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Management Consulting 101 So, you might want to be a consultant …
© K.E. Homa
Proprietary Material
Incomplete Without Extensive Oral Elaboration
Professor Ken Homa Georgetown University
Today’s Session
• Career perspective
• Key consulting skills
• How to get “there”
• Guide to resources
Caveats & Warnings
Caveats & Warnings …
Courses
Shameless promotion
• STRT 551 – FMC (Mod 3)
Frameworks, Methods and Contexts
• STRT 552 – SBA (Mod 4)
Strategic Business Analytics
Caveats & Disclaimers
One View
One man’s view
• Mature, uncensored subject matter
… viewer discretion advised !
• Not necessarily the views of any
organization, official or ad hoc
• No warranty, expressed or implied
Caveats & Disclaimers
Since One View
Where I’m coming from …
Bona Fides
Princeton University, A.B. cum laude, Economics University of Chicago, M.B.A.
-------------------------FUNCTIONAL FOCUS------------------------
EMPLOYER SECTOR STRATEGY MARKETING LOGISTICS SYSTEMS
Arthur Andersen Consulting X X
McKinsey Consulting X X X
Univ. of Chicago Education X X
General Electric Consumer Goods X X X
Black & Decker Consumer Goods X X X X
Georgetown Univ. Education X X X
Ken Homa
Ventures: Checkmate, Sequoia Software (now Citrix), SIRVA (a CD&R company), Navigauge, Upper Quadrant
Let’s get started …
Do you really want to be
a consultant?
Bright & Dark Sides
• Intellectual challenge
• Strong peer group
• Diverse experiences
Every couple of months, it’s jump ball:
a new industry, a new client, new jargon.
Management Consulting The Bright Side
• Intellectual challenge
• Strong peer group
• Diverse experiences
• Powerful credential
• Impactful “network”
One of the best post-MBA experiences,
for highly focused fast-trackers
Management Consulting The Bright Side
• “Snob factor” w/ backlash
Management Consulting The Dark Side
The book chronicles McKinsey’s
rise … and instances of its bad
advice.
It also “raises an important
question that is applicable to
the entire netherworld of
consultants, advisers and other
corporate hangers-on”.
“Are they worth it or not?”
• Intensely competitive
• Low “sense of completion”
• Natural evolution to selling
from problem solving
• Compelling lifestyle issues
Tough to get in … few stay in
Management Consulting The Dark Side
• “Snob factor” w/ backlash
What are “they” looking for…
“Presence”
Intellect
Character
Background
Bright, engaging, articulate
Structured, curious, practical
Motivated, honest, team player
Skills & interests, successes
Management Consulting Interview Probes
Smart? Distinctive? Client-ready?
Advice
Know the criteria, accentuate your
positives, but don’t try to package
yourself to fool them …
Won’t work; true to yourself
• Type “A” personalities
• High self-esteem
• Ambitious career goals
• Willing & able to accept
unbalanced lifestyle
• Unwavering commitment
Only the strong(est) survive !
Management Consulting Self-selection Criteria
If you’re still interested in
becoming a consultant …
Many consulting venues and
and orientations to consider …
“Management Consulting” Many venues and orientations …
• External, Internal
• Established, “Sprouts”
• Commercial, Government
• Clients: Big, Small, NFP
• General Mgnt., Tech, Niches
• Strategy, Ops, Organization
Recent trends
“Less pure strategy; more org design / implementation / enablement”
“Management Consulting” Recent trends…
• Consolidation among giants
• Global scale, full-service
• Strategy + implementation
• More standardized processes
Problem solvers
A few Goliaths and a dynamic population of Davids
But, some things stay the same …
Regardless of venue and orientation.
consulting firms want people who are
extraordinary problem-solvers …
Some theory (sorry) …
Cognitive psychology
Split Brain Thinking
Split Brain Thinking
Split Brain Thinking
Left Brain
Engineer, quant
Cerebral (thoughts)
Abstract (concepts)
Logical (symbols)
Analytic (parts)
Core (evidence)
Facts (words, numbers)
Deductive (sequential)
Convergent (end product)
Task (destination)
Split Brain Thinking
Left Brain
Engineer, quant
Cerebral (thoughts)
Abstract (concepts)
Logical (symbols)
Analytic (parts)
Core (evidence)
Facts (words, numbers)
Deductive (sequential)
Convergent (end product)
Task (destination)
Right Brain
Designer, poet
Visceral (feelings)
Concrete (things)
Analogical (stories)
Synthetic (patterns)
Periphery (subtleties)
Impressions (images)
Inductive (parallel)
Divergent (elegance)
Creation (journey)
Reduces to 2 core skill sets …
Split Brain Thinking Left Brain
Engineer, quant
Cerebral (thoughts)
Abstract (concepts)
Logical (symbols)
Analytic (parts)
Core (evidence)
Facts (words, numbers)
Deductive (sequential)
Convergent (end product)
Task (destination)
Right Brain
Designer, poet
Visceral (feelings)
Concrete (things)
Analogical (stories)
Synthetic (patterns)
Periphery (subtleties)
Impressions (images)
Inductive (parallel)
Divergent (elegance)
Creation (journey)
Structured Analysis Pattern Recognition
What’s your natural tendency –
left-brain or right-brain?
Split Brain Thinking
Left Brain
Engineer, quant
Cerebral (thoughts)
Abstract (concepts)
Logical (symbols)
Analytic (parts)
Core (evidence)
Facts (words, numbers)
Deductive (sequential)
Convergent (end product)
Task (destination)
Right Brain
Designer, poet
Visceral (feelings)
Concrete (things)
Analogical (stories)
Synthetic (patterns)
Periphery (subtleties)
Impressions (images)
Inductive (parallel)
Divergent (elegance)
Creation (journey)
What’s your natural tendency?
What is prized by consultants –
left-brain or right-brain?
Split Brain Thinking
Left Brain
Engineer, quant
Cerebral (thoughts)
Abstract (concepts)
Logical (symbols)
Analytic (parts)
Core (evidence)
Facts (words, numbers)
Deductive (sequential)
Convergent (end product)
Task (destination)
Right Brain
Designer, poet
Visceral (feelings)
Concrete (things)
Analogical (stories)
Synthetic (patterns)
Periphery (subtleties)
Impressions (images)
Inductive (parallel)
Divergent (elegance)
Creation (journey)
What’s prized by consultants?
Answer: BOTH
2 X 2
Right Wrong
Direction
Right
Brain
Whole
Brain
No
Brain
Left
Brain
Exec
uti
on
Whole Brain Thinking
Right brainers do
the right stuff wrong
Left brainers do
the wrong stuff right
Whole brainers do
the right stuff right
No brainers don’t
attend MSB
Some Practical Advice
If you want to be a consultant,
start thinking in 2 X 2 matrices.…
Recent Buzz
Recent buzz …
Right brain…
Don’t get left behind …
“A world awash in data”
Powerful computing tools
“Battling algorithms”
Shortage of power analysts
Right Brain Rising
Big Data Predictive Analytics Algorithms
We are moving from an economy
and a society built on the logical,
linear, computerlike capabilities of
the Information Age …
Right brains rising …
We are moving from an economy
and a society built on the logical,
linear, computerlike capabilities of
the Information Age …
… to an economy and a society
built on the inventive, empathic,
big-picture capabilities of what’s
rising in its place, the Conceptual
Age.
Right brains rising …
Reimagine
Takeaways
TakeAways
• Left-brain performance bar is rising
• Left-brain: necessary but not sufficient
• Right-brain: competitive edge
• Whole-brain: becoming mandatory
Goal: Whole Brain
Consultants expected to be 5-tool athletes.
Goal: Become a ‘whole brain’ thinker
Goal: Become a ‘whole brain’ thinker
More specifically, develop 5 key skills
5 Key Skills to Develop
1. Frame complex problems
2. Generate testable hypotheses
3. Gather and analyze facts efficiently
4. Craft creative, practical solutions
5. Syndicate support and mobilize
Frame
So, how to develop these
problem-solving skills?
FMC, SBA
• Take your MBA seriously … classes & cases
• Capitalize on Club & Career Center offerings
• Learn to speed read… and think visually
• Make nums 2nd nature … especially financials
• Follow the business news … habitually
Some General Advice
Some specific advice …
Fmc - SBA
5 Key Skills to Develop
1. Frame complex problems
2. Generate testable hypotheses
3. Gather and analyze facts efficiently
4. Craft creative, practical solutions
5. Syndicate support and mobilize
?
5 Key Skills to Develop
1. Frame complex problems
2. Generate testable hypotheses
3. Gather and analyze facts efficiently
4. Craft creative, practical solutions
5. Syndicate support and mobilize
?
Until then, some resources …
Management Consulting 101 So, you might want to be a consultant …
© K.E. Homa
Proprietary Material
Incomplete Without Extensive Oral Elaboration
Professor Ken Homa Georgetown University
