Consulting News

We all have those sacred cows at work, but these nuggets of advice, in practice, can lead to career-limiting unintended consequences.

In the legend of King Arthur, men from across the realm try in vain to pull the sword Excalibur from its stony sheath. Only young Wart, the most improbable of heroes, innocently frees the mighty weapon, signaling his place as a king among men. As consultants, we dream of being King Arthurs, possessing some unique, innate gifts that lift us visibly above all competition.

Coca-Cola Enterprises is a producer, distributor, and marketer of Coca-Cola products, with revenues in excess of $22 billion and over 72,000 employees around the world. To help facilitate company communication, the company sought a brand-centric, global portal to allow employees to engage with the site and share multimedia information with each other on a worldwide basis.

On the surface, shale gas extraction marks one of the most influential and disruptive technologies shaping the energy and utilities industries. But drill deeper (in a horizontal direction, to be sure), and it’s clear that shale gas marks only one of many disruptive forces complicating a major internal challenge these companies confront: planning, planning, planning.

Companies must undertake a fundamental change in the way they create, manage and generate revenue, says Phil Fernandez in his new book .

Authors Doug Lemov, Erica Woolway and Katie Yezzi sure know their target audience. For a book written about taking personal responsibility to make yourself better, the three authors throw in a “42 Rules…” subhead.