Was having a discussion with an older coworker who joined us from industry today and he mentioned that the most valuable skill he thinks people in our team (and consultants in general) have isn't modelling or critical thinking etc but the ability to digest huge amounts of information and become an "expert" in a very short time frame.
This got me thinking and I believe he's right, there are many times in my career so far that i've been in a room talking with industry directors and above about something that I learned just a few days before but they've been working in for many years and despite my age they are listening and even asking my thoughts on certain issues. Obviously I know that part of this is they see me as my firm and not me but I truly believe the ability to come across as polished and knowledgeable despite only knowing a fraction of what others in the room know is a very useful skill.
Curious to hear others thoughts?
Convincingly bullshit. I honestly do not mean it in a negative way, but being able to convince someone you know a lot about something or that they should take you seriously when you had little time to prepare or have little information is a true skill. Some have this as an innate skill and others learn it, but consulting is a great place to learn this from.
It's part convincing bullshit, but also part ability to frame and communicate concepts and messages in an understandable and convincing manner, even while admitting you only know a limited amount about your topic. You can have experts with decades of experience who still cannot articulate their thoughts in a logical and understandable way.
100%. There is a guy on my old client who's boss used to joke that when stumped he'd always throw him under the bus but he was "bus proof" however, he was always left out of meetings where an important decision needed to be made because he could never get his head out of the weeds. Other biggest takeaway is that extreme technical knowledge / skill does not equal progression
I agree with your part of convincing!
Exactly. No one get to true expert level quickly. That said, most industries are fairly easy to get up to speed in a relatively short time frame - let's be honest, high level nothing is really that complex. However, being able to articulate this is a good skill. Likewise, taking complex topics and communicating them in easy to understand ways is a very valuable skill that not everyone has. Of course the industry folks know more than consults, especially more junior ones, but consultants (or bankers, buyside, etc) are typically able to explain it in a very easy to understand fashion. People can make fun of consulting slides, but taking complex analysis/topics and creating a visual that someone can understand in 10 seconds is in fact valuable, in my view.
TBH I disagree with your point about becoming an "expert" in a short time frame. I said the same thing once during a SA banking interview. Consultants and bankers alike have to get caught up to speed very quickly and have to gain a strong understanding of the basics of an industry. When I mentioned this the interviewer corrected me, stating that you never become an expert, or anything that resembles one. Sure you may know margins, key players, essential products, and manufacturing methods, emerging territories, etc., but you never develop any of the core skills that would make you a legitimate "expert". You can't with certainty predict competitors' future moves, provide sounds guidance on how to deal with your leading product failing to sell, mass employee turnover, or truly incentivizng your staff. You become an industry bullshitter, someone capable of acting as though they know the nuances of an industry. When in reality, they examined the company's operations and brushed up on key industry trends/competitors/recent developments, etc.
With that said, what I like most about consulting is that you learn how to problem solve a problem you know nothing about (especially as an analyst/associate). In school, everything builds. You take Calc II with the foundation from Calc I, and the same applies for everything. You have skills and information to fall back on, and you utilize what you learned the year before in your current year. In consulting, it rarely does so. My first project is in the pharma industry, and is focused on an area of operations I didn't know the first thing about. But through resources, trial and error, and a lot of research, you learn how to learn and handle a problem you initially knew nothing about. What I am excited TO learn moving forward is how to do this more effectively, as I am still very new to consulting.
Sorry when I wrote expert the quotes were meant to imply consulting expert i.e. have no in depth knowledge but know enough to talk to real experts and not sound like a complete muppet. Was definitely not trying to imply you understand more than industry folk through a short review. Following on my part about them asking my opinion was meant to be about things you actually are knowledgeable about i.e. general strategic initiatives / M&A / Operations that you may have seen in a previous case.
Ah that makes perfect sense haha
Agree with the part about coming across as an industry “expert” - but I would clarify that this is limited to presentation / impression in a limited number of meetings or at a high level of interaction.
Once these consultants need to execute ( a consultant’s worst nightmare) all the bullshit becomes apparent. Eg I’ve seen senior consultants get hired into Corp dev and are almost totally useless once you need to get into the details / devise a PRACTICAL plan of action.
probably managing up, both to more senior folks as well as clients
Yes, i would agree that we become an "expert" in a particular field very quickly. Note the quotation marks on the expert, since we only tend to learn what's the problem and threw around ideas that 90% of the time the client has already thought about and/or its already been done (and failed as you might guess).
We are there to pitch ideas, suggest plan, and/or critique the most obvious thing. Without fearing that we would get fired for telling top management that they are wrong/slightly dumb.
And yes, implementing our bullshit/impratical ideas has to be our biggest nightmare..
I am working in business consulting firm from more than 3 years. I got to learn so many things here but just wanted to point out major ones - Latest technologies and market trends, time management and product or service delivery, how to handle yourself in critical business situation.
There are lot more to describe but just covered the ones which are really attracted me to this venture.
Latest technologies & trends is a hit and miss, sadly, I've been on engagements where the client wanted to go about their business and solve their problem in the most archaic possible way. There are definitely better cases, but you might be unlucky there.
Bottom line: lucky you for being exposed to the nice ones!
Thanks for the clarification my friend. But I am not 100% agree with you neither 100% disagree too :). The fact is all about the team and field you are working on. I am in marketing team, so the latest technologies and trends do matter for me to promote brands, engage the customers and so on. Anyways, thanks for your valuable time and comment.
So you mean to say It took a minimum of 3 years to be an expert. Do you consider yourself an expert in your field?
I have 3:
I disagree with necessarily "becoming an expert" in a short amount of time... it's more so learning how to immerse yourself in a client environment in a new industry, a topical area you may have zero to moderate expertise, or some combination of the above where you learn how to "ask the right questions" that can lead you and the client to the right answer in a domain that you are not the smartest person in the room on. This is where the value is and is a very hard skill to quantify and evaluate... the best consultants are resourceful to articulate a problem, extrapolate it into logical / consumable chunks, and pull in the right internal expertise / client stakeholders / self learning to arrive at a solution.
That being said, over the course of your consulting career you can align to an industry vertical or functional / competency area that you can truly become an expert in after 10+ years of experience (10,000 hour rule).
The 10,000 hours mark is reached faster in consulting, though. One of the advantages of long working hours, I guess...
I think it's time management and to be honest, I've had a lot of trouble with it.
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