Steve Shu's Blog
Perspectives On Providing Feedback On Client Staff To Client Management As A Consultant
Dustin Thostenson raises an interesting (and dicey) question in his Twitter log as to "how honest should your feedback be of full-timers to their mgr when it is requested?"
My general rule of thumb on this topic is to:
- Read more
- 2112 reads
Candid Interview With Will Weider On Consulting (From A Customer Point Of View)
This past week, I had the opportunity to speak with Will Weider, CIO of Ministry Health Care and Affinity Health System, about using consultants. His perspectives are interesting because they are from a customer’s vantage point – not from a consultant’s viewpoint.
- Read more
- 2097 reads
Blog Interview On Consulting For Chicago Booth Corporate Strategy and Management Group
I did a blog interview for the Chicago Booth Corporate Strategy and Management Group (student-run organization for part-time and evening program). The interview (link here) covers areas such as typical week in the life of an independent consultant, common problems currently facing clients, and the most helpful MBA training I received at Chicago.
- Read more
- 2136 reads
Crash Course Consulting Reading List
Situation: You are stuck on a desert island with no lifeline access. What are the essential books and tools you need for management consulting?
- Read more
- 2412 reads
How A Consulting-Style CV Differs From A Traditional Resume
Management consultants often create CVs that are included in firm directories or as addendums to proposals to clients. The structure of these CVs often differ significantly from that of traditional, chronological resumes used to apply for jobs - namely "consulting-style CVs" are used to highlight project experience and either functional skills or focus areas. This is in line with a consultant's desire to land projects and fill temporary skill gaps in a client organization as opposed to landing a permanent position within an organization.
- Read more
- 2546 reads
If I Was A Brand (Marketing Collage)
When one is thinking about developing a brand identity from a marketing perspective, it is best to think broadly so that a cohesive system and set of principles are built to support the underlying cause. Dr. David Aaker (e.g., in his book "Building Strong Brands") puts forth a system that challenges practitioners to decompose the way they think about brand identity (both core and extended) along several dimensions, including "Brand as a Product", "Brand as an Organization", "Brand as a Person", and "Brand as a Symbol".
- Read more
- 2207 reads
Tony Karrer on LinkedIn and Web 2.0 for Management Consultants
Tony Karrer gave a Web 2.0 presentation in Los Angeles to an audience at the Institute of Management Consultants (unfortunately I was not able to attend having just learned about it that day). He covers two aspects: serving clients and reaching prospects. Apparently, most of the interest was in the latter area, and as a summary of one of his theses, I reference the title of his blog post, "LinkedIn - Prospecting No - Conversation Yes : eLearning Technology".
- Read more
- 2157 reads
Corporations Are Learning About Social Media Faster
A lot of people in Twitter circles characterize that twittering feels like the days of early majority blogging, for me circa 2004ish with an even less mature toolset (I am being generous). With respect to business use, it seems like everyone needed more help back then, as not everyone came out of the gate running. Here Dave Sify summarized the state of the corporate blogosphere in 2004. How few the companies were.
- Read more
- 2421 reads
A Damning Exhibit Concerning MBAs and Business Schools
Nail in the coffin. Perhaps not, but I'd have to agree it's a bad case. The New York Times portrays a tough canvas of MBAs and their responsibilty in the economic crises in the article entitled, "Is It Time to Retrain Business Schools?". The article starts off:
- Read more
- 2235 reads
An Example of Consulting Engagement Workstreams
The term "workstream" is often used in consulting, but offhand I cannot think about where it is defined for new consultants to reference. A workstream is not a fancy concept, yet it is an important construct that often has ties to consulting proposals, engagement management and division of labor, and processes used with the client. Note that not all consulting firms will characterize workstreams the same way that I describe them here, but I have found similar structures used in a number of consulting organizations that I have worked with.
- Read more
- 2468 reads