What Clients Really Want

When I graduated from college and became a management consultant, one of the first things I was taught was how to answer questions from clients without giving away my age or lack of business experience. “Instead of admitting that you graduated from college last spring, just say that it’s been a while since you were in school.” The underlying message was that we needed to portray ourselves as having more knowledge and experience than we actually did. That carried over into our work.

The Corporate Flu Season

This has been a big year for the flu, and my family was certainly not spared from it. It was a long and painful Fall in our house, though we seem to be largely recovered, thank God. Now, if you’re anything like me, when you get sick you find yourself yearning desperately to be healthy again. You pledge that when you get better you’re really going to appreciate your health, not take it for granted. And if you’re anything like me, when you do get better, you too easily forget how you felt when you were ill and eventually start doing the same things – eating poorly, working too hard, staying up too late at night, forgetting to take vitamins &ndash that make you susceptible to catching the next flu bug that comes around.

The Enemy of Innovation and Creativity

Maybe it was just the kind of kid I was, but I’m guessing that most children are constantly reminded by adults to be more efficient. Maybe not exactly in those words. More likely it comes in the form of phrases like “don’t be late”, “use your time wisely”, “don’t waste money” or even “turn off the lights when you leave a room”. And while it’s difficult to argue with a parent’s or teacher’s or coach’s motivation for instilling these principles in the youngsters they’re responsible for, there comes a time in life—especially in certain situations—when those very traits become problematic.

Diversity’s Missing Ingredient

When it comes to tapping into the competitive advantage of diversity, few companies succeed. Yesterday I was reminded why. Our firm was having a meeting to discuss important elements of our strategy and marketing efforts, when something really great happened—we got into an argument. Not a disagreement. A loud, contentious, uncomfortable and passionate argument. On one side of the battle was a pair of our team members who were arguing their point based on a very accurate and literal interpretation of something we had decided months earlier.

Mission or Performance: The False Dilemma

During a recent plane ride, I found myself sitting next to a former colleague from my first job as a management consultant. Actually, he was the leader of the consulting firm where I worked, but he’s now running a different consulting firm that focuses on non-profits. After having the inevitable conversation about the differences between consulting to for-profits and not-for-profits (I’ll call them FPs and NFPs), a question occurred to me: why do we make such a distinction between the two? The only real distinction between them is a financial/legal one.