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...
by Consultant's Mind | Fun
We all complain Anyone used to living the good life – yes, including consultants – can find things to be unhappy about, even in the best of circumstances. It’s human nature. It’s first world problems. We should be grateful It’s my...
by Consultant's Mind | Graphics
Bain & Company is known for big thinking This 44 page report is no exception. Bain reviews eight global trends that will each generate a $ trillion+ of growth. Trillion with a T. Look at the concepts below, and you can see this big-think, Alvin Toffler-type...
by Consultant's Mind | Learning
Went on a 6 mile run It was cathartic, and just what I needed before my client meeting this morning. The weather was awesome, and my (somewhat) crappy hotel was actually right by a lake with tons of bridges, boats, and bi-planes. See some of the pics below. Power of...
by Consultant's Mind | Consulting
Case interview If you are an undergraduate or MBA student who wants to get a consulting offer, you better do well on the case interview. If you ran a regression on consulting offers and good case interviews, the correlation would be 0.7 or higher. In non-geek terms,...
by Consultant's Mind | Fun
Jeff Bezos is clearly not your typical guy Valedictorian of his high school class, summa cum laude in electrical engineering from Princeton, ex-hedge fund manager. Starts online bookstore, but then grows it into the largest online retailer. Takes Amazon.com public in...
by Consultant's Mind | Team
Teams are not always great I recently wrote about how consulting is a team sport, but I also wanted to share some caveats. It’s not always rainbows and cute ponies. #1: Working with new people In consulting, you work with smart and diverse people, but they are...
by Consultant's Mind | Consulting
14th Annual report Boston Consulting Group (BCG) released their 14th annual report on total shareholder value (TSR). It was worthwhile read, even if you are not in corporate finance. They talk about global trends in economics, capital flows, investor expectations and...
by Consultant's Mind | Team
Consulting is a team sport One of the best things about consulting – and project work more generally – is that it’s a team sport. There is a goal. People have different roles. You don’t have to be good at everything, but you do need the right...
by Consultant's Mind | Learning
Detroit’s bankruptcy is sad for 2 reasons It shows the decline of one of America’s great manufacturing cities, and also augurs what will likely happen to many more US cities, counties, and states in the future. Governments are bankrupt everywhere. Without...
by Consultant's Mind | Learning
GDP = C+I+G+NX Sadly, that is the only formula I remember from my undergraduate macroeconomics class, but thankfully, it is the most important one. The Gross Domestic Product = Consumption + Investment + Government + Net Exports (Export-Imports). It’s worth...
by Consultant's Mind | Fun
Seems simple enough Consultants are in the business of making other people successful. Yes, consultants make a good salary, and yes, they do have some power on projects. Fundamentally though, it is not about them. It is about the clients. Good consulting habits. This...
by Consultant's Mind | Fun
It was a rough week. Started last Saturday with multiple conference calls, and one week later, at 1am the following Sunday (8 days later), still going strong. Sometimes, not glamorous I slept 4 hours a night for the last 8 days. I told my consulting partner that it...
by Consultant's Mind | Learning
Peter Drucker Peter Drucker is a legend in business and management thinking. He passed away in 2005, after writing almost 40 books, teaching extensively and consulting people like Procter and Gamble’s A.G. Lafley, GE’s Jack Welch, and Intel’s Andy...
by Consultant's Mind | Fun
Proud to be an American The US is a truly blessed country, and it is no surprise that the waiting list for green card averages six years (depends on the country of origin). Supply and demand. People want to live here. People want to be American. “If you are born...
by Consultant's Mind | Fun
Consultants are cartographers Maps contain a lot of information in a small amount of space. It shows trends, and is usually a very memorable, visual way to see information. Here are 3 maps of the USA that I saw mashed up. . Companies by state This is by Steve...
by Consultant's Mind | Consulting
Accenture’s (ACN) reported Q3 earnings on Thursday (6/27). Revenues were basically flat at $7.2 billion, and net profits jumped up nicely to $810 million. It wasn’t all good news though. ACN said that bookings were slowing down to 3-4% YoY. No surprise...
by Consultant's Mind | Fun
It’s a late night I am working at 2am, which is actually not that unusual with management consulting. Here are some of the many reasons why a consultant might be working this late: Some good reasons: Time zone change. You fly into NYC from the West Coast....
by Consultant's Mind | Learning
I first heard the phrase “Culture Trumps Strategy” in 2008. Intuitively this makes sense. Culture lasts. Culture is everywhere. Employees don’t need online training to understand it. It’s who we are. It’s what we stand for. It’s why...
by Consultant's Mind | Consulting
BAH is a reputable firm Booz Allen Hamilton is a reputable consulting firm, well-known for it’s deep relationship with the US government. As the news reminds us, it has not been a good week for BAH. Edward Snowden One of its employees, Edward Snowden admitted to...
by Consultant's Mind | Consulting
Have you seen a TED video? If not, you should stop reading this blog right now. Instead, go to www.TED.com and watch any of the 1,400+ videos. They are all less than 18 minutes long and completely worth your time. Very thought-provoking. For those who watch TED, we...
by Consultant's Mind | Fun
Traveling is an ugly part of consulting No pretty way to say this, but traveling can be a bummer. Many consulting firms travel 50-80% of the time Mon-Thu to client sites. Awesome when you are young and mobile. Eager to see the world. A bit crappy if you are married...
by Consultant's Mind | Learning
Consulting is stressful Traveling in a middle seat. Creating presentations from an empty, white PowerPoint template. Working with a new team. Meeting new clients. Learning on the job. Crunching data in a hotel room. Reworking data that was bad. Yes, consulting is a...
by Consultant's Mind | Consulting
Recently gave a talk on the topic of networking. It’s a vast topic that we universally agree is important, yet few of us really excel at. Books and books have been written on the topic, but here is my take: heart has to be the right place There are lots of...
by Consultant's Mind | Consulting
Management consulting Continues to do well. The Economist posted this chart last week which shows that McKinsey, Bain, and BCG all grew by double digits in 2011. The revenue trend is clearly up. Bain grew by 17% YoY. The consulting outlook is good. Companies are...
by Consultant's Mind | Consulting
We are in the influence business Just like anyone who sells services to clients – markers, bankers, consultants, dentists, plumbers – we influence clients to do things we think is in their best interest. It’s harder than it sounds because: We are...
by Consultant's Mind | Learning
I read this book in June 2002 by David H. Freedman. It was the year before I went to MBA, and it made an impression on me. I remember telling the HR director about it, and then seeing quotes from the book in one his presentations. Whether you are a hawk or a dove...
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
“It Depends” This is a phrase you hear a lot in both business school and management consulting. As weird as seems, it is often the best short-answer to give a client. A boring half-answer? To some this may come across as timid or mentally lazy. As if...
by Consultant's Mind | Fun
“Excellence is a habit” Apparently that is something Aristotle said. If we are what we repeatedly do, then you are not “excellent” once, by chance, but by training, diligence, muscle memory, and habit. Anders Ericsson talked about...
by Consultant's Mind | Consulting
Consultants (Keep) revising their work Yes, the end product tends to be high-quality because a lot of smart people have spent A LOT of time on it. Looking at recent files saved on my laptop, I see some with pretty absurd file titles like: ABC_phase 1_02082013 10pm...
by Consultant's Mind | Consulting, Fun
Yes, I was delayed 7 hours before. . . In 2013, I had a flight schedule to leave at 4:45 that left at 12:30am. There were 58 people on the standby list. During this horrific wait at O’Hare, I had the good fortune of traveling with a work colleague. We talked,...
by Consultant's Mind | Learning
I got my MBA many years ago. It was a good use of my time, attention, and money. That said, there are a lot of skeptics out there, and they have good reasons. 3 Cons of the MBA Inflation. Typically the more of something there is – all things being equal –...
by Consultant's Mind | Fun
Started writing this blog a year ago At the time I had no idea where it would lead, but after 40,000+ words I still enjoy the work. As consultants, we are paid by to think rigorously and creatively through problems – and yet, it’s a shame there is not a...
by Consultant's Mind | Learning
Not sure how this happens, but the entire developed world is in debt. Europe, the US, and Japan have borrowed so much money that they are headed towards ruin. The Boston Consulting Group even went so far as to call it the biggest Ponzi finance scheme in history. That...
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
Went to an improv theater recently. Had a a great time and laughed a lot. It made me ask: What can consultants learn from Improv? My first reaction to the question was dismissive. After all, improv is about entertaining the audience, making things up, and generally...
by Consultant's Mind | Fun
Thought a lot about leadership recently and ran across these leadership quotations. . . What is leadership? “Leadership is influence” – John Maxwell “Motivation is the art of getting people to do what you want them to do because they want to...
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
Messy processes everywhere SIPOC is not a nice sounding acronym, but it’s a useful way to think through problems. Clients often present consultants with complex processes that seemingly don’t have a start or a finish. They go on-and-on. They are...
by Consultant's Mind | Learning
Two months ago I didn’t know what a M-O-O-C was. Now, I am convinced it will be the juggernaut that disrupts higher education. For the last 20 years, traditional universities have only given lip-service to online education. They may have put out a few extension...
by Consultant's Mind | Learning
It tax time and there are usually few things to be happy about. One of the small things is the tax-deduction from charitable gifts. For many of us, we get to enjoy the donations twice – once when we make the gift, and another time when we deduct it from our...
by Consultant's Mind | Fun
Superbowl Sunday. For many in the US, there are only 2 parts of the day. Getting ready for the Superbowl, then watching it. Interestingly, most people don’t care who wins, and a large number of people are just watching for the ads. (66% female and 47% males say...
by Consultant's Mind | Learning
Amazon reported 2012 Q4 earnings on Tuesday. Q4 revenues soared to $21 billion, up 22% Y-o-Y. Net income was a dramatically different story at $97 million. Looking at the net margin, it comes out to about 0.5%. It reminds you of the imaginary quote “Don’t...
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 | Learning
In 2013, PricewaterhouseCoppers (PwC) published its 16th annual global CEO survey. It’s a hefty survey with responses from 1,300+ CEOs across 68 countries. To me, this type of survey is very credible. CEOs suffer from the herd mentality like any of us do, but...
by Consultant's Mind | Learning
I recently read the 2008 best-seller Nudge (affiliate link) and was surprised to discover how many of our so called “decisions” are actually default choices, illusions, and mental rules of thumb. We are educated to believe that individuals are rationale...
by Consultant's Mind | Graphics
Graphics tell a lot story in a little space It’s descriptive without being prescriptive. For some fun examples look at http://thisisindexed.com/. It’s a blog that Jessica Hagy has diligently been posting since 2006. She hand-draws simple graphics that...
by Consultant's Mind | Graphics
Visual.ly is a website that showcases thousands of infographics where data is displayed in unique and fun ways. For consultants who are in the business of telling stories with data, it is worth a few minutes of your time. Consulting presentations are simpler 90%+ of...
by Consultant's Mind | Learning
Stanford = engineering + venture capital We all know Stanford was the birthplace of HP, Cisco, Google, Yahoo. Did you know that in a 2011 survey, it was determined that 39K+ companies can trace their roots to the school. If those companies formed a country, it would...
