David A Fields

SEPTEMBER 30, 2015

In the past week I’ve reviewed four presentations from consultants who want me to recommend their offering to my corporate clients. Not one of them made the grade. Why? They used Inbound messages for an Outbound inquiry. If you’re a consultant, you need to know the difference. When your message and the direction of inquiry aren’t in sync, the fallout extends beyond the immediate conversation.

Consulting 214

Consulting 214

Management Consulted

SEPTEMBER 30, 2015

We get it, one of the biggest draws to the land of consulting is the potential to make a pretty penny while doing interesting work. The thing is, Consultant salaries are shrouded in mystery unless you’re one of the privileged few on the inside. Luckily for you, here at Management Consulted we’re peeling back the curtain so you can see all the goodness for yourselves.

Consulting 109

Consulting Management Bain McKinsey 109

MishTalk

SEPTEMBER 29, 2015

Congratulations (of sorts) once again go to Illinois, the only state in the Midwest where SNAP (food stamp) growth outpaced job creation during the recovery. SNAP stands for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, renamed from "food stamps" so as to not sound so derogatory. What follows is a guest post from Michael Lucci, Vice President of Policy for the Illinois Policy Institute.

Turnaround 61

Turnaround Policies Government System 61

Seth Godin Blog

OCTOBER 2, 2015

Feeling like a failure has little correlation with actually failing. There are people who have failed more times than you and I can count, who are happily continuing in their work. There are others who have achieved more than most of us can imagine, who go to work each day feeling inadequate, behind, and yes, like failures and frauds. These are not cases of extraordinary outliers.

Data 43

Data 43

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Data

David A Fields

OCTOBER 2, 2015

A consultant asked me the following question: When you’re calling a new prospect for the first time–say, someone you’ve received an introduction to– how much research do you do into their company? Is it different for different prospects or at different points in the process? What is your answer to this? How much background research do you typically do on a prospect?

Research 163

Research Consulting Company 163

MishTalk

SEPTEMBER 28, 2015

Millennials, why are you not angry about. Having to pay Social Security when it won't be there for you. Paying exorbitant taxes for public pension handouts and boomer retirements at age 50 for which you receive negative benefits. Obamacare for which you overpay to support the obese and the nicotine addicts. Enormous student debt burdens for which you received little benefit.

Real Estate 61

Real Estate Analysis Trends Finance 61

Gina Abudi

SEPTEMBER 29, 2015

Before providing an employee feedback, ask yourself these three questions to effectively prepare for the meeting: Are you able to identify and describe inappropriate behavior that is impacting the employee’s performance and provide examples to ensure understanding? Are you able to discuss what appropriate behavior looks like and clarify and ensure understanding of expectations around [.].

Meeting 43

Meeting Examples Leadership 43

David A Fields

SEPTEMBER 29, 2015

Over the weekend, a consultant emailed me this question: When are the most effective times/days for calling prospects? Are there days of the week that are more or less effective than others? I want to balance convenience for myself with ability to reach executives. I would love to take Friday off, but I suspect that execs may be more willing to accept a call on Friday.

Consulting 163

Consulting 163

Martinka Consulting

OCTOBER 1, 2015

I recently went to watch my sons’ softball team play (a doubleheader). It’s a rec league and they have a decent team with a few guys, like my sons, who played baseball through high school, a guy who made it to AAA, and a couple other athlete types. They were playing a team of guys who were obviously not athletes. While I congratulate them for getting out there and they were having a lot of fun, they just weren’t very good.

Comparison 43

Comparison Examples Consulting 43

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How To

MishTalk

SEPTEMBER 27, 2015

Beggars can be choosy. And they are. For example, many refugees whine 'Finland's No Good' , because of the cold. Hundreds of predominantly Iraqi migrants who have travelled through Europe to reach Finland are turning back, saying they don't want to stay in the sparsely-populated country on Europe's northern frontier because it's too cold and boring.

Travel 61

Travel Groups Examples Management 61

Seth Godin Blog

SEPTEMBER 30, 2015

Abbey Ryan has painted a new painting every day for 8 years. Isaac Asimov published 400 books, by typing every day. This is post # 6000 on this blog. Writer's block is a myth, a recent invention, a cultural malady. More important than the output, though, is the act itself. The act of doing it every day. When you commit to a practice, you will certainly have days when you don't feel like it, when you believe it's not your best work, when the muse deserts you.

Culture 43

Culture 43

David A Fields

SEPTEMBER 28, 2015

A consultant asked me the following question: Other than keeping my business afloat in lean times (what I think you call “bread & butter” business), are there any good reasons to take subcontracting work? Here is the answer I gave the consultant: There are at least three reasons to take sub-contracting gigs beyond their value as bread & butter: 1) to learn a valuable new skill that you’ll be able to leverage to grow your own practice; 2) to work on a marquee client that you can then publ

Consulting 163

Consulting 163

Martinka Consulting

SEPTEMBER 27, 2015

I’m a fan of Microsoft products. I use Office and think it’s great. They’ve been a huge supporter of my Rotary computer projects as they’ve donated equipment, we get software and an almost-free price, etc. However, they recently upgraded to Office 2016 and it’s taken a few steps backwards, at least with Word. While they’ve added some nice, timesaving features, in just a few weeks I’ve found a number of features, which I regularly use, to be missing.

Software 43

Software Productivity Consulting Company 43

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MishTalk

SEPTEMBER 30, 2015

The Chicago PMI is in negative territory, plunging to 48.7 from a prior reading of 54.4 and a Bloomberg Consensus Estimate of 53.6. Giant swings are common enough for the Chicago PMI which collapsed nearly 6 points in September to a sub-50 reading of 48.7. This indicates slight monthly contraction in the Chicago region's composite activity. New orders are below 50 as are backlog orders, the latter for an 8th straight month.

Productivity 61

Productivity Financial Industry Trends 61

Strategy+Business

SEPTEMBER 28, 2015

Ever-smarter computers may be poised to steal the jobs of a rising number of people. In a new book, Geoff Colvin argues that humans can deploy a secret weapon: their ability to care.

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Gina Abudi

SEPTEMBER 30, 2015

To help your employees build their skills, try these four things: Provide employees with mentors. Provide opportunities for employees to take training workshops. Refer employees to articles and books where they can find practical advice they can use. Provide employees with opportunities to work on projects and initiatives where they can develop their skills How [.].

Training 41

Training Training Development Leadership 41

Seth Godin Blog

SEPTEMBER 26, 2015

When did being called a 'realist' start to mean that one is a pessimist? Sometimes, people with small goals call themselves realists, and dismiss those around them as merely dreamers. I think this is backwards. "I guess I'm more of a realist than you," actually means, "I guess I've discovered that a positive attitude, a generous posture and a bit of persistence makes things better than most people expect.".

Strategy 40

Strategy Strategy Strategy& 40

This White Paper targets opportunities for Management to develop proficiency in the Decision Framing and Analyses element of input to Decision, & Risk Analyses for Major Project Funding Decisions.

Methodologies

MishTalk

SEPTEMBER 28, 2015

This November, in the Netherlands, the WEpod six-person passenger van, will become the world's first self-driving vehicle in regular traffic, where cars and trucks also go. The WEpod can be booked using an app which will allow passengers to reserve a seat and specify their starting points and their destinations. Vehicles are expected to select their itineraries independently.

Transportation 60

Transportation Fashion Video System 60

Strategy+Business

OCTOBER 1, 2015

Analysts often discourage risky expansions into developing markets, but three distinct strategies have been associated with success.

Marketing 44

Marketing Development Strategy Strategy 44

Gina Abudi

OCTOBER 1, 2015

When someone provides you feedback on needing to improve your performance, take these four steps: Listen carefully and paraphrase what you are hearing. Ask questions to clarify understanding and get as much detail as possible. Ask for suggestions on how to improve performance. Thank the person who gave you the feedback. It isn’t easy to [.]. The post Receive Feedback Well!

How To 36

How To Development 36

Seth Godin Blog

SEPTEMBER 29, 2015

The only things we spend time and money on are things that we believe are worth more than they cost. The key words of this obvious sentence are often miscalculated: Believe, worth and cost. Believe as in the story we tell ourselves. Believe as in the eye of the beholder. Believe as in emotion. Worth as in what we'll trade. Worth as in our perception of its worth right now, not later.

Productivity 40

Productivity 40

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Case Study

MishTalk

OCTOBER 2, 2015

Initial Reaction This report was a veritable disaster. Although the establishment survey sported 142,000 jobs it was much weaker than expected. Downward revisions for the last two months totaled 59,000. The labor force fell by 350,000 driving the participation rate to a 40-year low. Government jobs rose 24,000 so private payrolls accounted for a mere 118,000 jobs.

Survey 59

Survey Report Sports Government 59

Strategy+Business

SEPTEMBER 29, 2015

If you know your company's progress up the levels of human evolution, you can help its culture advance to the next stage.

Culture 44

Culture Company 44

1 to 1

SEPTEMBER 29, 2015

Halloween candy typically appears by late summer, ushering in the holiday season earlier each time. Candy corn returns by late July, emerging from storage to serve as shelf liner all autumn long. (They've just been recycling the same bags for the last 10 years, right?) Eventually, fun-size chocolate bars and gummy body parts join the current crop, barely budging until just days before the event itself.

Strategy 34

Strategy Strategy Strategy& Course 34

Seth Godin Blog

SEPTEMBER 28, 2015

One way to deal with clients, with criticism, and with feedback is to not insist on resolving it in the moment. Taking feedback doesn't have to be the same thing as resolving feedback.  It's tempting to challenge each bit of criticism, to explain your thinking, to justify the choices. This back and forth feels efficient, but it fails to deliver on a few fronts.

Efficiency 40

Efficiency 40

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Strategy