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Succeeding as a Management Consultant
You need to learn to manage a study like a McKinsey or BCG consultant, without having to work at the firm, and develop deep insights. Now in its 10th year of publication, in its 2nd edition and having been used in over 150 countries, this book summarizes the teaching of the author and the eminent ex-McKinsey, BCG, et al. partners who produce all our content on StategyTraining.com. This is the companion guide to our popular book, The Strategy Journal.Follow an engagement team as they assist a large company in diagnosing and fixing deep and persistent organizational issues over an 8-week assignment. Learn how they successfully navigate a challenging client environment, frame the problem and limit the scope, develop hypotheses, build the analyses and provide the final recommendations.For the last 10 years you have seen us solve significant business problems and publish them on StrategyTraining.com. These include helping a bank enter the US market, merging IT companies, developing a digital strategy for a bank, launching an electric car business and more. This book summarizes the underlying process common to all those studies.You will learn how the problem statement.Build a unique framework for the problem.Prioritize the framework for analyses.Develop hypotheses.Prepare tests for the hypotheses.Collect data for the tests.Build a storyboard.Yet, studies are about managing teams of consultants. This book shows you how to use the tools, and the soft skills, to manage the study and chartersProject logicTimelinesOpportunity chartsBenefits chartsTop-down vs Bottom-up analysesFocus interviewsInternal / Client project update meetingsPre-PresentsImplementation PlanningQuick win developmentManaging a client workshopWritten as a story running week by week, the book takes you into a study, as seen through the eyes of the business case leader. You can follow step-by-step as the team prepares for the study, all the way to the final report. You will be able to see the analyses produced and slides developed.Clients who have used the book influenceGreater recognitionRapid promotionsFaster projectsDeeper insightsA sense of purposeRESERVE YOUR SPOT FOR FREE EPISODES FROM EX-MCK ET AL. PARTNERS AT FIRMSCONSULTING.COM/PROMO
460 pages, Paperback
First published March 15, 2020
279 people are currently reading
601 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 104 reviews
December 19, 2020
If, like me, you are going to create true, positive momentum and impact out in the world, the skills you will learn in this book will go a long way in helping you do that.
"At 4:00 AM, everyone is at the company airstrip and boarding a chartered flight..... Appearing from behind a hill, the Mino 1 complex is the world's largest gold mine"
"The best management consultants understand it is impossible to properly advise a client without understanding the environment, culture, history, and challenges within the location where the solution will be implemented."
This book is an exhilarating journey of a group of high-performance consultants strategizing the turnaround of a once-proud resources firm. You are in the front seat.
"The engagement room is a blizzard of activity. From a distance, the walls look as though they have been covered with bright handmade tiles. .... The second steering committee meeting will be held on Monday."
I've been a FirmsConsulting Insider and have used the training to get two promotions and more than double my salary in those 4 years. I love this book not just because it's a very useful collection of the hard skills we yearn to learn like Modeling, Storyboarding, Operations Turnaround etc. but for the not-so-obvious skills that are the reason why so many people plateau below their potential.
The good news is that even if you have plateaued, you can reboot your career.
Some people are lucky to have great mentors. Others like me are lucky to have Michael and Kris creating StrategyTraining.
"If analytical brilliance is one key building block, emotional intelligence is another. The ability to engage and work with clients who may not appreciate your presence.... "
The book takes you through the detail necessary to understand how to manage senior stakeholders, high-profile engagements, and how to produce work of the highest quality. The attention to detail, ethics and values, the teamwork, a dogged spirit to leave no stone unturned, building allies and relationships, and enjoying the camaraderie of the trenches. All efforts converging to the grand finale of the team advising the CEO on how to turnaround the mining operations.
"To usher in the long weekend, the engagement team will have its final dinner at Antiquarius Grill on Avenida das Americas. It is a spacious, elegant setting and serves some of Rio's finest Portugese style cuisine..... As the consultants and their partners have cocktails on the balcony, Marcus watches the strollers along Pepe beach and recalls the last few days... "
"The successful engagement caps a four year effort by Marcus to reposition the Brazillian office for the firm. After a slow start, results are gradually starting to come through."
"At 4:00 AM, everyone is at the company airstrip and boarding a chartered flight..... Appearing from behind a hill, the Mino 1 complex is the world's largest gold mine"
"The best management consultants understand it is impossible to properly advise a client without understanding the environment, culture, history, and challenges within the location where the solution will be implemented."
This book is an exhilarating journey of a group of high-performance consultants strategizing the turnaround of a once-proud resources firm. You are in the front seat.
"The engagement room is a blizzard of activity. From a distance, the walls look as though they have been covered with bright handmade tiles. .... The second steering committee meeting will be held on Monday."
I've been a FirmsConsulting Insider and have used the training to get two promotions and more than double my salary in those 4 years. I love this book not just because it's a very useful collection of the hard skills we yearn to learn like Modeling, Storyboarding, Operations Turnaround etc. but for the not-so-obvious skills that are the reason why so many people plateau below their potential.
The good news is that even if you have plateaued, you can reboot your career.
Some people are lucky to have great mentors. Others like me are lucky to have Michael and Kris creating StrategyTraining.
"If analytical brilliance is one key building block, emotional intelligence is another. The ability to engage and work with clients who may not appreciate your presence.... "
The book takes you through the detail necessary to understand how to manage senior stakeholders, high-profile engagements, and how to produce work of the highest quality. The attention to detail, ethics and values, the teamwork, a dogged spirit to leave no stone unturned, building allies and relationships, and enjoying the camaraderie of the trenches. All efforts converging to the grand finale of the team advising the CEO on how to turnaround the mining operations.
"To usher in the long weekend, the engagement team will have its final dinner at Antiquarius Grill on Avenida das Americas. It is a spacious, elegant setting and serves some of Rio's finest Portugese style cuisine..... As the consultants and their partners have cocktails on the balcony, Marcus watches the strollers along Pepe beach and recalls the last few days... "
"The successful engagement caps a four year effort by Marcus to reposition the Brazillian office for the firm. After a slow start, results are gradually starting to come through."
April 27, 2020
An indispensable primer!
"Succeeding as a Management Consultant" requires far more than an ability to talk one's way through case interview calculations, and this book makes candidly clear which precise faculties are demanded on the job.
I would recommend this product for three key reasons: 1) The touted advantage to surmising the requisite consulting skills from this particular work -- their embedding and expression in "story form" -- holds up to its promise and, indeed, mimics the type of learning that occurs in a real work environment; 2) the additional material included as an introduction this second addition is not only instructive, but sets the tone and context for the subsequent anecdotes; 3) the consistent level of detail throughout bestows a sense of authenticity to the (fictionalized) experiences of the contributing partners, and provides material for continued learning even with multiple re-readings.
A few questions about the delivery remain in my mind, which I humbly propose for addressing in subsequent editions. First, is the full cast of "characters" introduced in its entirety at the beginning for the readers' convenience, or because a consultant will typically be briefed in such a way before starting an engagement? The same query applies to the initial "facts" that set the stage for the client.
Second, what is the best way for readers unfamiliar with business in general to read the (occasionally) long bulleted lists of points made during engagement team meetings? Perhaps here the answer is that lists of, say, 14 items -- for example, the the "challenges facing" the client's sector in Week 2 -- are not considered to be "long" within the field, and the lesson is simply to adapt to taking in a large amount of information rather quickly.
Finally, although thoroughly impressed by the unique level of detail with which the engagement team's meetings and activities are recounted, I am curious if it would be feasible to report with even more "exact" quotations on what types of things might be said to navigate or even defuse tough interpersonal situations. For instance, the description of Max's feedback for Alana in Week 5, Day 1 is superb -- a paradigm of what I'm seeking. There, the authors could have utilized a "play-by-play" summary format without giving specifics ("Max asked Alana if she could do X, and whether she was up to Y..."), but instead went the extra mile to teach the reader a lesson in emotional intelligence and diplomacy.
I have already purchases "Turquoise Eyes," and I am intrigued by the possibility that several of the above questions have already been implicitly addressed with the new genre. Yet even with no changes at all, "Succeeding as a Management Consultant" is a worthwhile adventure into several weeks (not days!) in the life of some of the most adept problem solvers in the market -- one that, with minor additions, is an improvement over the already fantastic first edition, and one I'm already planning to undertake again!
"Succeeding as a Management Consultant" requires far more than an ability to talk one's way through case interview calculations, and this book makes candidly clear which precise faculties are demanded on the job.
I would recommend this product for three key reasons: 1) The touted advantage to surmising the requisite consulting skills from this particular work -- their embedding and expression in "story form" -- holds up to its promise and, indeed, mimics the type of learning that occurs in a real work environment; 2) the additional material included as an introduction this second addition is not only instructive, but sets the tone and context for the subsequent anecdotes; 3) the consistent level of detail throughout bestows a sense of authenticity to the (fictionalized) experiences of the contributing partners, and provides material for continued learning even with multiple re-readings.
A few questions about the delivery remain in my mind, which I humbly propose for addressing in subsequent editions. First, is the full cast of "characters" introduced in its entirety at the beginning for the readers' convenience, or because a consultant will typically be briefed in such a way before starting an engagement? The same query applies to the initial "facts" that set the stage for the client.
Second, what is the best way for readers unfamiliar with business in general to read the (occasionally) long bulleted lists of points made during engagement team meetings? Perhaps here the answer is that lists of, say, 14 items -- for example, the the "challenges facing" the client's sector in Week 2 -- are not considered to be "long" within the field, and the lesson is simply to adapt to taking in a large amount of information rather quickly.
Finally, although thoroughly impressed by the unique level of detail with which the engagement team's meetings and activities are recounted, I am curious if it would be feasible to report with even more "exact" quotations on what types of things might be said to navigate or even defuse tough interpersonal situations. For instance, the description of Max's feedback for Alana in Week 5, Day 1 is superb -- a paradigm of what I'm seeking. There, the authors could have utilized a "play-by-play" summary format without giving specifics ("Max asked Alana if she could do X, and whether she was up to Y..."), but instead went the extra mile to teach the reader a lesson in emotional intelligence and diplomacy.
I have already purchases "Turquoise Eyes," and I am intrigued by the possibility that several of the above questions have already been implicitly addressed with the new genre. Yet even with no changes at all, "Succeeding as a Management Consultant" is a worthwhile adventure into several weeks (not days!) in the life of some of the most adept problem solvers in the market -- one that, with minor additions, is an improvement over the already fantastic first edition, and one I'm already planning to undertake again!
March 29, 2020
As someone who went through an MBA program and ended up working at a Big 4 consulting firm I want to add some perspective on why I really enjoyed reading this book and why the lessons contained within it are worth their price in gold. Most MBA programs make their students read a book known as the “The Goal” which disguises key learnings for Operations Management within the form of a novel. This book does the same thing but WAY better using the brilliantly illustrated story of Goldy, a fictional gold mining company in Brazil, that hires a consulting team to help solve its big issues. This book is to Consulting as The Goal is to Operations.
Right from the prologue, the story captures you and invests you in the story of the engagement team. I especially liked how the book is written in chronological order going from Week 0 to Week 8 of the engagement sprinkling in the right contextual learnings throughout. This book really helps you think about problems differently and in a systematic way that makes sense that I haven’t seen taught anywhere else. Not even during my MBA program. As someone who now works in consulting I can attest that this book should be required reading for all new hires before their first day on the job. There is no training equivalent for the skills taught in this book.
Additionally, as someone who has read the 1st version of this book, I can attest that the improvements to the 2nd edition are incredible and really enhance the reading! For example, there are new sections on business judgment and ethics that really help put the story in context but at the same time take the teaching to a much deeper level. These principles then show up in the story and give it more color and depth. Finally, there are new diagrams added that really help illustrate the points better. A picture is worth a thousand words.
Overall, I would highly recommend this book to anyone that is interested in learning some of the most effective problem solving methods available and would absolutely make this mandatory reading for anyone even thinking about being a consultant at any point in their life. Current consultants would be doing themselves a huge disservice not reading this book. Basically, if you’re even thinking about going into consulting someday, make sure you’ve read this book twice before your first day on the job!
Right from the prologue, the story captures you and invests you in the story of the engagement team. I especially liked how the book is written in chronological order going from Week 0 to Week 8 of the engagement sprinkling in the right contextual learnings throughout. This book really helps you think about problems differently and in a systematic way that makes sense that I haven’t seen taught anywhere else. Not even during my MBA program. As someone who now works in consulting I can attest that this book should be required reading for all new hires before their first day on the job. There is no training equivalent for the skills taught in this book.
Additionally, as someone who has read the 1st version of this book, I can attest that the improvements to the 2nd edition are incredible and really enhance the reading! For example, there are new sections on business judgment and ethics that really help put the story in context but at the same time take the teaching to a much deeper level. These principles then show up in the story and give it more color and depth. Finally, there are new diagrams added that really help illustrate the points better. A picture is worth a thousand words.
Overall, I would highly recommend this book to anyone that is interested in learning some of the most effective problem solving methods available and would absolutely make this mandatory reading for anyone even thinking about being a consultant at any point in their life. Current consultants would be doing themselves a huge disservice not reading this book. Basically, if you’re even thinking about going into consulting someday, make sure you’ve read this book twice before your first day on the job!
April 22, 2020
I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book because it goes into the mental state of all of the characters throughout an engagement and is extremely transparent about all the challenges of solving a business problem. Although I'm in industry and not in consulting, I still received tremendous value for the reasons below:
1. The brief overview on Ethics and Business Judgement sets the paradigm for the book overall
2. The logic behind how the engagement was set up and why each step was taken is clear and well-reasoned
3. The book goes into winning stakeholders and individuals who are skeptical of consultants
Ethics and Business Judgement
I appreciated these passages because they expand on why they are important without trying to preach what is "correct". Ethics and business judgement will no doubt be refined over the course of one's life, and I enjoyed how these chapters discussed that these two factors would be durable moats throughout one's career. Ethics, for example, is not a measure of whether or not you follow the "law", but a subjective and culture measure of whether one sacrifices short-term gain in favor of a longer-term gain. This thinking (of which I'm familiar through firmsconsulting.com as well as the Strategy Skill podcast) impacts my day-to-day life as well - it inspires me to take responsibility for my mistakes when it is so easy to try to point to external events or even other people.
The logic behind the setup of the engagement
I love how the book goes in-depth on how and why everything is done without getting mired in the details. For example, diving into the logic of how the engagement team would like to be perceived by the Goldy team in focus interviews and the logic of why ROCE is the metric measured vs. EVA helps us outsiders understand how and why people think the way they do. In our professional lives, we don't need to simply replicate best practices, but we can apply the rationale to making a principled decision based on our understanding of how our organizations think.
Stakeholder Management
This is really hard to do in business, in my experience. Showing how the consultants manage senior leaders in meetings, and being deliberate in the agenda items is illuminating.
1. The brief overview on Ethics and Business Judgement sets the paradigm for the book overall
2. The logic behind how the engagement was set up and why each step was taken is clear and well-reasoned
3. The book goes into winning stakeholders and individuals who are skeptical of consultants
Ethics and Business Judgement
I appreciated these passages because they expand on why they are important without trying to preach what is "correct". Ethics and business judgement will no doubt be refined over the course of one's life, and I enjoyed how these chapters discussed that these two factors would be durable moats throughout one's career. Ethics, for example, is not a measure of whether or not you follow the "law", but a subjective and culture measure of whether one sacrifices short-term gain in favor of a longer-term gain. This thinking (of which I'm familiar through firmsconsulting.com as well as the Strategy Skill podcast) impacts my day-to-day life as well - it inspires me to take responsibility for my mistakes when it is so easy to try to point to external events or even other people.
The logic behind the setup of the engagement
I love how the book goes in-depth on how and why everything is done without getting mired in the details. For example, diving into the logic of how the engagement team would like to be perceived by the Goldy team in focus interviews and the logic of why ROCE is the metric measured vs. EVA helps us outsiders understand how and why people think the way they do. In our professional lives, we don't need to simply replicate best practices, but we can apply the rationale to making a principled decision based on our understanding of how our organizations think.
Stakeholder Management
This is really hard to do in business, in my experience. Showing how the consultants manage senior leaders in meetings, and being deliberate in the agenda items is illuminating.
July 12, 2020
The book received a five star rating from my side for a) exceeding my expectations with regarding the depth and the way the material is presented and b) for clearly fulfilling the authors intension to a 100 percent to serve the interested reader with very valuable insights amongst others about how consulting studies during an engagement are structured, which tools are applied and most importantly, which pitfalls to avoid along the way.
The book is actually not only suited for management consultants but actually everyone who seeks to improve his problems solving skills and deliver results that have the potential to exceed expectations through a successfully field tested, structured approach and apprpriate tools applied.
The material introduced is based on a fictional consulting engagement case. This approach makes the book fun to read without lagging the rigour of introducing the concepts and thinking applied by tier 1 consulting firms. The story flows in a very natural way and the presented material is accompanied by insightful graphics and charts in consulting style ppt-format which not only makes the material presented very understandable but at the same time shows how information should be presented to make an impact and win people over. In ordert o achieve the latter, the book clrearly does a great job of pointing out the importance of building relationships and the value of ethics correctly applied. As with anything else, also for these areas the reader is provides with field tested how to do’s in order to achieve the desired outcomes.
All in all, the book is definitely worth the investment and the time spent to read, understand and apply the knowledge presented. For the ones who seek additional training resources to profit from the skills and knowledge of top tier 1 management consultants, I also recommend to check out the online content of firmsconsulting.com.
The book is actually not only suited for management consultants but actually everyone who seeks to improve his problems solving skills and deliver results that have the potential to exceed expectations through a successfully field tested, structured approach and apprpriate tools applied.
The material introduced is based on a fictional consulting engagement case. This approach makes the book fun to read without lagging the rigour of introducing the concepts and thinking applied by tier 1 consulting firms. The story flows in a very natural way and the presented material is accompanied by insightful graphics and charts in consulting style ppt-format which not only makes the material presented very understandable but at the same time shows how information should be presented to make an impact and win people over. In ordert o achieve the latter, the book clrearly does a great job of pointing out the importance of building relationships and the value of ethics correctly applied. As with anything else, also for these areas the reader is provides with field tested how to do’s in order to achieve the desired outcomes.
All in all, the book is definitely worth the investment and the time spent to read, understand and apply the knowledge presented. For the ones who seek additional training resources to profit from the skills and knowledge of top tier 1 management consultants, I also recommend to check out the online content of firmsconsulting.com.
September 1, 2021
I remember that day, a few years ago I was really moody and tired of many things during my university days, I remember going through my podcasts and stumbling across The Strategy Skills Podcast, I remember how my countenance changed and got replaced by curiosity and awe, I have been listening to that podcast ever since, I also signed up to the FC newsletters.
I also remember when I got an email from Kris about the discount on this book for a limited time, being a student in a third world country I couldn't afford FC services, but boy did I scour for every means to find a way to buy the book because FC has consitently delivered value to me and indirectly to peoeple I have through the skills I learned from the podcasts, so it was an offer I could not miss.
I would like anyone reading this to know that Succeeding as a Management Consultant is truly a bible every aspiring management consultant should have (my context).
From the first parts about ethics and business decisions and how it linked to the relationship the engagment teams and then to the mental state of the client(s), it was very immersive.
There is also very heavy presence of WHY, why something is done, the reason behind a thing was explained all through!
The fictional story telling makes it so so interesting too! If you had been listening to the podcasts you would also notice some funny innuendos, like a consultant who knows nothing other than watching "Scandal" i have picked up over the years that Michael loves TV and the Scandal show aha, it was pleasant to notice those things.
I am still reading and cannot wait to finish and apply the things I get from this book!
It's a great book and has impacted me positively and I will impact the world around me as well!
Cheers!
I also remember when I got an email from Kris about the discount on this book for a limited time, being a student in a third world country I couldn't afford FC services, but boy did I scour for every means to find a way to buy the book because FC has consitently delivered value to me and indirectly to peoeple I have through the skills I learned from the podcasts, so it was an offer I could not miss.
I would like anyone reading this to know that Succeeding as a Management Consultant is truly a bible every aspiring management consultant should have (my context).
From the first parts about ethics and business decisions and how it linked to the relationship the engagment teams and then to the mental state of the client(s), it was very immersive.
There is also very heavy presence of WHY, why something is done, the reason behind a thing was explained all through!
The fictional story telling makes it so so interesting too! If you had been listening to the podcasts you would also notice some funny innuendos, like a consultant who knows nothing other than watching "Scandal" i have picked up over the years that Michael loves TV and the Scandal show aha, it was pleasant to notice those things.
I am still reading and cannot wait to finish and apply the things I get from this book!
It's a great book and has impacted me positively and I will impact the world around me as well!
Cheers!
April 22, 2020
I work as a management consultant in Central Europe, and I have to tell you upfront: this book is NOT your every day "how-to-be-a-better-consultant" kind of book with vague referenes, scientifically sounding gibberish or insurmountable amount of impractical cliches. It really shows how first-tier consultant firms (should?) operate. I highly recommend this book anybody who is or aspires to be a consultant, aspires to be a manager or leader. I would also recommend this book to those who wish to gain insights about how top consultants work: it is very engaging to read.
The book introduces two characters, Max and Alana who engage in an 8-week project consultant project at a fictional Brazilian mining company (Goldy). There are quite some challenges that Goldy is facing and week by week you learn how they uncover and solve problems through following their thoughts, meetings and analyses. I enjoyed each and every page of it.
Honestly, the reason why I enjoyed it so much is two-fold. First, it was engaging (I very much liked the style, the vivid depictions, the tense conversations) and genuine. It was written in a way that you could not tell it was just a fictitious engagement. It was also appealing that you really feel that the author lives by the ethics that are candidly discussed in the first part of the book. Second, it is practical and professional. Just going through the methods, thinking, analysis, stakeholder management etc. is really eye-opening and gives you so much food for thought that it takes time to digest. Best of all, I had the impression that I could instantly apply the teachings of the book.
I could not recommend this book highly enough.
The book introduces two characters, Max and Alana who engage in an 8-week project consultant project at a fictional Brazilian mining company (Goldy). There are quite some challenges that Goldy is facing and week by week you learn how they uncover and solve problems through following their thoughts, meetings and analyses. I enjoyed each and every page of it.
Honestly, the reason why I enjoyed it so much is two-fold. First, it was engaging (I very much liked the style, the vivid depictions, the tense conversations) and genuine. It was written in a way that you could not tell it was just a fictitious engagement. It was also appealing that you really feel that the author lives by the ethics that are candidly discussed in the first part of the book. Second, it is practical and professional. Just going through the methods, thinking, analysis, stakeholder management etc. is really eye-opening and gives you so much food for thought that it takes time to digest. Best of all, I had the impression that I could instantly apply the teachings of the book.
I could not recommend this book highly enough.
May 13, 2020
I have been a subscriber to Firmsconsulting for 5+ years and I have not found anything quite like their materials to expand my capabilities for strategic and critical thinking.
As a former consultant, I can vividly remember how reading the first edition of the book helped me significantly improve my performance on the job, enabling me to unlock better value for my clients. The additions to the second edition bring you even more value and learnings!
Among other things, this book will teach you the basics for successfully tackling problems, prioritizing your time and analysis towards the things that matter the most through an hypothesis-driven approach, and elaborate meaningful solutions that actually have a measurable impact.
Although these are two fundamental skills, their value would be diminished if you were not able to communicate clearly your thinking, findings, and recommendations in an effective way: thankfully this book also teaches the fundamental for effective communication through storyboards.
The language used in the book is clear and simple, making you acquire new skills in an easy, almost effortless process.
Having transitioned into an investor role, I can confidently say that everything I have learned I still use to this day to analyze investment opportunities and (hopefully) make sound investment decisions.
In general, all materials from Firmsconsulting will elevate your business & critical thinking skills and I highly recommend them if you want to invest in yourself.
As a former consultant, I can vividly remember how reading the first edition of the book helped me significantly improve my performance on the job, enabling me to unlock better value for my clients. The additions to the second edition bring you even more value and learnings!
Among other things, this book will teach you the basics for successfully tackling problems, prioritizing your time and analysis towards the things that matter the most through an hypothesis-driven approach, and elaborate meaningful solutions that actually have a measurable impact.
Although these are two fundamental skills, their value would be diminished if you were not able to communicate clearly your thinking, findings, and recommendations in an effective way: thankfully this book also teaches the fundamental for effective communication through storyboards.
The language used in the book is clear and simple, making you acquire new skills in an easy, almost effortless process.
Having transitioned into an investor role, I can confidently say that everything I have learned I still use to this day to analyze investment opportunities and (hopefully) make sound investment decisions.
In general, all materials from Firmsconsulting will elevate your business & critical thinking skills and I highly recommend them if you want to invest in yourself.
June 2, 2020
While I am not yet a management consultant, this is one book I know for sure that I will keep referring back to when I do become one. So, as someone interested in consulting, this book allowed me to draw a clear picture in my mind to questions I had such as: How does a consulting engagement evolve over time? What are the challenges they face and how do they overcome it? What do the deliverables look like? I particularly appreciate that the book includes many exhibits, which greatly enhanced my understanding.
Moreover, I found this book powerful in teaching me how to think critically, how to communicate with different stakeholders (senior or junior, internal or external), and how to manage expectations. I highly value how the book details the thought process, the rationale, behind why something is important, or why certain actions need to be taken. It brings clarity to your thoughts and helps you identify gaps in your own thinking process, and therefore allow you to improve upon. I look forward to embodying the skills and applying the learnings in this book to real life.
As is the case with most Firmsconsulting content, I believe the teachings in this book go beyond consulting; particularly around the topic of ethics and emotional intelligence. If you’re not sure whether to buy this book, you can always check out their free blog content, which is as insightful as the book.
Moreover, I found this book powerful in teaching me how to think critically, how to communicate with different stakeholders (senior or junior, internal or external), and how to manage expectations. I highly value how the book details the thought process, the rationale, behind why something is important, or why certain actions need to be taken. It brings clarity to your thoughts and helps you identify gaps in your own thinking process, and therefore allow you to improve upon. I look forward to embodying the skills and applying the learnings in this book to real life.
As is the case with most Firmsconsulting content, I believe the teachings in this book go beyond consulting; particularly around the topic of ethics and emotional intelligence. If you’re not sure whether to buy this book, you can always check out their free blog content, which is as insightful as the book.
March 29, 2020
STUDY this book
TLDR: If you're new to FirmsConsulting material (e.g. < 5 months) - Just GET THE BOOK.
This review is only intended for longer-time subscribers of FC's material (e.g. FC Insiders)
*** Detailed Review ***
At first, I wasn't sure what the incremental benefit of the book would be since I've been following many FC courses and work in the industry.
I was wrong!
The book surprised me with the level of detailed insight on what a GOLD STANDARD engagement should be like. From my first hand experience, it's better than a lot of internal training material at consulting firms, both in terms of content and delivery (storytelling aspect is perfect)
Summary: The book tells a story of an 8 week engagement for a Brazilian Gold Mine day-by-day (with relevant flashbacks)
Besides learning the key aspects of structuring a great engagement (to avoid any spoilers :) ), here are some additional things I learnt from the book:
1. How to manage client communication (all the subtle verbal cues you could use)
2. What many engagements avoid to do these days compared to the early days of consulting
3. Intuitive explanation of productivity (vs what it not).
4. Example of effective emails written for internal communication.
Tips for reading:
Use Kindle for Mac/PC, so you can easily take notes, highlight important sentences
TLDR: If you're new to FirmsConsulting material (e.g. < 5 months) - Just GET THE BOOK.
This review is only intended for longer-time subscribers of FC's material (e.g. FC Insiders)
*** Detailed Review ***
At first, I wasn't sure what the incremental benefit of the book would be since I've been following many FC courses and work in the industry.
I was wrong!
The book surprised me with the level of detailed insight on what a GOLD STANDARD engagement should be like. From my first hand experience, it's better than a lot of internal training material at consulting firms, both in terms of content and delivery (storytelling aspect is perfect)
Summary: The book tells a story of an 8 week engagement for a Brazilian Gold Mine day-by-day (with relevant flashbacks)
Besides learning the key aspects of structuring a great engagement (to avoid any spoilers :) ), here are some additional things I learnt from the book:
1. How to manage client communication (all the subtle verbal cues you could use)
2. What many engagements avoid to do these days compared to the early days of consulting
3. Intuitive explanation of productivity (vs what it not).
4. Example of effective emails written for internal communication.
Tips for reading:
Use Kindle for Mac/PC, so you can easily take notes, highlight important sentences
April 17, 2020
Succeeding as a management consultant is a book that takes the reader step by step through a consulting engagement like what would be done by a tier-1 firm. The book has two main goals. The first is to show how management consultants learn an engagement's purpose along with diagnosing the client's main problem and developing recommendations. The second is to show how and where data and different analyses are used in the course of an engagement as well as how the relationship with a client is managed.
The book starts off with introducing the main characters in the story, then goes to a chapter on ethics with all of its paradoxes and gray areas. Ethics are important given the issues that have come up over the years with consultants engaging in practices that are unethical and, at times, illegal. I wonder though if the lessons in this chapter would have been better with examples of unethical behavior that come directly from the consulting industry itself as well as a statement of the fictional firm's values. In addition, given that this chapter is right after the characters were introduced, it interrupts the story and slows down its momentum.
The next chapter is one on business judgement. The main idea here is that business judgement comes from reading about, and keeping up with, a broad array of topics and from personal experience. The broader the better. I would have like to have seen a tighter connection to the story in this chapter with Max explaining to Alana directly about business judgement and what to be aware of as the engagement starts.
The book then continues with the prologue and week "zero" of the engagement which gives the reader a sense of some of the "burning platform" issues with the company and sets the tone of why the consultants were engaged. The week zero chapter in particular talks about decision trees, how they are constructed, and how they lead to hypotheses. Both of these concepts are fundamental to the practice of management consulting.
The remaining chapters go through a day-by-day and week-by-week accounting of the engagement. Here is where the story begins to flow well. In each day of the engagement, a different concept or technique in management consulting is introduced. These range from constructing a project charters, work plans, how excel models should be put together and how slide decks should be made.
The concepts and techniques are described in enough detail that you get a very good sense of how and why they are used. I really like how the authors reference the exhibits (example figures and tables) in each of the chapters. The tables, diagrams and graphs make all of the concepts easy to understand. The authors also provide links to the project road maps on FirmsConsulting website for those who want to go into detail on anything presented. The only issue is that you must be a FirmsConsulting subscriber in order to access the slides attached to each step on the road map.
Overall, the book does a good job of achieving the goals that it set out to do. You do get a sense of how consultants diagnose a problem and figure out what to do. The chapters giving a day-by-day accounting of the project show when, where and why different consulting concepts are used. Where the book could use some improvement is in the beginning. The authors need to do a better job of integrating the ethics and business judgement chapters into the flow of the story. The integration of the chapters seemed forced. I could see readers putting the book down and losing out on the lessons the authors are trying to teach due to getting bogged down in the ethics and business judgement chapters. With those caveats, I would recommend the book to anyone who wants to learn more about how a firm runs a consulting engagement.
The book starts off with introducing the main characters in the story, then goes to a chapter on ethics with all of its paradoxes and gray areas. Ethics are important given the issues that have come up over the years with consultants engaging in practices that are unethical and, at times, illegal. I wonder though if the lessons in this chapter would have been better with examples of unethical behavior that come directly from the consulting industry itself as well as a statement of the fictional firm's values. In addition, given that this chapter is right after the characters were introduced, it interrupts the story and slows down its momentum.
The next chapter is one on business judgement. The main idea here is that business judgement comes from reading about, and keeping up with, a broad array of topics and from personal experience. The broader the better. I would have like to have seen a tighter connection to the story in this chapter with Max explaining to Alana directly about business judgement and what to be aware of as the engagement starts.
The book then continues with the prologue and week "zero" of the engagement which gives the reader a sense of some of the "burning platform" issues with the company and sets the tone of why the consultants were engaged. The week zero chapter in particular talks about decision trees, how they are constructed, and how they lead to hypotheses. Both of these concepts are fundamental to the practice of management consulting.
The remaining chapters go through a day-by-day and week-by-week accounting of the engagement. Here is where the story begins to flow well. In each day of the engagement, a different concept or technique in management consulting is introduced. These range from constructing a project charters, work plans, how excel models should be put together and how slide decks should be made.
The concepts and techniques are described in enough detail that you get a very good sense of how and why they are used. I really like how the authors reference the exhibits (example figures and tables) in each of the chapters. The tables, diagrams and graphs make all of the concepts easy to understand. The authors also provide links to the project road maps on FirmsConsulting website for those who want to go into detail on anything presented. The only issue is that you must be a FirmsConsulting subscriber in order to access the slides attached to each step on the road map.
Overall, the book does a good job of achieving the goals that it set out to do. You do get a sense of how consultants diagnose a problem and figure out what to do. The chapters giving a day-by-day accounting of the project show when, where and why different consulting concepts are used. Where the book could use some improvement is in the beginning. The authors need to do a better job of integrating the ethics and business judgement chapters into the flow of the story. The integration of the chapters seemed forced. I could see readers putting the book down and losing out on the lessons the authors are trying to teach due to getting bogged down in the ethics and business judgement chapters. With those caveats, I would recommend the book to anyone who wants to learn more about how a firm runs a consulting engagement.
April 21, 2020
A must-read for learning the right way to solve complex business problems
In a world bombarded by far too many management books that ramble on unsubstantial ideas with vague instructions, "succeeding as a management consultant" is exceptional and outstanding in several ways.
First, it teaches advanced real-world problem solving skills used by the leading consulting firms in a systematic and comprehensive way. It is like the perfect on-the-job training everyone dreams about but never gets. Lucky now it comes in the form of a book. I still remember the shock and excitement when discovered the first edition years ago as a rookie consultant working at a small Chinese consulting company. Just couldn't believe that they were making these carefully guarded trade secret-like skills readily accessible to everyone. No other books even come close in terms of depth and comprehensiveness when compared to this book.
Secondly, though packed with lots of concepts and techniques, all the contents are arranged as a complete journey of an actual engagement, divided into weekly basis, detailing daily activities. This arrangement not only makes reading the book an immersive experience, but also allows readers to easily understand, follow and even replicate the process.
Lastly, although its title seems to suggest that the book is designed for consultants only, it is actually for everyone aspiring to be a better problem solver and to make a greater impact at work. Learning how to tackle tough problems from the first principle like a pro will no doubt give your career a huge boost.
To sum up, strongly recommended to anyone who aspires to achieve more in life but feels like they don't have the right tool to begin with. This book really helps.
In a world bombarded by far too many management books that ramble on unsubstantial ideas with vague instructions, "succeeding as a management consultant" is exceptional and outstanding in several ways.
First, it teaches advanced real-world problem solving skills used by the leading consulting firms in a systematic and comprehensive way. It is like the perfect on-the-job training everyone dreams about but never gets. Lucky now it comes in the form of a book. I still remember the shock and excitement when discovered the first edition years ago as a rookie consultant working at a small Chinese consulting company. Just couldn't believe that they were making these carefully guarded trade secret-like skills readily accessible to everyone. No other books even come close in terms of depth and comprehensiveness when compared to this book.
Secondly, though packed with lots of concepts and techniques, all the contents are arranged as a complete journey of an actual engagement, divided into weekly basis, detailing daily activities. This arrangement not only makes reading the book an immersive experience, but also allows readers to easily understand, follow and even replicate the process.
Lastly, although its title seems to suggest that the book is designed for consultants only, it is actually for everyone aspiring to be a better problem solver and to make a greater impact at work. Learning how to tackle tough problems from the first principle like a pro will no doubt give your career a huge boost.
To sum up, strongly recommended to anyone who aspires to achieve more in life but feels like they don't have the right tool to begin with. This book really helps.
April 22, 2020
I have been in the FirmsConsulting (FC) community since they release the first version. This release has many updates/revisions – it is a very concise and comprehensive representation of a typical management consulting engagement serving C suite. This book also includes many insights FC accumulated over other engagements and concepts Kevin Coyne and Bill Matassoni (ex-McKinsey Senior Partners) explained in their videos. (See details at https://www.firmsconsulting.com/becom...)
Compared to the other "McKinsey Way" type of books, the major difference is that former Senior Partners write it, not EM (Engagement Manager) / Associates. The viewpoint is holistic -- you will see the full picture and associated reasonings for the actions taken, instead of following a process / best practice without knowing the "why" or just knowing superficial "why".
It is not a quick or casual read for me. It brings back the memory of many previous projects (i.e., all the tears and mistakes made then). It also helps me to reflect on my current projects (e.g., how to lead team, develop client relationships).
I have asked all the team members in my practice to read this book, especially the relationship / behavioral aspects. To my knowledge, this is the only book explaining those subtle points.
I highly recommend this book! It is a must-read if you want to avoid/overcome the challenges and develop the core capabilities required for being a successful management consultant or CxO one day!
Compared to the other "McKinsey Way" type of books, the major difference is that former Senior Partners write it, not EM (Engagement Manager) / Associates. The viewpoint is holistic -- you will see the full picture and associated reasonings for the actions taken, instead of following a process / best practice without knowing the "why" or just knowing superficial "why".
It is not a quick or casual read for me. It brings back the memory of many previous projects (i.e., all the tears and mistakes made then). It also helps me to reflect on my current projects (e.g., how to lead team, develop client relationships).
I have asked all the team members in my practice to read this book, especially the relationship / behavioral aspects. To my knowledge, this is the only book explaining those subtle points.
I highly recommend this book! It is a must-read if you want to avoid/overcome the challenges and develop the core capabilities required for being a successful management consultant or CxO one day!
April 2, 2020
This is an immediately useful book that provides an inside look at how top management consultants approach a consulting engagement. I highly recommend to those just starting their consulting careers and those in industry who want to learn the tactics and ways of thinking that make top-tier consultants successful.
The book follows Max and Alana through an 8-week project where the objective is to recommend improvements to Goldy, a fictional Brazilian mining company. Meetings, thought-processes, analysis, and mistakes are detailed in a straight-forward fashion. Much like the engagement it follows, the book moves quickly but provides enough depth in each area to understand and start to apply the concepts. Areas I particularly enjoyed were the discussion on ethics and values, the overview of building a business case workstream, and the client workshop planning and execution sections.
Areas for improvement: I would have liked to see more detail on the operations workstream and the role and work Luther is doing as the engagement manager. In my own consulting engagements, the EM tends to play a more active role in orchestrating the engagement; the book tends to downplay Luther's contributions in favor of showing what a distinctive associate (Max) should look like.
Overall, I'd rate 5/5 stars for the quality, detail, and applicability of the material. Looking forward to more from the author.
The book follows Max and Alana through an 8-week project where the objective is to recommend improvements to Goldy, a fictional Brazilian mining company. Meetings, thought-processes, analysis, and mistakes are detailed in a straight-forward fashion. Much like the engagement it follows, the book moves quickly but provides enough depth in each area to understand and start to apply the concepts. Areas I particularly enjoyed were the discussion on ethics and values, the overview of building a business case workstream, and the client workshop planning and execution sections.
Areas for improvement: I would have liked to see more detail on the operations workstream and the role and work Luther is doing as the engagement manager. In my own consulting engagements, the EM tends to play a more active role in orchestrating the engagement; the book tends to downplay Luther's contributions in favor of showing what a distinctive associate (Max) should look like.
Overall, I'd rate 5/5 stars for the quality, detail, and applicability of the material. Looking forward to more from the author.
April 29, 2020
Today, the amount of business education books is overwhelming, yet true diamonds among them are rare. Some books may have one idea described in three hundred pages, other books may bear no practical value. “Succeeding as a Management Consultant” is none of them.
Firstly, while the title of the book shows that it targets aspiring and current consultants, the techniques described in the book can be used by professionals of different backgrounds: start-up founders, SME owners, and corporate managers. What this book does well is teaching the reader to clearly define the problem at hand and think through it in a structured way.
Secondly, “Succeeding as a Management Consultant” has a robust explanation of consulting techniques used by the top firms: structured brainstorming, persuasion techniques, team and client psychology. There is an example of an executive’s workshop in the book. I have personally never come across such a well-thought and creative persuasion approach in any business education book.
Thirdly, the “Succeeding as a Management Consultant” is thoroughly addressing the connection between company strategy and operations. Comparing to the “Goal” by Eliyahu M. Goldratt it provides more details and deeper insights into the value creation of the modern company.
In summary, I strongly recommend this book not only for consultants but for other business professionals who strive for improving their business skills, knowledge, and acumen.
Firstly, while the title of the book shows that it targets aspiring and current consultants, the techniques described in the book can be used by professionals of different backgrounds: start-up founders, SME owners, and corporate managers. What this book does well is teaching the reader to clearly define the problem at hand and think through it in a structured way.
Secondly, “Succeeding as a Management Consultant” has a robust explanation of consulting techniques used by the top firms: structured brainstorming, persuasion techniques, team and client psychology. There is an example of an executive’s workshop in the book. I have personally never come across such a well-thought and creative persuasion approach in any business education book.
Thirdly, the “Succeeding as a Management Consultant” is thoroughly addressing the connection between company strategy and operations. Comparing to the “Goal” by Eliyahu M. Goldratt it provides more details and deeper insights into the value creation of the modern company.
In summary, I strongly recommend this book not only for consultants but for other business professionals who strive for improving their business skills, knowledge, and acumen.
August 6, 2020
As title of book says, this book is written and has best value for the people who are learning management consulting. The quality of content is top notch and I recommend it without a doubt.
Once you start reading the book, you will realize that the book talks about ethics and value deeply. It is because knowing analytical skills only is not enough to continue consulting career in the long term.
After the prologue, the book explains the work flow of management consultant in chronological order. You may realize how intense their weekly work is. I think it is very important to know how leading firm consultants proceed so that you can set a high standard objective.
Also, you can learn the importance of human relations and politics inside organization. In real life, resistances from various levels are expected. It is normal since people in general do not like to change. Facing client sincerely and building a trust between them is crucial. Otherwise, succeeding is very difficult.
As a member of Firmsconsulting, I noticed this book closely follows the format of advanced training program videos in the Firmsconsulting site. If you would like to know more in details, I suggest subscribing because there are a lot of complimentary contents in there.
Finally, I personally would like to associate with people who read this book and understand fundamental principles before engagement. It will be fun and exciting to work with.
Once you start reading the book, you will realize that the book talks about ethics and value deeply. It is because knowing analytical skills only is not enough to continue consulting career in the long term.
After the prologue, the book explains the work flow of management consultant in chronological order. You may realize how intense their weekly work is. I think it is very important to know how leading firm consultants proceed so that you can set a high standard objective.
Also, you can learn the importance of human relations and politics inside organization. In real life, resistances from various levels are expected. It is normal since people in general do not like to change. Facing client sincerely and building a trust between them is crucial. Otherwise, succeeding is very difficult.
As a member of Firmsconsulting, I noticed this book closely follows the format of advanced training program videos in the Firmsconsulting site. If you would like to know more in details, I suggest subscribing because there are a lot of complimentary contents in there.
Finally, I personally would like to associate with people who read this book and understand fundamental principles before engagement. It will be fun and exciting to work with.
May 7, 2020
I have been part of FC community for more than five years and enjoying my FC Insider status. Fortunately I read the first version of SAMC and now this version. This book has so seamlessly woven three basic and fundamental things required for Problem Solving
a. How to THINK " Straight and Logical" with its root in common sense and How to start thinking from the "First Principle"
b. How structure helps in " Connecting the Dots"
c. Problem Solving Technique is more important than Problem Solving Tools.
Mostly as Management Consultants, we look more for tools to solve the problems. Tools are the applied part, Techniques are the Conceptual part,,,the more polished is the conceptual parts, developing own tools to solve complex problems becomes much easier.This book can help anyone to develop techniques.
This book establishes one thing, To solve Complex Problems, its more important to be grounded on basic concepts and using those concepts to develop different techniques and frameworks instead of trying to complex problems with complex tools.
My advise to all the current and future readers of this book is to blend contents of this book with podcasts of Michael (available on FC websites) mainly related to Values, Putting Client Interest First and Storyboard and enjoy your journey as Problem Solver in any domain.
a. How to THINK " Straight and Logical" with its root in common sense and How to start thinking from the "First Principle"
b. How structure helps in " Connecting the Dots"
c. Problem Solving Technique is more important than Problem Solving Tools.
Mostly as Management Consultants, we look more for tools to solve the problems. Tools are the applied part, Techniques are the Conceptual part,,,the more polished is the conceptual parts, developing own tools to solve complex problems becomes much easier.This book can help anyone to develop techniques.
This book establishes one thing, To solve Complex Problems, its more important to be grounded on basic concepts and using those concepts to develop different techniques and frameworks instead of trying to complex problems with complex tools.
My advise to all the current and future readers of this book is to blend contents of this book with podcasts of Michael (available on FC websites) mainly related to Values, Putting Client Interest First and Storyboard and enjoy your journey as Problem Solver in any domain.
April 8, 2020
The book operates as an effective and succinct field guide towards developing and managing consulting studies. While I have a general appreciation for how these studies are operated, the book convey the decision points, logic and thinking made at each critical step. While other books may have similar content, this book conveys them in an engaging and thoughtful manner which is equally as important as the sound technical content.
As someone in industry, the book has provided insight towards how someone with general or minimal knowledge can dive into the problems, break down key issues and prioritize issues. The authors at Firmsconsulting have gone to great lengths to outline the key principles and requirements to succeed and follow up with detailed and rigourous examples through the mining study. The book answers how a top-tier consultant might think and process data and ideas, and how that translates into work. More important than the analysis, discussion about values, relationships and crisis management demonstrate the breadth of skill and savvy required for the workplace. This is a good read, and a worthy reference to comeback to throughout consulting engagements and even industry initiatives
As someone in industry, the book has provided insight towards how someone with general or minimal knowledge can dive into the problems, break down key issues and prioritize issues. The authors at Firmsconsulting have gone to great lengths to outline the key principles and requirements to succeed and follow up with detailed and rigourous examples through the mining study. The book answers how a top-tier consultant might think and process data and ideas, and how that translates into work. More important than the analysis, discussion about values, relationships and crisis management demonstrate the breadth of skill and savvy required for the workplace. This is a good read, and a worthy reference to comeback to throughout consulting engagements and even industry initiatives
April 18, 2020
As an Internal consultant for my company, I come across numerous business problems that I have to solve for my clients. One of my hobbies is solving puzzles. And I view any business issue or problem as a puzzle that needs to be solved efficiently delivering a crisp and clear solution that can be implemented to see the change that you desire.
As an avid reader, I have numerous books that talk about different frameworks and tools that one can use to solve business issues. They fall short of allowing you to see where you can use the tools to make the best impact.
"Succeeding as a Management consultant" takes you through a complete engagement over an 8 week period using the tools and the process that the big 4 would use to identify, isolate and find a solution to a business problem.
This is a book that gives you a very good understanding of the frameworks, business situations, when, where and how to use the frameworks and the outcomes you can expect.
The book is of great value to new consultants to help them understand and navigate the complex and hard business scenarios and to the people from the industry where they can use the workflows and techniques used by the top consultants to solve the most complex business problems and get the attention of the management to progress in their careers.
The techniques taught in the books can be used not just in business scenarios but also in personal life to make complex decisions.
I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to make an impact on their personal and business life by taking rational decisions using the data and insights in a logical and analytical method.
As an avid reader, I have numerous books that talk about different frameworks and tools that one can use to solve business issues. They fall short of allowing you to see where you can use the tools to make the best impact.
"Succeeding as a Management consultant" takes you through a complete engagement over an 8 week period using the tools and the process that the big 4 would use to identify, isolate and find a solution to a business problem.
This is a book that gives you a very good understanding of the frameworks, business situations, when, where and how to use the frameworks and the outcomes you can expect.
The book is of great value to new consultants to help them understand and navigate the complex and hard business scenarios and to the people from the industry where they can use the workflows and techniques used by the top consultants to solve the most complex business problems and get the attention of the management to progress in their careers.
The techniques taught in the books can be used not just in business scenarios but also in personal life to make complex decisions.
I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to make an impact on their personal and business life by taking rational decisions using the data and insights in a logical and analytical method.
April 18, 2020
In this an unprecedented moment for me while I’m writing this review.
A guy in his early 40’s who believes that there is still a chance to have this shifting point in his career (Physician).
Not to mention, being in the clinical practice for the last 12 years, yet, having hope to change and proceed.
I’ve faced multiple failures where I tried un unlimited resources to accomplish my believes to be part of the Consulting world. I didn’t pass my first interview at one of the MBB! (Something was wrong while preparing). However, I wasn’t lucky enough until I found Succeeding as a Management Consultanat.
The hypothesis that I was following is that I need to learn from the best practice (a concrete platform) where I can find my self confident enough to overcome the obstacles and succeed as a management consultant!
In a flawless pattern, the book is sailing you through every POSSIBLE as well as UNPREDICTABLE facet joints you may face in an engagement while solving a client problem.
It takes you via a reality type of consulting assignment, challenges and pitfalls. The depth and comprehensive attitude in this type of work were delivered and exemplified in a unique pattern and mindset.
This is an invaluable treasure for every future consultant. I hope this type of artistic work become reproducible!
I thank you Kris
A guy in his early 40’s who believes that there is still a chance to have this shifting point in his career (Physician).
Not to mention, being in the clinical practice for the last 12 years, yet, having hope to change and proceed.
I’ve faced multiple failures where I tried un unlimited resources to accomplish my believes to be part of the Consulting world. I didn’t pass my first interview at one of the MBB! (Something was wrong while preparing). However, I wasn’t lucky enough until I found Succeeding as a Management Consultanat.
The hypothesis that I was following is that I need to learn from the best practice (a concrete platform) where I can find my self confident enough to overcome the obstacles and succeed as a management consultant!
In a flawless pattern, the book is sailing you through every POSSIBLE as well as UNPREDICTABLE facet joints you may face in an engagement while solving a client problem.
It takes you via a reality type of consulting assignment, challenges and pitfalls. The depth and comprehensive attitude in this type of work were delivered and exemplified in a unique pattern and mindset.
This is an invaluable treasure for every future consultant. I hope this type of artistic work become reproducible!
I thank you Kris
April 19, 2020
Succeeding as a Management Consultant is a fascinating read and full of gems for anyone who is looking to develop their ability to think about and solve hard problems in a structured way. Unlike any other book I've read in the management consultancy genre (such as McKinsey Way, McKinsey Mind, Bulletproof Problem Solving etc.) this book REALLY shows you step-by-step what's involved in a consultancy engagement and reveals in exquisite detail the hard and soft skills and specific thinking patterns used by top management consultants.
I particularly appreciated the effort on not just showing you how to do something within an engagement, but WHY a particular path or approach was taken. Few if any consultancy/problem solving books ever cover this. The emphasis on approaching problem solving from first principles and identifying what is unique about the problem situation, constantly testing your hypotheses and seeking out a superior solution was excellent. The material presented is extremely valuable for any entrepreneur, business leader or consultant.
Thank you Kristina for an incredibly useful book and for filling in many blanks left by other works in this domain. I hope you will publish several more ‘deep dive’ books for us all to benefit.
I particularly appreciated the effort on not just showing you how to do something within an engagement, but WHY a particular path or approach was taken. Few if any consultancy/problem solving books ever cover this. The emphasis on approaching problem solving from first principles and identifying what is unique about the problem situation, constantly testing your hypotheses and seeking out a superior solution was excellent. The material presented is extremely valuable for any entrepreneur, business leader or consultant.
Thank you Kristina for an incredibly useful book and for filling in many blanks left by other works in this domain. I hope you will publish several more ‘deep dive’ books for us all to benefit.
April 22, 2020
Having been a technology consultant for a majority of my career the lessons learned through the Goldie story is the fastest way of accelerating awareness and insight into what it means to be a management consultant, the skills, work-life and expectations.
To summarise his book, anyone with a desire of becoming a management consultant should read this book! It is the most effective storytelling approach to learning how problems are structured and solved, teams are led and expected to contribute and finally the manner in which clients are shared information to be taken on a journey for their problems to be resolved. Whether you are reading this from an aspirational (to be a consultant) view or from a client (what do they really do) mindset, there are valuable lessons here that highlight the necessity for professionals to read this story, post haste.
Whilst this story could have been taken in multiple directions and is very informative in its wording, you cannot help but be connected with Max and his desire to grow and develop his fellowship below him! It is a lovely soft entry into what the consulting world is and could be read either to a child who wants to know the industry or an experienced professional who is looking to join.
To summarise his book, anyone with a desire of becoming a management consultant should read this book! It is the most effective storytelling approach to learning how problems are structured and solved, teams are led and expected to contribute and finally the manner in which clients are shared information to be taken on a journey for their problems to be resolved. Whether you are reading this from an aspirational (to be a consultant) view or from a client (what do they really do) mindset, there are valuable lessons here that highlight the necessity for professionals to read this story, post haste.
Whilst this story could have been taken in multiple directions and is very informative in its wording, you cannot help but be connected with Max and his desire to grow and develop his fellowship below him! It is a lovely soft entry into what the consulting world is and could be read either to a child who wants to know the industry or an experienced professional who is looking to join.
April 23, 2020
“Succeeding as a Management Consultant” is the fictional story of a consulting team that has been engaged to help Goldy, a Brazilian gold mining company, understand why production value is down and how best to reverse the decline. While a fictious, the story is based on actual consulting engagements.
The book takes you takes you through each day of the eight-week engagement in such a way that you feel you are in the room with the consulting team and gives you a window into life as a management consultant.
Compared to other management consulting books (McKinsey Way, McKinsey Mind etc.) this book not only introduces the techniques used by the top consulting firms but demonstrates how they relate in a real-life engagement. The book brings techniques such as value trees, storyboarding etc. to life by showing how the team’s thinking evolves throughout each step of the project and soft skills required to employ such tools on a client engagement.
“Succeeding as a Management Consultant” is an approachable, easy read, filled with valuable insights. Overall, I highly recommend this book to anyone that is interested in management consulting.
The book takes you takes you through each day of the eight-week engagement in such a way that you feel you are in the room with the consulting team and gives you a window into life as a management consultant.
Compared to other management consulting books (McKinsey Way, McKinsey Mind etc.) this book not only introduces the techniques used by the top consulting firms but demonstrates how they relate in a real-life engagement. The book brings techniques such as value trees, storyboarding etc. to life by showing how the team’s thinking evolves throughout each step of the project and soft skills required to employ such tools on a client engagement.
“Succeeding as a Management Consultant” is an approachable, easy read, filled with valuable insights. Overall, I highly recommend this book to anyone that is interested in management consulting.
September 3, 2020
This book is a great accompaniment to other books in the FIRMSConsulting series when it comes to learning how to solve problems effectively or to learn what is a day in a life of a management consultant.
The reader is taken through a journey of an entire engagement, beginning from week zero, where it begins with a 'burning platform' situation. And then progresses through the engagement on a day-by-day and week-by-week account.
If you have read books on management consulting, this one is unique in that it takes you through an engagement while weaving in details of when different skills are utilized and doesn't leave out the details. This gives a much better sense of what is it like to be a management consultant and how to succeed as one. It should even benefit employees being on the receiving end/participating end of such engagements. You better understand why and when different deliverables are done and how. You also learn how consultants troubleshoot a problem and develop a solution.
Another excellent read that should provide a boost to one's career, whether or not you are a management consultant.
The reader is taken through a journey of an entire engagement, beginning from week zero, where it begins with a 'burning platform' situation. And then progresses through the engagement on a day-by-day and week-by-week account.
If you have read books on management consulting, this one is unique in that it takes you through an engagement while weaving in details of when different skills are utilized and doesn't leave out the details. This gives a much better sense of what is it like to be a management consultant and how to succeed as one. It should even benefit employees being on the receiving end/participating end of such engagements. You better understand why and when different deliverables are done and how. You also learn how consultants troubleshoot a problem and develop a solution.
Another excellent read that should provide a boost to one's career, whether or not you are a management consultant.
February 16, 2021
Consulting Engagements – Demystified
One of the most powerful insights I developed from this book is the fact that the higher level consultants investing time in developing the aspiring lower-level consultants have a real impact on the consultant's view of the profession. It is interesting following through the development of Alana, and how Max takes care of her development.
It is even more interesting to read the specific words (basically the conversation) a partner that groomed the engagement partner, Marcus Capple, told him when he was just a Business Analyst about the firm's values, which Marcus took with him and taught the new consultants the same values.
Overall, I would highly recommend this book to anyone that is interested in learning some of the most effective problem solving methods available and would absolutely make this mandatory reading for anyone even thinking about being a consultant at any point in their life. Currently consultants would be doing themselves a huge disservice not reading this book. Basically, if you’re even thinking about going into consulting someday, make sure you’ve read this book twice before your first day on the job!
One of the most powerful insights I developed from this book is the fact that the higher level consultants investing time in developing the aspiring lower-level consultants have a real impact on the consultant's view of the profession. It is interesting following through the development of Alana, and how Max takes care of her development.
It is even more interesting to read the specific words (basically the conversation) a partner that groomed the engagement partner, Marcus Capple, told him when he was just a Business Analyst about the firm's values, which Marcus took with him and taught the new consultants the same values.
Overall, I would highly recommend this book to anyone that is interested in learning some of the most effective problem solving methods available and would absolutely make this mandatory reading for anyone even thinking about being a consultant at any point in their life. Currently consultants would be doing themselves a huge disservice not reading this book. Basically, if you’re even thinking about going into consulting someday, make sure you’ve read this book twice before your first day on the job!
April 21, 2020
The first thing that struck me about the book was the jargon-free and easy-to-follow style of narrative and explaining key concepts. Unlike most business books, this book is not shrouded in unnecessary jargon and acronyms.
Secondly, the book continues to highlight throughout the book the importance of values and ethics (and how one can demonstrate this even outside of a consulting setting). This is refreshing and an initial glimpse into what makes this book so special, relevant and "evergreen"
Lastly, the content delves into all facets of an engagement - from team mentoring, stakeholder management and influence techniques, to critical thinking and the nuts and bolts of a challenging yet successful consulting engagement.
This is as close as many people can get to a fireside chat with a consulting partner narrating the key aspects and thought processes behind a consulting engagement (or even a broader strategy study).
I remain keen for the next series of books from FirmsConsulting!
Secondly, the book continues to highlight throughout the book the importance of values and ethics (and how one can demonstrate this even outside of a consulting setting). This is refreshing and an initial glimpse into what makes this book so special, relevant and "evergreen"
Lastly, the content delves into all facets of an engagement - from team mentoring, stakeholder management and influence techniques, to critical thinking and the nuts and bolts of a challenging yet successful consulting engagement.
This is as close as many people can get to a fireside chat with a consulting partner narrating the key aspects and thought processes behind a consulting engagement (or even a broader strategy study).
I remain keen for the next series of books from FirmsConsulting!
April 22, 2020
EXCELLENT BOOK! Unique for anyone who wishes to solve complex problems and think logically, in a structured way
After finishing my MBA, I thought the most important capabilities were acquired during the course. I must say I was wrong, because this unique book provides supplementary guidance on thought processes that are not taught in MBAs, being perfect for anyone who wishes to solve complex, important problems and think logically, in a structured way.
Not only the book includes great materials and concepts, like storyboards or the development of hypotheses, but also provides the knowledge about how management consulting partners think through a problem, namely diagnosing the problem and developing a set of recommendations.
Ethics is an issue of great importance and the book even shows how it is a competitive advantage, which is an interesting alignment proven very important. It teaches you the fundamental consulting concepts and how to use them in a real situation, being very useful even in industry, allowing you to stand out from the crowd.
After finishing my MBA, I thought the most important capabilities were acquired during the course. I must say I was wrong, because this unique book provides supplementary guidance on thought processes that are not taught in MBAs, being perfect for anyone who wishes to solve complex, important problems and think logically, in a structured way.
Not only the book includes great materials and concepts, like storyboards or the development of hypotheses, but also provides the knowledge about how management consulting partners think through a problem, namely diagnosing the problem and developing a set of recommendations.
Ethics is an issue of great importance and the book even shows how it is a competitive advantage, which is an interesting alignment proven very important. It teaches you the fundamental consulting concepts and how to use them in a real situation, being very useful even in industry, allowing you to stand out from the crowd.
April 22, 2020
I have been an FC insider for about 2 years now and every content piece that is put out has some insight to take away. That was my driver to buy this book and to be honest I am about 3 chapters in only. I was initially thinking there is going to be some duplication in the content that we have in StrategyTraining and this book. But, I was pleasantly surprised.
I am not in Consulting, but I work in marketing at a Consulting firm. This book has already given me a few ideas to take back to my work and apply the concepts. My recommendation when you read this book is to internalize a concept, think about where you could apply it at your work, then apply it.
The FC guys explain counter-intuitive concepts in a very simple manner and this book is no different. The last I read something in a business setting was "The Phoenix Project" and now this book. This book is probably the only one to my knowledge that talks through an Consulting engagement.
I am looking forward to completing it soon.
Mahadev
I am not in Consulting, but I work in marketing at a Consulting firm. This book has already given me a few ideas to take back to my work and apply the concepts. My recommendation when you read this book is to internalize a concept, think about where you could apply it at your work, then apply it.
The FC guys explain counter-intuitive concepts in a very simple manner and this book is no different. The last I read something in a business setting was "The Phoenix Project" and now this book. This book is probably the only one to my knowledge that talks through an Consulting engagement.
I am looking forward to completing it soon.
Mahadev
April 8, 2020
Have you ever wondered what it is like to be a Management Consultant? Are you needing more help, clarity, focus, wisdom, understanding in your role as a new or practicing Management Consultant? Do you think that some things are missing in your knowledge or practice/execution base? Then this book is for you. Wherever you are in the entire spectrum, this book will help you immensely and release insights into your heart in ways that you couldn't have imagined. It is almost like taking a deep, precise, and holistic look into the day to day life of a management consultant. It will help you navigate your career powerfully, avoiding pitfalls while flourishing in your field. The language is clear and easy to follow; acronyms spelled out, and industry-specific terms were clearly explained. Now you don't have to live in the dark anymore. Buy it and be enlightened and strengthened in your role as a Management Consultant.
April 17, 2020
This is a great book if you are a consultant, but as an engineer learning how quickly grow my skills, I find this book very useful. First, as you advance your career, you need to develop different skills sets. The opening chapters in this book is worth the price of admission already as it teaches you that ethics is the most important value which is why it’s in the beginning and not end. Then as you go through each part of the book, they story parts really builds the importance of why you are trying to learn a skill. In the end , you want to use the different skills to make a difference whether you are a consultant or an engineer.
Why do you want to learn consulting skills as an engineer? It because in all aspects of your work, you still operate in a business world. The more you understand about business, the more you can get approvals for budgets and staff to do big projects. Get this book and you will be on your way to learning a valuable skill.
Why do you want to learn consulting skills as an engineer? It because in all aspects of your work, you still operate in a business world. The more you understand about business, the more you can get approvals for budgets and staff to do big projects. Get this book and you will be on your way to learning a valuable skill.
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