Stuck between mediocrity and excellence

There is an entirely different world in management consulting that I'm being exposed to and it's what I'll call, big "S". It's a world made up of surrogates (like the Bruce Willis movie) that require very little sleep and run on pure octane. It's a world where pictures of 2 x 2's, concentric circles, and numbers all jumble together to make a work of art that Andy Warhol could admire. It's a world so full of flash and information load- you have absolutely no choice but to get sucked in. Lead times are in nanoseconds and deadlines appear like ninja assassins. They aren't there when the lights are on, but when the lights go down, they'll instantly appear and kill you. Unfortunately for me, I'm one that represents what I'll call little "o." We are simple human beings that believe in practical approaches and take into account human emotional intelligence. We communicate in a simple manner with no more than six bullets and m...

Being successful in a large professional services firm can require a sip or two from the Kool-Aid pitcher. You need to believe in the messaging. Believe that you have a career path. Believe that at the end of the day, there is no where else that you would rather be. However, if you stay at a firm long enough, there are some things that come across the radar that make you question everything. If you are like me and are one of the few to not contribute to the high turnover percentage in management consulting, those questions start to pop up more often than not. Over the past two weeks, I've been getting a healthy dose of our firm's recruiting messaging and goals over the next few years to "dominate the world"... OK. Maybe I'm being overly dramatic, but I have the right to interpret a data point or two the way that I want. As a management consultant, the natural tendency is to challenge everything. But sometimes there are things that are so utterly ridiculous, tha...

A few years ago I thought about the types of things I would have to have to know that I made it. Most recently I came to the conclusion that if I had  Porsche Panamera, that would mean that I was truly successful. But the reality is that every rapper and producer in Atlanta has one and as much as I would like to be in their company, maybe a Panamera is the wrong measure for me. In my neighborhood, there are $1M+ houses and then there are houses like mine. The one thing that I noticed about the houses that are in the $1M+ range is that they have what I'll call a wrap around driveway. Therefore, my measure of success is having a house that has a driveway where you don't have to ever put your car in reverse. You know, sort of like entrances to hotels. That is now my measure of success. The cherry on top is if I actually have a working fountain in the the middle of the wrap around driveway. I believe Eminem wrote a song about having an elevator in his house. That's ridiculo...

I've never written about this. But so-called "life events" can f*ck your world up. In management consulting, being single is the best thing you can be. Some of us are lucky to find that understanding significant other that actually wants you out of the house 4 days a week. In my case, I met and started dating my wife all in a weekend, so that's all she knows. What I've learned however is that when life all of a sudden isn't about me, the view of the job and what you do really begins to change. Believe it or not, I actually do like spending time with my wife. The most time I've ever spent with her was [in this order] 1.) when I was on paternity leave; 2.) when I was on the beach for a few weeks; and 3.) on our honeymoon. So in the 5 years that we've been together, I think that I can count the number of weeks that I've spent with her on my fingers and toes. The good news is that at least my toes made it into the picture. On my current project I h...

I had the opportunity to go back to Knoxville and be the guy that talks about his experience after the MBA program - way after.  As part of 1st year orientation, the business school brings in a panel of alumni and has each person on that panel talk about their experiences and provide advice to the new crop of MBA's.  I like doing this for two reasons - 1.) I get to go back to Knoxville and load up on UT paraphernalia (with a newborn, now it's twice the fun); and 2.) I get to connect with faculty and friends and get that feeling that I had when I first chose to go to school in Knoxville. It is a feeling like you are in the place that you are supposed to be. For students, it's an opportunity for them to get advice and ask pointed questions about what their lives may be like during and after the program. One question that the panel was asked was, "What really was your motivation coming about of business school when pursuing career opportunities? (That's probably no...

For the years that I've been on email, I'd always thought that I was a somewhat humorous and clever person. I would respond to people thinking that the tone of my emails would be interpreted by the reader in the same way as if I were standing right in front of them having a conversation.  As I find out every day, thanks to the overabundance of information that feeds my inbox and my brain, some guys created ToneCheck . In summary, this program integrates with your email, and before you send an email, it checks the tone of each and every sentence and lets you know how that email sounds - from "humiliating" to "angry" to "sad" to other ranges of emotion. My take on the program is that it helps you become politically correct and it prevents you from sending what you think is a clever email that may be not so clever. What I've discovered is that many of my emails are angry and humiliating. Talk about a random combination. And talk about a reality...

Being back on the road has it's pluses. You get a good night's rest. You get to eat a good meal. Being back at work with really smart people is intellectually stimulating. My Starbucks/Caribou fix is met on a consistent basis. There are also negatives. My son doesn't see me in person for 4 days. It puts stress on my wife because she has to care for herself and a little one. It becomes hard to keep the waistline in check thanks to comfort eating and being exposed to some new restaurants. I get to deal with middle seat Mondays. At some point in a management consultant's career, the trade off between time and money become very, very real. I can't imagine (or actually I can) what road warriors did before cell phones, Skype, aol, or Google chat. That said, my wife and I set up a time where we can video chat. Unfortunately, when you get into a hotel with a slow internet connection, that conversation isn't exactly ideal. Beyond that, it is a positive to see your off...