In my years in strategy consulting, I’ve seen how data can be shaped to fit a preferred narrative. Often, it’s done with good intentions—teams are motivated to please their clients—but sometimes it can slip into a gray area. We’re witnessing more frequent misuse of these tactics outside of consulting, as politicians or influencers craft numbers to confirm their own beliefs rather than aiming to serve an audience’s best interests. This makes it increasingly difficult for people to see through...
10 days ago • 1 min read
In 1976 the founder of Boston Consulting Group, Bruce Henderson published a strategy memo with a bold claim: “A stable competitive market never has more than three significant competitors, the largest of which has no more than four times the market share of the smallest.” Despite this provocative statement, Henderson quickly clarified that it was a hypothesis: The Rule of Three and Four is a hypothesis. It is not subject to rigorous proof. It does seem to match well observable facts in fields...
16 days ago • 2 min read
One of the challenges I've faced with teaching the skills in Think Like A Strategy Consultant is that the best way to learn them is by getting intensive feedback from others either learning these skills or who are good at applying them in their work. Many of the students taking the course are doing so independently. My average student is in a big company or consulting firm and is frustrated with their organization's lack of support and training. Despite that, they want to get better at these...
3 months ago • 2 min read
In 2015, Facebook released information showing that its users were far more engaged with video content than any other kind of media. This sent ripples through the entire media ecosystem. Suddenly every company was talking about "pivot to video." Companies like Vice and Buzzfeed laid off writers and started producing more videos. The problem? The Facebook data wasn't real. Facebook shared inflated data and avoided owning up to it for several years. I have some sympathy for the companies that...
4 months ago • 1 min read
I love breaking down interesting charts. One of my favorite resources to help you make sense of charts is McKinsey’s Chart of the Day. Each day, they share a chart on a newsworthy topic, providing the perfect opportunity to practice. Here's a recent one on the global women's health gap: In our workshops, we like to teach people to think about charts using the 10-second test. Look at the chart above. Time yourself, 10 seconds. Can you understand it? If not, maybe it could be better. Here's a...
5 months ago • 1 min read
Time management isn’t about frantically ticking tasks off a to-do list. It’s about maximizing your productivity and effectiveness while maintaining your well-being (although some of my former managers disagreed about this last part :-)) When I think about time management, I think about the three 3 Ps: Prioritize - figure out what matters Plan ahead - figured out when to do it and execute Productively - figure out how to efficiently and effectively do it Prioritization tactics: The Eisonhower...
5 months ago • 1 min read
Defining a problem clearly should always be the first step of a project or a problem-solving process. But if you've never experienced this like we experienced it in consulting, it's hard to know what this means. Enter our friend SMART: The "SMART" way to define problems: SMART is simple. It stands for: Specific Measurable Attainable Relevant Time-bound If you've spent time in an organization, you've likely run across this acronym. But most people haven't sat down to use it. Here's how I'd use...
5 months ago • 1 min read
Here's a strong take: most professional services firms are terrible at knowledge management. I've worked at four firms and consulted for over twenty more. Most firms invest too little in knowledge management and too late, if ever. The reason is simple. In consulting, client work pays the bills. If a potential client sends an email saying they might want to work with you, you rally the troops. You get 3 to 4 people diverting all their attention to dig into everything you find out about the...
6 months ago • 4 min read
A lot of people associate editing and revising work as painful. This is because in many companies it happens at the last minute and is a reactive process. You spend time trying to fix all the mistakes and end up being frustrated with the final process. There's a better way. Here are three things that can help: #1 - Start with a solid storyline Before you even think about opening PowerPoint, start with a storyline or outline. This is the skeleton of your presentation, and getting it right can...
6 months ago • 2 min read
