Strategy
I teach strategy It’s a great privilege to learn with 260+ thoughtful, relational, ambitious people this semester. We look at classic frameworks (willingness-to-pay, economies of scale, vertical integration, MR > MC, STP) and apply it to what we see in the...
by Consultant's Mind | Consulting
I met someone recently, a young college graduate, who was looking for a job, career, and direction. My most simple advice was perhaps the most absurd. He should get 3 job offers, and turn down 2 of them. True. . . but anything more tangible and useful? As of 2025,...
by Consultant's Mind | Learning
Coursera Specialization = intro to business I just created a new Coursera specialization (6 courses) which is an introduction to business. I call it MBE – Mastering Business Essentials and it’s targeting people without a business background....
by Consultant's Mind | Learning
This is something I say to all my students – those in undergraduate and those in executive education. Whether you’re 19 years old or 59 years old, learning isn’t about someone else. It’s about you. What’s in it for me? What’s the...
by Consultant's Mind | Learning
Create a podcast with a few clicks NotebookLM is something new from Google. You upload a document, or link to a webpage. Then you can select “Deep Dive” on the top right, and it creates a super-real, fun, interactive dialogue between two people. Basically,...
by Consultant's Mind | Learning
McDonald’s strategy presentation We have a strategy presentation due in a few days. It’s 8 pages total, including cover page and any appendix the students want to add. The target company is MCD, which is both easy, fun, and difficult. Easy because...
by Consultant's Mind | Consulting
Fixed costs are everywhere What do airplanes, hospital equipment, and full-time employees have in common? They are all fixed costs. These are costs that a business incurs, regardless of how many passengers you carry, patients you treat, or products you sell. ...
by Consultant's Mind | Fun, Strategy
Learning is fun This is something I learned quite late in life; probably my junior year in college. Basically, I learned it 10 years later than most. . . but I am making up for lost time quickly. I think learning is the best; after all, what else is there? As a...
by Consultant's Mind | Consulting
Two hours with executives Spent a great morning. Facilitating a discussion on the topic of strategy. Open discussion, good learning, excellent examples from high-performing managers, directors. Creating a sustainable competitive advantage = strategy. Yes, we covered...
by Consultant's Mind | Learning
Some people might call this unconventional or “outside of the box” thinking. Being radically different. Instead of optimizing an existing part or process, ask the question, “do we even need the part?” This is Lean thinking Actually, I would...
by Consultant's Mind | Fun
Let’s talk about longevity The Economist “surveys” are great, and the one on Longevity here is no exception. TL;DR – We are living longer than ever – which is beautiful, empowering, just, and also a financial headache. In the 1800s, no...
by Consultant's Mind | Learning
GenAI is kinda amazing If you haven’t spent an hour with Chat GPT or a LLM (Lamda, Bard etc), you’ve been missing out. It’s a super easy, personable chat friend, who is 100% interested in what you are. They are like super-smart, ivy-league interns...
by Consultant's Mind | Consulting
Who wants to learn consulting stuff? Over the last 10+ years blogging about consulting, teaching at Emory University, and corporate clients – I talk A LOT about consulting stuff. More recently, I put 70+ videos on management consulting on Coursera here. So,...
by Consultant's Mind | Learning
Books are magic Before ChatGPT, before YouTube, before podcasts, before audiobooks, there were books. One of Tim Ferriss’ common question during interviews is “Which book do you most often gift to others?” In a similar way, I asked readers and...
by Consultant's Mind | Learning
What advice do you often give? This is one of my favorite questions. It’s interesting to learn from others. The advice is usually pithy and to the point (no book purchase needed). It usually says a LOT about the person, where they are in life, and what’s...
by Consultant's Mind | Fun
Started golfing in 2021 My dad has been encouraging me to pick up golf for the last 20+ years. But it took a pandemic to get me to take lessons. The greatest unlock was picking up this hobby with my wife – and it’s been a great, weekly adventure ever...
by Consultant's Mind | Consulting
This is an apprenticeship Successful consultants are intrinsically motivated. We value a sense of purpose, autonomy, and mastery. We enjoy working in flow state and getting good at our craft. Ideally, we get so good that new clients coming looking for us. After seeing...
by Consultant's Mind | Consulting
I am a procrastinator, so is my sister We both do good work, AND we do our best work at the last minute. Agreed, it’s a weird way to live and something both my wife and brother-in-law don’t approve of, heh heh. Yes, I have gotten better Learning how to...
by Consultant's Mind | Consulting
Consultants help executives Executives have big, enterprise-size problems, and Fortune 500 budgets. We understand the industry landscape, work well cross-functionally, dig through the messy data, prioritize recommendations, and generally help them succeed in their...
by Consultant's Mind | Consulting
Strategy is difficult There I said it. Strategy is about winning and that ain’t easy. They call it “average” for a reason, because that’s the central tendency of everyone. Yep, scatterplot. A LOT of people end up near the middle of the thing....
by Consultant's Mind | Learning
Congratulations There are many joys to being a teacher. Watching “sharp-as-a-pin” seniors graduate is one of them. You’ve finished this race, you’ve done the work, you’ve earned your seat at the alumni table. Your paid back your...
by Consultant's Mind | Strategy
Managers ask strategy questions Had a great strategy session with 30+ senior managers and directors recently. Some of the Q&A that came through the chat (yes, John loves chat during remote sessions): 1. Defining a strategy? Q: What are some key steps to take to...
by Consultant's Mind | Learning
Listened to The Psychology of Money audiobook on Libby app while driving to Florida recently. For those who want to buy the book here (affiliate link). The thesis is simple and powerful. You don’t need to be a MBA to make good money decisions. A lot of this is...
by Consultant's Mind | Learning
Listen to interview podcasts We can all agree that mentors are great. They have the wisdom that comes from experience. They’ve seen it before and they can save us the trouble and the heartache of their own mistakes. These can be people you don’t know. This...
by Consultant's Mind | Strategy
What is your key takeaway? At the end of each class, I ask that all students spend 2-3 minutes thinking of their key takeaway. This helps us to reflect on what we learned. It also allows me (the teacher) to see if there is any confusion or things to clarify. Since I...
by Consultant's Mind | Consulting
I teach strategy as my day job. I also have the privilege or working with 500+ students, professionals, grinders, learners, athletes, performers, and winners. So yes, I am blessed. During my conversations, I often find myself relating strategy concepts to career...
by Consultant's Mind | Strategy
This is something I found myself saying a lot recently. No matter if you’re a 20 year-old university student, or a 45 year-old corporate manager, life seems like it is a constant fire. Exams, recruiting, dating, conference calls, student clubs, PTA meetings,...
by Consultant's Mind | Consulting
David Maister This gentleman has shaped the way I think about consulting, client-services, and my craft. If you look on the bookshelves of senior partners at law firms, accounting firms, consultancies, they have multiple books by David Maister. Recently, I took down...
by Consultant's Mind | Healthcare
Complex problems do not have simple answers There is not a simple answer. It took US healthcare 70+ years to get this fragmented, complex, political, entrenched, somewhat inequitable, and definitely exhausting place. It will take a lot of competition, collaboration,...
by Consultant's Mind | Fun
I am a huge fan of quotes Whenever I think of something 1/2 useful or deep, I quickly discover that someone has said it with more verve and brevity. Hence, a running list of great quotes. This is not exhaustive (of course) and I did my best to attribute to the right...
by Consultant's Mind | Consulting
strategy has been on my brain Started teaching strategy at Emory six years ago. Sure, there were glimpses of strategy in my consulting deliverables, but now I am paid to think about it all day. I am either reading, talking, debating, or questioning business strategy...
by Consultant's Mind | Consulting
Really enjoying ChatGPT If you have not tried ChatGPT, please stop reading this blog post and do that first. It’s worth your time. Massive hype The amount of (probably justifiable) hype on ChatGPT cannot be understated. Heck, my dad sent me a 20+ min video on...
by Consultant's Mind | Strategy
PESTEL and Porter’s 5 Forces Industry analysis is a core part of strategy. Think of Michael Porter’s iconic 5 Forces framework. Yet, we can all agree that the world is changing and fluid. Twenty years ago, would any of us have thought: Disney would...
by Consultant's Mind | Consulting
Clients pay $ millions for recommendations Management consultants are not cheap. Yes, consulting bill rates are high, AND a lot of client energy goes into rallying the client organization for kick-off meetings, focus groups, interviews, working sessions, status...
by Consultant's Mind | Consulting
One PowerPoint slide a Day I first heard the expression “One PowerPoint a Day” reading McKinsey Way (affiliate link), many many years ago and still find it useful. While management consultants have many flaws (oh yeah, we do), we are generally disciplined thinkers. ...
by Consultant's Mind | Consulting
Not a lawyer So I couldn’t tell you the difference between copyright and trademark (whoa, ignorance), until I read this article from the Economist. It turns out that many famous works are going into the public domain. This means that you can adapt and use it...
by Consultant's Mind | Fun
Amazon needs to be good at forecasting Saw this 6 page article here on how Amazon has tweaked their forecasting algorithm over the last 15 years. I am not a statistician or machine learning expert, yet, I found the article very easy to read, undertsanding, and...
by Consultant's Mind | Learning
Yes, economists work for Big Tech Read a short, and surprising, article from the Economist. They shared these startling facts: Amazon has some 400 full-time economists on staff Tech firms hired one in seven newly minted PhDs in 2022 Heck, Uber hired a fifth of Harvard...
by Consultant's Mind | Learning
One PowerPoint a day I tell junior consultants to practice making PowerPoints. Read a simple article, group the ideas into buckets. Write a useful title. Have a diagram that helps understanding. Use data points to persuade. This is one for today. US state tax...
by Consultant's Mind | Learning
Jack Welch, ex-CEO of General Electric To baby boomers and Gen-X, this a corporate titan who’s name you will remember. He led a renaissance in GE, driving its market capitalization from $14B to $400B+ 20 years later. He famously whittled down GE’s...
by Consultant's Mind | Learning
STP (Segmentation, Targeting, Positioning) This is Marketing 101 for many reasons: There is no such thing as an average customer Groups of customers are not just defined by where they live or how old they are In a free market, customers will always have some choice,...
by Consultant's Mind | Learning
Chief Financial officers have to juggle CFOs are trying to juggle 3 competing demands for resources and their time: Optimal capital structure Investor returns Investment in the business With the increase in interest rates, I thought this would be a mighty problem for...
