by Consultant's Mind | Team
For my last class of the semester, I share a few of my thoughts on life, work life, and generally, how to be happy. NB, n=1. Just one person’s opinion. One of the more practical diagrams is the following. On the left side is formal education = school. It is a...
by Consultant's Mind | Team
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...
by Consultant's Mind | Team
In April 2018, Tesla was at a critical juncture – oh wait, that’s redundant – Tesla is always at a critical juncture. Well, at the time, they had only produced 30K cars (as of June 2019, they’ve produced 420K+) and wanted to improve their...
by Consultant's Mind | Team
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...
by Consultant's Mind | Team
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...
by Consultant's Mind | Team
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...
by Consultant's Mind | Team
Why is consulting tribal? It’s easier to work with people you have history with. You can jumpstart and go directly to performing. Forming, storming, norming, performing This is a classic framework that Professor Bruce Tuckman developed in the 1960s that...
by Consultant's Mind | Team
Talking with clients A reader asked me for tips on talking to clients. On the surface, this seemed so basic – but for those who aren’t client-facing or doing BD (business development) all day, here are some thoughts. As with anything, take what is useful...
by Consultant's Mind | Team
Vince Lombardi For those who don’t know US football, Vince Lombardi is a legendary coach of the Green Bay Packers and one of the 4 horsemen of Notre Dame. Impressive guy. Old School. He had his flaws – all great people do – but when it comes to GRIT....
by Consultant's Mind | Team
Informational interview Of the many things I learned in MBA, the “informational interview” is one of those gems that remains relevant a decade later. Information interviews. They are simply low-expectation, business meetings with (relative) strangers to...
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 | Team
It’s all about trust I am in the people business. I teach, train, write, read, talk, record, coach, listen, and persuade . . . people. Recent interactions, good and bad For the last 6 months, when I look back on my emails and text messages with the 100+ people...
by Consultant's Mind | Team
Consulting is tribal Each of the partners (chieftains) typically have a group of “go-to” principals, senior managers, and network of consultants (tribe) who work on their projects. For even the unobservant person, these tribes become clear: He is one of...
by Consultant's Mind | Team
Had dinner with a good friend last night, and we talked about the two kinds of people you meet online: creators and critics. Think about all the titans of podcasting. 1. Creators There are people who give generously and want others to win. You can call them givers....
by Consultant's Mind | Team
In 2014, I interviewed about 50 people for positions in our consulting group. Most of the time, I am giving case interviews to test people’s logical structuring, and analytic skills. Sometimes, I have a chance to speak more openly – both the good reasons...
by Consultant's Mind | Team
“Idea fight club” I coined this idea in 2015, this was the scenario: The consulting team had an ambiguous client problem (no surprise there) and the team had not set on an approach yet. Differing ideas, pros vs. cons. It was all on the table in a smart...
by Consultant's Mind | Team
From 2015: I have not blogged in a month because of international travel, 3 concurrent projects, and honestly, some of the toughest manager days I have ever had. Got some new folks, a fairly ambiguous project, and a lack of thinking. Sad, but true. A lack of real...
by Consultant's Mind | Team
Some people over manage their careers They treat it like a classical piano recital piece where you can’t make a mistake. Massive FOMO. Yes, they think too much about the role they play, how they will position themselves for promotion, and what they deserve to...
by Consultant's Mind | Team
Consulting is an apprenticeship business Yes, this is where the master coaches the apprentice on the skills and methods of the craft. Same is true in law, accounting, other professional services. Yes, I am sure that many consulting skills can be taught in books,...
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 | 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 | 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 | 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 | 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 | 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 | 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...
