What I've Learned in Business So Far...

[ChicagoRon]

The comments are way better than the article. As an interviewer, about half that stuff would fly right by me and certainly wouldn't cost someone a job.

I've never been asked, and would never ask "how would your co-workers describe you?".

I have been asked for a personal "brand statement" - which I think is a much better way to frame that. It allows the responder to be somewhat aspirational, but they probably won't over-sell in that situation, or they know they'll be in over their heads later.

Ironically, when it comes to the strengths and weaknesses, the only thing I can't stand is the answers that interview guides tell you to give: "turn your weakness into a strength by saying 'I'm too organized' or 'I'm too detail oriented and always stay late to fix other people's stuff".

 

[hannibal06]

Just finished reading "Blue Ocean Strategy" and "Start With Why".

I can see BOS's value for consulting, it delivers nice analytical tools / visualisation aides; apart from that, I found some conclusions too obvious.

SWW was a nice quick read which continuously stresses the "WHY" part. Speaking of which, I found the capitalisation annoying after a while.

 

[Artisan Fan]

I became partner recently at work so as a reward they have loaded me up with work so my apologies for neglecting this thread for a while.

Collaboration is given a lot of lip service but I have discovered over and over that it is essential to good work product.

Recently we had a very complex deal that involved creating scenarios of optimization for a big company. We had never done such a variation of optimization. What we did was create a solution based on client needs but then we worked with our "delivery" organization to help allocate resources by level of consultant and then generate a pricing workbook that allocated hours by week and then applied client charges and profit margin for each stream.

I also negotiated some pricing from an optimization partner which we built into the mix for the final proposal. Given the size of the deal we went through a formal "deal review" process which looks at sales strategy, pricing, profit margin, and resource allocation.

We also had a super short turnaround for the project as well within a work week.

It meant a lot of late nights but by collaborating across the our account management team, the sales executive, delivery, and the optimization team we got it done.

So the lesson is to work to craft the internal networks you have at your company so the collaboration is more natural. Yet another use of LinkedIn here as well.

 

[Matt]

Originally Posted by Artisan Fan

I became partner recently at work
congratulations AF.

 

[Storm33]

Congratulations on your new appointment! Well done on the collaboration piece; that's an amazing accomplishment in such a short period of time.

 

[iVoRy]

congratulations on your promotion AF.

 

[Artisan Fan]

Thanks everyone!

 

[tiger02]

Originally Posted by panaceus

Also! Two-prong US adapters are readily available abroad, three-prong adapters can't be had for love or money (particularly in eastern Europe). If you need one, bring it from home.
Still reading through the thread so apologize if this has already been brought up but: you can cut/drill a third hole with no ill effects. There are also short/wide adapters that leave room for the third prong if you need. Also I have found AmEx useless overseas. Getting ready to cancel mine. Great thread.

 

[runsurfswim]

what I saw:
clothing advice: power suit + one good jacket
soemthing about credit cards
powerpoint bitching
career advice
emailing and the worries of BBCing

I was really only interested in the suit advice, though, excepting maybe a littlebit at the end.

 

[Superfluous]

I just finished reading through the 16 pages from my hot tub before my phone battery dies

. Now one question, how have you had time to rack up 29,000 posts?

I'm just kidding. I think someone mentioned another 'consulting' thread, where is this?

 

[yjeezle]

ask me a consultant anything or something like that it's by AF

 

[globetrotter]

congrats AF!

 

[Artisan Fan]

Originally Posted by globetrotter

congrats AF!

Thanks!

 

[Artisan Fan]

Selling ideas...this is what I have learned.

1. Create a visual map of the business model for the product or service. Show the key components and business or consumer delivered.

2. Create a visual of who gets what benefits. Many ideas create value for multiple segments.

3. Create a financial forecast of what it takes to get to the next milestone. Make sure your milestones make sense. Have a plan B.

4. Tell a short and compelling story. How did you develop it? Where is the value in it? Who is on the team that created it? How much money do you need to commercialize?

5. Avoid venture money as long as possible because it is VERY expensive in terms of equity. When you do want it, find the best VCs you can and by best I mean both connections and expertise.

 

[Artisan Fan]

Following some disrespect by LA Guy and j, I have decided to stop posting to this thread. I hope that members here enjoyed my commentary and found it of value. Best of luck to each of you in your careers and jobs.