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...

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...