Stuck between mediocrity and excellence

Back in the dark ages my parents made a decision to put me in a school that was labeled as "Traditional." It was a school that provided a structured teaching curriculum and did a little more than just teach to the middle.  A lot of the smarter kids I knew when to an "Open" school. This was a school where students could pick their own classes, study at their pace, and independently drove what and how they learned. I realize now after 4 decades that I've grown up in pretty structured environments. So what happens when you get put in an unstructured environment?  Confusion? Loss of direction? Confusion? Yes, yes, and yes.  When making the transition from a big firm to a local company, you try to figure out how things can be so different when you are supposed to be doing the same type of work.  You may think it's growing pains of the company.  You may think it's leadership and management.  You may think it's your fault.  But the reality is that...

In order to stay sharp, I've had to read a lot of books. I remember at one point I joined lumosity.com , but then I couldn't afford it anymore. Sad, but true.  One could argue that I'm really not that sharp because a colleague of mine gave me a rather simple math problem, and I started out all wrong. There was also a time that a Partner at a restructuring firm gave me a mini-case over lunch and I failed that too. You know the times when you're like, "Duh! I knew that?!" Well, that's me when it comes to cases or problems after someone gives me an answer. Why I can't figure it out the first time escapes me.  Out of all the books that I've read, and CDs or podcasts that I've listened to, every one of them says to "find your purpose." Clayton Christensen's book, How Will You Measure Your Life , even goes so far as to define what the characteristics of a purpose are. So what happens if you don't know what your purpose is?  Wh...

As soon as you get off the road as a management consultant in a professional services firm, I think you need to enter group therapy. The shock of what you left to what you are entering can be challenging to overcome- to say the least.  As you slowly begin to realize where you are, there has to be some mechanism to absorb the shock. The easy way to do this is to find other individuals just like you. These are people that: Did not get a role in industry at a senior executive level (or respectable title) where the role commands recognition Went to a "no travel" type of firm where the environment is not giving you what you need in terms of intellectual stimulation Are simply struggling with the question of "what do you do?," when you're off the up or out treadmill and enter organizations that just don't operate that way. Fred Kofman says this: Shared experiences forge shared perspectives. Corporations, families nations - all groups - develop habitu...

Inspiration for this came from one of my co-workers. This is good for a couple of reasons. The first is that I'm not alone in what I'm thinking. (Scary). The second is that someone actually reads my blog. Nido Qubein, the President of High Point University, said something to the effect that if you create an environment of excellence, people will live up to the standards of that environment. (That's not an exact quote. I'm terrible at retrieving information when I need it) . But you get the gist. At a big firm, you almost begin to believe that you are worth the rate that you bill clients. So when you move to a smaller organization and your bill rate is cut by 3/4, it's almost impossible not to take that personally.  There's a cost associated with the resources and intellectual property, not to mention intellectual horsepower, that big firms can give you. In addition, anyone that's taken any type of behavioral economics course understands that people asso...

The ultimate goal for anyone in a professional services firm is to be at the top of the pyramid. This is identified by a variety of titles. Managing Director. General Manager. Principal or Partner. Industry Leader. And so on.  What happens when you actually get to the top of the pyramid?  More specifically, what happens when your pyramid is constrained by geography, by industry, by type of service, or some other constraint that doesn't promote upward movement like a national / global firm can provide?  Your salary caps out unless you can expand the pie.  The top of the pyramid potentially rests on their laurels because at some point, the constraint kicks in and there is zero to little room for growth without competing aggressively and taking market share. (there's still a good living to be made when you're at the top- no matter what the constraint) The firm model becomes more in and out (not to be confused with the best burger franchise ever) rather than up or...

You have to let people come to their own conclusions and realizations.  That holds true, not matter how old you are. My 3 year old has to come to the conclusion that when he kicks a door with his bare foot, it's going to hurt.  The consultant that comes into an environment that is counter to what they expected has to learn through experience. It doesn't matter that other like-minded and similar skilled people have done and tried to accomplish before him. Everyone believes that he or she is different. "Just because the person before me couldn't succeed, doesn't mean that I can't!" But the reality is that the person before you had the same "I'm going to rule the world!" attitude - and ended up failing fast. Now they are despondent, unmotivated, and apathetic.  You can't fight culture.  So here's a thought. When someone offers you his or her opinion, it may genuinely be because they want to help you avoid the same mistakes that ...

With technology all around us, it's hard to imagine how people can fail to communicate.  I could list the multiple ways to get to someone without actually picking up the phone and calling them, but that would be pointless. At my previous firm, I remember how promptly my colleagues - the ones that I knew and even the ones that I didn't know - would respond. An email, a phone call, a text, and even a fax would elicit a response in a time frame that seemed somewhat reasonable.  It didn't matter what level within the organization that I was corresponding with, I would get a response.  Let's fast forward to today. In my current environment- generally speaking- I often wonder if my emails in particular get to where they need to go. I don't get responses. Most of the ones I do get are either spam or someone giving me information where I'm trying to figure out if I need to do something or not. It can all be very surreal because I've grown accustomed to con...