Steve Shu | Perspectives

How Management Consultants Are Evaluated At Different Levels

8 Oct

I’ve been asked on a number of occasions to describe how consultants are evaluated in terms of performance, so I thought that I’d finally write these thoughts down publicly. Here’s a whirlwind overview of an illustrative consulting firm evaluation framework ... Read more »

Do Consulting Firms Rely On Hiring Salespeople to Sell Work?

21 Sep

Many consulting firms (especially management consulting firms) rely on prior consultants in terms of selling work. Why? Mostly it is because people are the product. In consulting sales, you are selling yourself and your team. More specifically, you are affirming ... Read more »

Tips on How Consultants Can Balance Working Long Hours and Managing a Healthy Life

13 Aug

Consultants do work long hours. Not as bad as investment bankers though. In my opinion, it takes a conscious effort to have a healthy lifestyle in consulting. Presuming that the focus on health is mostly on physical exercise and diet ... Read more »

What is the Best Organizational Model for Implementing Behavioral Science?

29 Jul

During a recent conversation about user interface design and the differences in approach compared to behavioral science, the topic quickly turned to a question about what is the best organizational model for implementing behavioral science? While behavioral science has been on the ... Read more »

Tips on How to Sell Consulting Services Without Giving Away Everything During Pre-Sales

18 Jul

A lot of consultants fear that they will give away too much in terms of advice during the pre-sales process. Here are some thoughts on how I’ve tried to keep sales processes on track: As you are engaging the client ... Read more »

Reflecting on Innovative Methods That Management Consultants Can Use to Pitch Clients

4 Jul

I wrote the following post in response to someone on Quora who asked me about innovative methods that management consultants use to pitch clients instead of using PowerPoint presentations. Surprisingly, one can go a long way with Powerpoint presentations. Outside of ... Read more »

Coping With the Transition from Management Consulting to a Startup

4 Jul

I wrote the following post (edited slightly here) in response to someone on Quora who indicated that they were having a hard time coping with the transition from management consulting to a startup in terms of the more experimental nature of the ... Read more »

How to Become a Go-To Person Within a Consulting Firm

25 Jun

I was asked to answer a question about how to become a go-to person when employed within a consulting firm. Here are some thoughts based on my past experience: Be known as a consultant that gets things done on projects ... Read more »

Reflecting on Heuristics

18 May

I was recently asked on Quora, “Should one use heuristics at all as they are prone to cognitive biases?” What follows are my thoughts. Heuristics usually allow people to make quicker decisions. For example, when catching a fly baseball, sometimes ... Read more »

Reflecting on Your Consulting War Stories Builds Character

18 May

I don’t claim this to be a good war story, but it is a war story has had a deep impression on me. Early on in my career, I was asked by the managing partner on the project to help ... Read more »