Stuck between mediocrity and excellence

If you are interested in the consulting profession, there is one author that you need to get to know.  You know how there is someone that can articulate what you are feeling or observing in  ways that just makes sense?  David Maister is that guy for management consulting.  Ironically, I was turned on to his book, True Professionalism , by a friend that worked at a competing professional services company.  It's that book that introduced me to the donkey strategy.  To say you made more money by working more is not evidence of immense intellectual creativity. In fact, I call it the donkey strategy. There are many professional services firm today built on motivating their employees on working more overtime (i.e., charging more hours).  If you've been in the business for a few years and want to build, succeed in, operate, or lead a professional services organization, I would create a David Maister library and make these books front and ce...

When you peddle consulting services like they are items on a dim sum cart , what are you really selling?  Like a lot of those dim sum items, are you selling something that sounds good initially, but over time it  tears your organization up?  Or are you selling something that just doesn't look good at all, but you know that someone / somewhere wants it -- otherwise it wouldn't be on the cart?  If you are doing true advisory work, your services are tailored to the client's problem -- provided that you are able to frame the problem to begin with. There are too many "consulting" companies that provide just the right menu items to clients that have already decided that they wanted dim sum for lunch anyway.  For a minute, just back up, look at what you are doing, and say to yourself, "Maybe, just maybe, this client doesn't need to feel bloated and dehydrated for the rest of the day." As great as the dim sum model is as a business model, it fa...

About this time last year, I wrote that clients were not paying me for my advice .  I have a point of view that as a consultant within certain bill rate spectrums, clients are paying you to "do" and not to "advise."  It's the difference between what you pay a guy to put up sheet rock versus what you pay the person doing your interior decorating.  One relationship is very commoditized and transactional in nature. The other relationship is specialized and somewhat personal.  In the local consulting market, companies are offering commoditized service offerings. There are very few cities out there that have enough demand by a specific industry where you can hang up a shingle and make big firm money.  Therefore, you have to provide a series of offerings, generic in nature, that apply ubiquitously across multiple companies and multiple industries.  Unfortunately, because you are now a commodity, whatever expertise you may have is now ...

If and when you plan to enter the management consulting profession, there is one author whose books are a must read - David Maister.  He has a way of describing the inner workings of the industry in a way that just makes sense.  True Professionalism  was the first book that I read at the recommendation of a friend.  Maister broke down everything that I needed to know about consulting in such a way that I experienced the HSE (Holy Sh*t Effect). I'm now listening to The Trusted Advisor on audible.com.  There's a lot of lip service out there from companies claiming 1.) that they are consulting companies; and 2.) that they have aspirations of becoming "trusted advisors." Unfortunately, #1 is an embellishment to recruit people and #2 is exactly what it is - aspirational.  According to Maister, there are four types of relationships: Vendors  Technical Experts Valuable Resources Trusted Advisors You can think of this as a progression a...

"You have to make it rain!"  Any leadership position in a professional services firm requires that you have the ability to sell.  Depending on what type of firm you are in, the selling style types can range from that of a used car salesman to drug dealer to trusted advisor.  And to confirm what Daniel Pink alludes to in To Sell is Human , the perception of a person in sales is predominantly that of the slick used car salesman.  Why is that the case?  The answer lies in incentives. Salespeople  get compensated on quick fixes.  Quick fixes are solved through commissions.  The quicker you can close a transaction or deal, the sooner you get paid. It fosters superficial relationships and a lack of loyalty between seller and buyer. In addition, you don't have to be smart to be this kind of salesman. You simply have to be selfish,  narcissistic, and manipulative. Being good looking also helps.  What most people don't understand i...

Why are your employees your employees? Why are your customers your customers?  These are two questions - among many- raised in Simon Sinek's Start With Why. If organizational leaders took a few minutes to ponder these questions and answer them, what do you think the answers would be?  Some companies don't even have a why. They just have a what and a how.  Even more depressing is that employees don't have a why. They also just have a what and a how. If the answer to your why question is to collect a paycheck, then reconsider the question.  Sinek says that collecting a paycheck is merely the result. Ask the question again. Why are you doing what you are doing to collect that paycheck?  For most of you, I'd venture to say that the answer is the sound of crickets. 

Why is this so hard? And the follow up question - Why is this taking so long?  Make a peanut butter sandwich. 30 seconds.  Walk to and eat lunch. 1 hour.  Draft a project plan. 2 hours. With enough experience you become very good at estimating the time it takes to do basic things.  Enter into a large corporation.  Process a service request. Days.  Schedule a meeting. Weeks.  Build something in IT. Years. The successful manager is the one that can cut through the organization to get things done. Unfortunately, it's hard to get through the bureaucracy without getting some battle wounds and scars along the way. 

When you make the transition from one job to another, there will inevitably be a pull to go back to your old job -- especially when the job that you went to is not all that it's cracked up to be.  I call this the Previous Employer Tractor Beam.  Every new job as an adjustment period.  Enter the right environment and your adjustment happens quickly -- because you are ignited, excited, and happy.  Enter the wrong environment and your adjustment is slow and painful-- like sinking in quicksand. 9 out of 10 of us probably end up in the wrong environment. (I have no data to back this up except for how many people are not engaged in their work.)  All of a sudden, every reason that you had for leaving your previous job evaporates and all you remember are the great things about the job.  The pull to go back to your old job will be great -- especially in the professional services arena. It's comfortable and you know the rules of the game. Many people ha...

All consultants have had them-- nightmare projects. Whether it's a client that doesn't want to work with you. A business problem that really isn't a problem. Or a project that is under resourced and over scoped from the beginning-- there are probably more nightmare projects than success stories that are out there. As one of my old bosses would say, "If the situation wasn't f*cked up, they wouldn't need our help."  What he didn't tell me was that we were the ones that f*cked it up in the first place. If you stay in consulting long enough, you will eventually have a project that will literally make you regret waking up in the morning.  When it happens, here are 5 tips to get you through it.  Remember that this too shall pass. Right now you're saying, "Go screw yourself! Really?!" When you're in it, it seems like it will never end. But the reality is that consulting, real consulting anyway, is about projects that are tempor...

It seems like every week that I get a promotional postcard from Jos. A. Bank.  For the life of me, I can't figure out how they can afford to offer 3 suits for the price of 1. Or offer 1 sportcoat to get 3 free.  In all honesty, I've been sucked into a few of those promotions and have my share of sportcoats, suits, and a shirt or 3 from Mr. Bank. Out of all the things that I have from Jos. A., the only things that are still wearable are my sportcoats. And unfortunately, those are probably the things that I bought at full price.  The other stuff I bought that were during a sale are either close to disintegration or have some irregularity like a sleeve that is shorter than the other.  The reason that I tell this is that there are firms that call themselves "consulting" companies that will offer you a "discount" for a "team." (i.e., you're getting a resource for a really good discount).  And just like the disintegrating pants that I b...

Who remembers those famous words by Charles Barkley? "I am not a role model."  Are you a leader running an organization today that's taken that message to heart?  In your head, are you thinking, "I have a business to run. I am at the top. What do I care whether I am a role model or not!"  If so. That's unfortunate. Whether you like it or not, the higher up you are, the more you become observed and mirrored. After all, you aren't the only one that wants to be a CEO, VP, Partner, or Owner.  In addition, the higher you are, the less you are probably thinking about the people that are observing you.  That's also unfortunate.  Whether you like it or not, as a leader, you ARE  role model. The worst thing that can happen is for your employees to say, "I have no desire to be in leadership because I don't want to be like you ."  Again. Unfortunate.