There are two things that can happen when a consultant is tasked to work with an unfamiliar and esoteric technology. Either the consultant will do his own research, by looking at literature searches, calling experts and analysts, and by asking for guidance from knowledgeable individuals at the client and extract just the relevant information for [...]
In theory, logic should be simple. In practice, it doesn’t turn out that way. Humans really don’t seem to be hard-wired to be that logical. The ways in which our minds defy logic are potentially evolutionary in origin — the caveman who realized that he should avoid snakes probably was better off than the caveman [...]
My current case is working on high-level strategy work with a tech company, the goal being to help guide their strategic thinking as they attempt to map a strategy for future growth. The case, while very challenging because of its breadth, has been very interesting, not only because of the interesting strategic questions that we [...]
Two of my good friends have recently made very neat posts on their respective blogs. My friend S. Chen recently described what she saw as the traits which best characterize the strange quirks of the creature we know only as Homo consultantus. I have to say she nails it quite well.: The typical consultant… Replies [...]
In consulting, the client is king. The same is true for many professional services industries. It makes the job particularly challenging, as success involves more than just getting at the correct answer to a client’s problems, but presenting it well and couching it in engaging terms. While it can be pretty difficult to do this [...]
One of the most challenging things about the shift from science to consulting, or, for that matter, a shift from one field to any other field, is dealing with jargon. What’s especially jarring is trying to learn new meanings for acronyms that I already learned different meanings for. Case in point: at my firm, consultants [...]
Is that nobody knows what you’re saying because the words don’t quite mean what they’re supposed to in everyday speech. And of course, the perfect illustration of this comes from Dilbert:
Monday-Wednesday have been fairly difficult work days, as our team has been hard at work preparing for a meeting between our sexy client’s CEO and his top lieutenants — not the easiest way to start up work again after a week abroad in Japan. Today was much more laid back. We had an excellent team [...]
Consultants are well-known for their love for putting things in slide form, so how would a consultant render Shakespeare’s sonnet “Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer’s Day?” (Hat tip to S. Wang) The original text: Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?Thou art more lovely and more temperate.Rough winds do shake the darling [...]
Karl Rove would make a very interesting consultant. The man is smart and, no matter what you may think (or even what he may think) of his “clients” or his less savory tactics, he’s good at delivering results to his clients — mainly, getting them elected. Traditionally, he’s been associated with Republican campaigns, and he’s [...]