From Manager to Director, and now shaping Partner promotions

From Manager to Director, and now shaping Partner promotions We received a message in the last few days from a long-time Insider and Legacy member (see below). (*KPMG is not redacted as per approval from the client.) It means a lot to see that our work has been with this member from the time he prepared to join consulting, through his promotion to Director, and now as he advises regulated utilities and major energy projects. The principles he learned shaped two partner promotions in the last three years. It changed the course of this amazing leader’s life, and others…

Digital Transformation Consulting: 3 Challenges Leaders Underestimate

Digital Transformation Consulting: 3 Challenges Leaders Underestimate I recently spoke with a senior technology leader at a global consulting firm, let’s call him “Raj” to protect his privacy, whose observations mirror what we’re seeing across large transformation programs. We discussed the critical challenges he and his peers are facing. Below, I distill the patterns we see repeatedly in our client work and research, using Raj’s comments as an illustration. Raj started by explaining his role, "I work with C-suite executives in my organization, as well as on my clients' side, working on transformation projects and bringing up emerging tech, understanding the client needs, the problems, etc., and then creating journeys around it." 3 key points emerged: 1) Balancing Vision and Practicality Raj mentioned, “The biggest challenge that I feel is that there is an imbalance between the transformation that the clients or the leaders are thinking currently. Few leaders are thinking way ahead of time... On the other hand, there are leaders who are not so agile.” Inside the same executive leadership teams, we regularly see this divergence. The fix is a practical vision: an ambitious destination expressed as quarterly steps the business can absorb, plus disciplined influence and communication so leaders align on…

The sales you don’t want

Are you focusing on the right kind of sales to grow your consulting practice? In this article, we wanted to share an answer to one of the questions about sales in consulting. Question: Should the goal be to double our sales or increase our sales by 50% or even 10%. What is the right percentage? We asked Michael, and this is what he said: Answer: Respectfully, I think this is the wrong question to ask. You have to focus on the right types of sales. The simplest way to explain this is to imagine what would happen to your body if you ate cheeseburgers for 12 months. You would probably not like the outcome. Your body, life, routines, and more will need to adjust to accommodate your new diet. In the same way, your consulting practice will contort itself to deliver the types of projects you are selling and delivering. So it's less about getting a sales number and more about getting the right types of sales. I was once asked to help another office. They were in love with strategy work. They would try to sell projects that were extremely heavy on analytics, and the projects lasted from 2 weeks to 2 months. You…

The systems behind sustained high performance with ADHD

How to Perform Above Average with a Brain That Works Nothing Like Most People's When I worked in consulting and banking, the open-plan layout (endless desks, no offices except for the most senior leaders) was pure torture. For example, having a conversation with a colleague while someone else was speaking loudly next to me was a constant test. My attention would lock onto the louder voice, and I would miss a lot of what the person I was speaking to was saying. I did well, getting accelerated promotions, despite all of this because I built systems that allowed me to do well. I constantly looked for quiet places to get work done. I found the best noise-blocking headphones you can buy. The kind that allow you to block noise completely. When possible, I would position my chair so I was facing the wall, even if it is just a cubicle wall, and that would help me focus better. The only issue is that if someone tried to talk to me, I would get startled. I also utilized the following: - Unbooked boardrooms. - Deserted corners of the office building. - Coming at 6 am. - Staying long after everyone else had left. -…

If you think a 20% buffer is enough for your IT project, you haven’t seen the data

If You Think a 20% Buffer is Enough for Your IT Project,... ...You Haven’t Seen the Data. Strategy Control Room Advanced members can access the new IT, Digital, AI, and Cloud Center-of-Excellence, Updates 1 and 2, here. --- A vision, as wonderful and ambitious as it may be, is not enough to deliver a successful project. According to a database of over 16,000 projects from 136 countries from 20+ different fields, only 8.5% of projects are completed within the budget and on time. Further, out of the 8.5% successful projects, only 0.5% delivered the promised benefits. Megaprojects are almost always doomed to…

The superior advantage only audit firms have

There is a Critical Step in Strategy That Only Audit Firms are Equipped to Deliver ... ... And Most Never Do We just released the full new program for Insiders and Legacy members, The Superior Advantage Only Audit Firms Have. You can access the program here. --- You’ve likely seen this before. The charismatic new CEO steps into a legacy company. He promises bold moves. Announces a daring pivot. The media claps. Analysts cheer. And the share price bumps just enough to make everyone feel clever. But then come the actual numbers. That’s what happened here. A global commodities giant, one of the…

New IT, Digital, AI, and Cloud Center-of-Excellence

Your IT, Digital, AI, Cloud Project is... ...Likely Going To Fail. Strategy Control Room Advanced members can access the new IT, Digital, AI, and Cloud Center-of-Excellence here. --- You do not want to hear this, especially if you're knee-deep in an IT project. If you have spent more than a year speaking to IT experts and meticulously planning your project and about forty percent into delivering the project, this is the last thing you want to hear. Yet, you need to hear this. IT projects have the worst track record of any project, including those notoriously delayed defense contracts you read about in the news.…

Building a Consulting Practice: From First Client Meeting to a Scalable Business

This week, we begin the release of the very first documents (wrap-up meeting of the engagement that led to the new engagement and five issues meetings). *** This is for a significant and much-requested program: Building a Consulting Practice - from the first meeting to the methodology, proposals, books, and new revenue streams. Documents are being released to SCRA and video explanations will shortly be loaded to StrategyTraining.com. By now, you should have thought through the questions from the program. You should have read the rough overview of the meetings that led to the pivotal sale. One of the key strategies we follow is to work for large…

[NEW SCRA] Investor Relations Strategy Proposal

We remain focused on a Year of Consulting Sales. In an earlier post, we laid out the program and explained the five sales meetings. The documents from those meetings and the explanation will soon be loaded. We have just released the Investor Relations Strategy Proposal, the third engagement generated by those five sales meetings. It is accessible within the Strategy Control Room, Advanced Level. The full engagement from this proposal is also available in SCRA. In Building a Consulting Practice, our big theme is how we built out the practice from those five meetings. *** This proposal template outlines an 8-week engagement to…