Editor's Note: In From the Cold and Out to the Front Lines of Consulting

James Woolsey, the former chief of "secret-keeping," joins a profession specializing in information-sharing. It's an irony that clearly speaks to the important role consulting has now been cast to play in our turbulent world, but it also reveals the unique character of Booz Allen Hamilton, which is itself something of a paradox in the profession of consulting.
In fact, it's doubtful that Woolsey, the former director of the Central Intelligence Agency, would feel at home at any other consulting firm. Tucked neatly within northern Virginia's suburban sprawl, Booz Allen's home office boasts mall shopping, elevated parking, onsite day care — all only 15 minutes from the Pentagon. While the home addresses of Booz Allen's consulting rivals bear ZIP codes in Boston, New York, or Chicago, Booz Allen's homebodies appear to appreciate a more practical culture, where crew cuts mix-and-match with wing tips, and Eddie Bauer easily outnumbers Giorgio Armani.