Concepts like MECE, Interviewing, Brainstorming and preparing the audience for steercoms, while may seem common sensical, are sidestepping professional landmines in consulting. The other life lesson on handling work like balance and avoiding burnout are still work in progress and a lot has changed since the book was written. Be prepared. Know exactly what you want to get out of it. Know as much as you can about the interviewee. Writing an interview brief for yourself is not a bad idea. When you spend more time at client location than with your peers it is very easy to lose sense of belonging. Don't forget it's the client>>firm>>you. Chapter 12: The Business Development Mindset This chapter provides advice on how to develop a business development mindset, which involves identifying new opportunities and creating value for clients. It emphasizes the importance of building strong relationships with clients and developing a deep understanding of their businesses. When faced with an amorphous situation, apply structure to it.”– Kristin Asleson, New York office, 1990-93; now working in Silicon Valley

The book is interesting. Very beautifully gives layman a glimpse of consulting. Anyone thinking of a career in one of the big 3 or trying to learn the practices of the consulting world should definitely read this book. So if you wanna save time and effort. Always try to find those 20% and act upon them! Tip 7: Don’t try to analyze everything Start with some general and open-ended questions then move on to specific ones. Let the content flow naturally. Hugo Sarrazin: It starts with an incredible amount of empathy for the user and uses that to define the problem. It does pause and go out in the wild and spend an enormous amount of time seeing how people interact with objects, seeing the experience they’re getting, seeing the pain points or joy—and uses that to infer and define the problem.

Practice: Practice your presentation before delivering it to ensure that you are comfortable and confident. This will also help you identify any areas that need improvement or clarification. Outdated techniques in some areas (e.g. Research). It could benefit from an updated version for the era of massive internet use Hugo Sarrazin: It’s helpful, at that moment—if someone is asserting a point of view—to ask the question “This was true in what context?” You’re trying to apply something that worked in one context to a different one. That can be deadly if the context has changed, and that’s why organizations struggle to change. You promote all these people because they did something that worked well in the past, and then there’s a disruption in the industry, and they keep doing what got them promoted even though the context has changed.

Simon London: Now, is there a danger that your logic tree can be impossibly large? This, I think, brings us onto the third step in the process, which is that you have to prioritize.

Topics including ‘developing an approach’, ‘interviewing for information’, ‘brainstorming’ and ‘selling the idea’ have actionable recommendations which we can benefit from by putting them into use in our own jobs. If we add the leg, which is “What’s the asset base or investment element?”—so profit divided by assets—then we can ask the question “Is the business using its investments sensibly?” whether that’s in stores or in manufacturing or in transportation assets. I hope we can see just how simple this is, even though we’re describing it in words. When faced with an amorphous situation, apply structure to it.” – Kristin Asleson, New York office, 1990-93; now working in Silicon Valley You are looking for a fun, easy read that will teach you more about management consulting in general. Make use of 80/20 rules. Don't boil the ocean: don't try to analyze everything. Focus on 20% effort that yields 80% result.