580: Managing screen time and addictive technology (with Gaia Bernstein)

Tackles some the recent problems we have seen with candidates. We have tried to stay away from conventional advice and address issues not commonly discussed. Since this is largely based on the tactics we advise our clients to follow, it is bound to be counter to the plethora of advice you find in many books and on many sites.

11 Jan 201219min

This long podcast (60 minutes) examines the common mistakes consultants make at each level of their career. I have gone into some detail to explain my own mistakes, and that of former and current colleagues. Some of the advice is counter-intuitive and I have stayed away from generic advice. This will be very useful to aspiring consultants who need to understand what it takes to succeed at each level.

5 Jan 201259min

We get this question more times than you can imagine. We also get a chorus of Accenture people telling us we are wrong, and they are “eating McKinsey’s lunch.” I think the question posed is incorrect and the defense of Accenture is incorrect. This podcast explains why. BBM are good at advising decision makers on general management issues. They excel at that. They are pretty much no-where in the implementation space. Accenture, Deloitte SO etc have their areas of strength, but it is not in the general management advisory space. They are both good at different things. Decide what you want to do and then pick the firm. However, don’t assume a firm is good everything, and if you have never worked at BBM, don’t believe everything your Accenture/Deloitte/[add your firms name here] partner says. Get first-hand information. FYI – Kennedy Research, the Economist and IDC Research are not first-hand information and neither is getting the opinion of a junior person or someone with just one or two years experience.

30 Dec 201113min

Not all BCG engagements begin via a call from the CEO or Chairman of the board. Many do, but life is not that simple. Some, unusually, begin with a call from a middle-manager who does not speak English well. What differentiates BCG, and McKinsey, from Tier-2 firms, however, is how we handle these calls, understand the deeper problems, and cascade the issues upwards until, when the time counts, we are in front of the board. Most Tier-2 firms receiving the same call would settle to try to sell the middle-manager a $100K project or simply dismiss him as unimportant. BCG uses it has an opportunity to learn.

24 Dec 201140min

I have had many people emailing me the Goldman Sachs letter to tell me that, “Michael, this is exactly what you teach us.” It is not. I fundamentally disagree with what Greg Smith did. It goes against the consulting culture, values and ethos, at its very fiber. Here is why, and I would welcome your comments on this.

18 Dec 201129min

Based on offers made to our candidates in the Fall 2011 full-time recruiting, we present the ranges of packages offered. The sample size, 48, is large enough to offer a good approximation of all offers extended. Listeners are cautioned not to extend these numbers outside the USA, where salaries differ significantly. As expected, Accenture and Deloitte dramatically out-offered Bain, BCG and McKinsey.

12 Dec 201114min

An earlier podcast discussed a fairly labor-intensive case where we needed to literally roll-up our sleeves to find and extract data. This is the opposite engagement. It is the glamorous engagement all aspiring consultants dream about and imagine consulting is about. In this engagement, we worked for the largest company in the world, in its sector, to understand how to increase its share price. We were based out of The City in London and had to change conventional wisdom about value creation. I had the good fortune to lead this engagement.

6 Dec 201143min

Many, many see fit as just 15 minutes of the full case. That is a dangerous myth. You are always being assessed for fit, even when the formal fit portion has ended. Provided you understand this, you will be fine in cases. Moreover, do not memorize answers. The main part of the fit is not the initial answer you provide, but the cross-examination which will follow, especially with McKinsey, and you can never be prepared for that.

30 Nov 201113min