Kennedy Corner
»Kennedy Corner: Roles and Responsibilities
I’m a college hoops fan. During the hysteria, I connected with several colleagues to discuss the games; some of these friends are client-facing consultants, others serve supporting roles inside their firms. We talked quite a bit about different players’ abilities, and how certain players can thrive under one coach’s system, but probably would only see the end of the bench in another program.
»Kennedy Corner: Keep Your Friends Close
Because of the power advisors wield, clients often feel beholden to their consultants. As a result, consultants have what I call a Don Corleone relationship with their clients: “Someday,” says the Godfather/Consultant, “and that day may never come, I will call upon you to do a service for me.”
»Kennedy Corner: Do Your Roots Determine Your Future?
This time of year, I’m planning my annual pilgrimage to a handful of business schools. It’s part of my give-back in terms of helping educate future practitioners. The forums are extremely satisfying—I provide insights on an industry that will employ more than a third of those graduates; and the students ask questions that more seasoned professionals would never deign to consider.
»Kennedy Corner: House of Lies—What’s in a Name?
Many of you have probably watched the new Showtime series, “House of Lies.” The black comedy’s portrayal of management consultants makes me blush. At least the guys and gals in AMC’s 1960s-era Mad Men look cool sipping martinis and smoking unfiltered Lucky Strikes. The “Lies” cast can’t pull off the same with their money-grubbing soullessness, and brilliant-but-vacuous characterizations of blood-sucking consultants.
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Interviews
»One on One with Strong-Bridge’s Ken Simpson
Based in Seattle, Strong-Bridge Consulting has a hand in some pretty hot-moving industries: from Telecommunication to Consumer Electronics to Healthcare and Financial Services. As key players in the industries shake off the last remnants of the Great Recession hangover, Strong-Bridge has found clients are once again kicking it into high gear, pushing products and services into the rebounding marketplace. Consulting One on One sat down to discuss it all with co-founder and CEO Ken Simpson.
»One on One with L.E.K. Consulting’s Stuart Jackson
Stuart Jackson, recently named President of North America for L.E.K. Consulting, has been with the firm for 25 years, and watched it grow from a young yet capable firm brimming with confidence to a proven entity with seven offices around the world. L.E.K. is focused on helping clients find something that has eluded even successful companies: growth.
»One on One with Aspen Advisors’ Dan Herman
When Dan Herman founded IT/Healthcare consulting firm Aspen Advisors in 2006, he set out to create a firm that would help executives make difficult decisions and manage large-scale technology-enabled projects, particularly on the clinical side, where Aspen strives to help healthcare providers reduce costs and improve patient care.
»One on One with Peppers & Rogers Group’s Orkun Oguz
How well companies adapt to the changing social landscape and harness the power of social media could mean the difference between making a meaningful and lasting connection with clients, and being passed over for a company that actually listens. Peppers & Rogers Group, which has long been a thought leader on the importance of treating customers as individuals, launched the Mobile App Index, which aims to help companies ensure their social media interactions with customers are a conversation, not a one way street.
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Cmag.com Exclusives
»Your Project Planning Processes May Be Causing You Unneeded Stress
If you are an executive in a professional services organization, then a few minutes spent on this article may reduce your daily stress by 15 percent. I am sure you will agree that projects that go bad (and cause you immense stress) do so because they were not planned very well to begin with. Planning a professional services project is the most important and challenging part of the engagement life cycle.
»Pause and Rethink; Pivot your Startup
While launching a venture, majority of the times the things do not go as expected. When the going gets tough, work on course correction or what is called “Pivoting” in the world of start-ups.
»Corporate Real Estate and Facilities Management Trends for 2012
Observations, discussions and market research, suggest that 2012 promises to be a year of contradictions, uncertainty, and also of increasing optimism in many industries, including Corporate Real Estate and Facilities Management.
»Who Needs an External IT Service Provider?
There are many things to look for when selecting an IT service provider, but the most important questions to ask yourself are: What do we need? Why do we need it? How can they help?
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»One on One with Loft9's Mark Birzell
 Starting a new firm in the worst downturn the profession has seen in at least 40 years isn’t easy. Starting a new firm to compete with single-shingle and 1099 body shops has inherent risks, too. But so far so good for Loft9 co-founders Ed Beals and Mark Birzell. To learn more about the firm’s unique model, Consulting’s One-on-One recently sat down with Birzell. Consulting: What gave you the idea to want to start your own firm?
Birzell: Ed and I were leaders in business development and client delivery programs at our prior firm [Point B] and saw a high volume of client needs that was being filled by single-shingle or 1099 shops. These projects didn’t require big teams or much senior-level talent, but they were real clients that needed real help. The founders of Point B weren’t interested in this business, fearing that it would dilute their firm’s high-end operations and strategy brand, but they did become minority equity partners in our business. Consulting: What's unique about Loft9's business model?
Birzell: We do a lot of things different here. First, we offer clients value that far outstrips any 1099 shop. We’re a true firm with 23 consultants and plan to have 35 to 40 by the end of 2011. The client may only see one to two of our associates on any given project, but there are typically three to seven other team members behind the scenes offering help, oversight and management of their engagement. The one-person shops can offer only that one person. We can offer a consistent front person, a primary contact, but swap out the consultant doing the work based on the inflection point in the project. You can have a project manager one day and then, when the next phase begins, we can bring in someone to work out the IT configuration and then replace that person later with a project leader. It can remain a one-person project, but depending upon the skills needed, it doesn’t have to remain the same one person throughout the lifespan of an engagement. Consulting: How is your firm different from the perspective of your consultants?
Birzell: We recruit young professionals who have very high potential and are very interested in wanting to learn. Roughly 20 percent of our firm is comprised of analysts, those just out of school. They go right to work supporting projects, with the oversight of senior consultants and partners. Most remain at that level for two to three years. The bulk of our employees—about 60 percent of our staff—are what we call consultants, those that work collaboratively on client projects. The expectation is that they’ll remain at that level for three to four years. The remaining 20 percent is comprised of senior consultants. The training they receive is more about how to lead virtual teams and manage groups. We also work with them on how to take their careers to the next level, which may very well be outside of Loft9. Consulting: You’re training your most senior consultants to leave the firm?
Birzell: We know that with our business model we can’t hold on to everyone for 20 years. We may be able to retain some of those folks as new management positions open, but we want to be supportive of everyone’s careers and embrace the fact that we’re a development and training firm. Ed and I are entrepreneurs and are willing to share what we learned in helping our senior staff start their own company. Consulting: How does that 'development and training' mentality trickle down to the more junior staff?
Birzell: At other firms, employees are considered to be revenue-producing assets. We want to know, from day one, what they want to do next. We want to understand who you are as a person and as a professional. We take a lot of time to understand what you want to learn and work to fill those knowledge gaps. That message is really resonating with recruits. We’re successful on campuses. And we recently hired two mid-level consultants from a big brand IT consulting firm.
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