When I was an associate and had just joined the firm from a boutique firm, many of my colleagues from the boutique firm were also looking for new roles. Some of them were outstanding and others were terrible. Shortly after I joined the firm it was announced that some of the terrible consultants had been made offers to join the firm.
In this podcast I explain why I resigned, how the firm reacted and what both actions tell us about how we should make career choices.
It is never ever about the money. If you choose money in the short-term, you will be less wealthy in the long-term, and vice-versa.
SIGN UP FOR EMAIL UPDATES HERE & RECEIVE FREE CASE INTERVIEW TRAINING
COME HANG OUT WITH US: Facebook / Twitter / LinkedIn
Have you ever applied to a firm that wants you to interview with 7 to 12 people? They will tell you this is because they are careful or because everyone must have a say in the decision. None of that is true.
In this podcast we explain why the need for multiple interviews is a symptom of a firm that does not know what it wants and therefore cannot make a decision. Increasing the number of interviewers simply removes the accountability from any one person for making a decision, because, with no clear guidelines, no one can or wants to make a decision.
It is easier to be part of 12 people making a decision versus being the sole arbiter whom will be accountable. No one wants that burden when the goalposts keep moving.
When Booz was acquired by PwC, many consultants joined rival firms. BCG Middle East was a major recipient of Booz employees. In this podcast we explain a promotion tenure limit imposed by the BCG Middle East practice, which we believe was driven by the hiring of so many Booz consultants, and, with greatest respect to BCG, hurts the firm and its culture.
We discuss the policy, why it defeats the principle of demonstrated competency and why it implies that BCG Middle East values the opinions of another firm disproportionately. We feel this policy should change.
Too many clients panic when they are managed out of McKinsey, BCG or Bain. They assume the worst and imagine a tattered reputation. This could not be further from the truth.
In this podcast we explain why it is in McKinsey’s and BCG’s best interest to never disclose you were managed out. It is part of their business models that the market never knows you may have been the world’s most ridiculous consultant.
So, if you are being managed out, relax. You will be ok.
SIGN UP FOR EMAIL UPDATES HERE & RECEIVE FREE CASE INTERVIEW TRAINING
In this podcast we discuss the most recent experiences of Sveta, a scholarship holder in our Emerging Fellows program. Sveta hails from a tiny village in the far north-east of Siberia. We helped her join the #1 school in Moscow, moved her to a Grand Ecole in France and she recently joined MBB.
In this podcast we discuss the obligations of the Fellows to spend at least 2 months per annum in their home countries to help with critical development issues. You will find that it takes an enormous amount of influencing to make this happen, and that is normal. Sveta is like any young adult. She wants it all, and we just need to guide her along.
NOTE: Please note that we always change some of the details about clients to protect their identities.
SIGN UP FOR EMAIL UPDATES HERE & RECEIVE FREE CASE INTERVIEW TRAINING
Related:
- What is comparative advantage in your career
- You can find related videos here: Strategy Library
Related:
- Live-blogging a Financial Service Stratey Study
- You can find related video here: Strategy Library
Related:
- Live-blogging a Financial Service Stratey Study
- You can find related video here: Strategy Library
Related:
Learn more about consulting from our leadership publicationFirmsconsulting Quarterly
Related:
- You learn amazing details from our Live-blogging a Financial Service Stratey Study
- You also learn financial modeling with videos and ppts from our Strategy Library
- You learn about LAB study from our Live-blogging a Financial Service Stratey Study
- You also learn financial modeling with videos and ppts from our Strategy Library
Related: You can find previous in-depth discussion and comments on our site.
This podcast explains the 4 capabilities a firm must have and how to use them:
(1) Values
(2) Strategy approach
(3) Analytics
(4) Ability to draw insights
We can all agree that everyone is obsessed with the analytics at their peril. Tier-2 firms are truly shocked when they apply the same analytics as McKinsey but get a different result and still cannot raise their standing in a client's eyes. There is a reason for that.
Related:
- Interview a Deloittee Strategy and Operation Principal
- Deloitte IT Strategy and McKinsey BTO
In fact, you will see that a leader in a consulting organization can be as young as an analyst and a partner may not be a leader. In fact the level of candor between you and the existing leadership is the only measure that matters. This podcast explains this concept with various examples
Related:
- Competing with a high performing consultant
- Learn all about consulting from our Consulting Offer
Learn more about the consulting EQ here
Related:
- Detailed videos about consulting EQ (managing, communication, motivating, coaching and mentoring clients and consultants) can be found in our detailed corporate strategy training library
In this podcast I explain how the opportunity for sell-on strategy work is evolving at LAB, the financial services client whose strategy study we are live-blogging, and how an elite firm would handle the situation.
It has nothing to do with sales.
Related:
- Learn more about strategy from our corporate strategy training
- strategy library
we have up on the site.
They assume that the study will not train them about corporate strategy since it is about corporate strategy for technology company. That is major flaw.
This podcast elaborates on some of these reasons:
1. Every corporate strategy study must be done for a client in a sector. Therefore it is impossible to find corporate strategy training which is generic - that is, not specific to a sector.
2. The thinking, techniques and training applied to one sector is designed to be applied to any sector.
3. Even if you worked in financial services and we loaded the financial services strategy study shortly, a sector is so large, the study may not even touch the issues you want to learn - therefore focus on the techniques used versus trying to copy content across for your own studies. Do not get into the habit of simply copying analyses.
This is a real study, done for a real client with a real team of consultants led by Firmsconsulting. Once the study is done, we will post the findings and detailed guide using the map format used for the corporate strategy study training.
This podcast is a wrap-up of the week. We remind readers of the strategy we followed, all the goals we set for the week, our progress against those goals and our key findings thus far. We also discuss a potential scope change and how we will handle that.
It is has been a great week and we wrap up things in New Mexico where the team is conducting more shadow studies / day-in-the-life-of studies of distribution financial intermediary in the border town of Columbus. Related:
- Learn more about financial analysis in our strategy library
It is not.
America has been here before. In fact America has been here 4 times in its history and each time the American model of government, system of capital allocation and creativity helped the country reinvent itself.
In the next 18 months, Firmsconsulting will be leading 5 sweeping studies, at real clients, to find solutions to issues which impede US productivity growth. The detailed findings and extensive training videos to help you replicate such a study will be released once the studies are done.
We will be bold and analyze some of the most vital and controversial issues including healthcare, immigration and the role of government.
This podcast discusses the theme, training material and topic in more detail. Welcome to the era of America Renewed.
Expect a few podcasts this week since I am leading the onboarding training and it is much quicker, and less rude, to prepare podcasts versus typing up updates in front of the interns.
Next week, I will shift back to more written updates with a few podcasts and videos thrown in.
Note that this study and the underlying issue of the economics of small business loans is a complex topic. It is best to read the live blog from the beginning to see how we have thought through the issue and structured the team to analyses the hypotheses.
Related:
- You can read about strategy related articles from our Quarterly
- Learn more about financial analysis in our strategy library