The Blog
Long-form essays, field notes, and frameworks from the FIRMSconsulting team — published weekly.
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Sabina Nawaz, Bill Gates & Steve Ballmer’s Direct Advisor: Leadership, Self-Management, and Life Lessons
Welcome to Strategy Skills episode 530, an interview with a seasoned executive coach and the author of You’re the Boss: Become the Manager You Want to Be (and Others Need), Sabina Nawaz. In this episode, Sabina shares her journey from software development at Microsoft to advising C-level executives. She explains the dangers of pressure overpowering…
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Kathleen deLaski, Founder of Education Design Lab, on ‘Who Needs College Anymore?’
Welcome to Strategy Skills episode 529, an interview with the author of Who Needs College Anymore?, Kathleen deLaski. In this episode, Kathleen shares her journey from journalism to education reform. She talks about her time as a TV and digital journalist, White House correspondent, and Pentagon spokesperson, as well as her transition to education reform,…
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Kellogg’s JP Pawliw-Fry on Aggressive Learning, the Last 8%, and Training Attention
For Strategy Skills episode 528, we interviewed the author of Performing Under Pressure: The Science of Doing your Best When it Matters Most, JP Pawliw-Fry. In this episode, JP walks us through the concept of pressure management—how to reduce pressure in our personal and professional lives to better excel in whatever we do. He also…
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Harvard Kennedy School Senior Researcher Siri Chilazi on Making a Fair Workplace
Our Strategy Skills episode 527 is an interview with the coauthor of Make Work Fair: Data-Driven Design for Real Results, Siri Chilazi. In this episode, Siri shares her path from studying chemistry to researching workplace gender equality. Based on her experience and academic work, she explains how workplace systems shape behavior more than individual choices.…
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You are Winning… So Why Does It Feel Like Losing?
You’re Winning… So Why Does It Feel Like Losing? There’s a moment no one prepares you for. It doesn’t come when you’re struggling. It doesn’t come when you’re trying to prove yourself. It comes when you’ve won. You reach the level you were aiming for. You become the kind of person younger versions of yourself…
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[NEW SCRA] Preparing for Disaster Management
We have just released Preparing for Disaster Management Proposal. It is accessible within the Strategy Control Room, Advanced Level. *** The new SCRA release is an unusual proposal, but it’s very timely, given all the fires and natural disasters around California and so on. It is a proposal that we helped the client put together.…
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[New Insider Update] Most People Read to Feel Smart, Not to Create Value
Some of the most respected executives and advisors in the world have spent their careers refining one skill. One that determines whether knowledge translates into value. It’s not intelligence. It’s not memory. It’s not even experience. Yet, this single ability separates those who rise from those who plateau. Most people (including consultants, leaders, strategists) believe…
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Introducing The Strategy Analyses CoE
Strategy analyses are complicated. They are ambiguous and rarely present a definitive answer. We have to predict the future and tell a client where/how to operate in that predicted future. That is incredibly hard to do. It’s unlike short-term trading, where traders can quickly adjust positions and minimize risk. Investors often move through trades in split…
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[The Annual: NEW Episodes] They Made You Believe This Is Your Dream
They Made You Believe… This Is Your Dream The rules were clear. Some schools were off-limits. Some careers were not meant for people like him. Funding for his education was a fraction of what others received. The message was unspoken but deafening: stay in your place. Most people in his position would have accepted these…
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[NEW SCRA] Public Consulting Services
We have just released the Public Consulting Services Proposal. It is accessible within the Strategy Control Room, Advanced Level. *** This turnaround consulting proposal template shows how to help a struggling postal/freight company improve its performance through an 8-week assessment and turnaround plan. The proposal combines immediate crisis management with longer-term recovery and breaks down…
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Are you someone’s retirement plan?
Patrick (pseudonym) is a distinguished client and exceptionally talented across disciplines. Yet, when Patrick was twenty-five years old Kris and I predicted how/when/where his life would disintegrate. We predicted his mid-life crisis, which played out as we had explained it to him. His story is not all that different from many of our clients. Patrick’s parents remained in…
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[New Program] They’re Negotiating with your Reputation
People Aren’t Just Negotiating with You in the Moment. They’re Negotiating with Your Reputation. You know the moment. The meeting starts, and before you even get a chance to speak, the room takes on a life of its own. Conversations spiral. Egos clash. People talk over each other. And you? You’re sitting there, watching the…