having fun while doing a great job would be killer, right?

Thanks to everyone who used the opportunity to ask me questions via the formspring.me page so far!

To make life easier for me and you, I have created a Q&A page here on the KC, where I will be collecting the questions and answers that come in. Have a look – so far questions range from “what business car do you drive” to “what business schools in Europe to consulting firms recruit from preferably?”. And, of course – keep ‘em coming!

What you always wanted to know about Consulting but never dared to ask?

Here’s your chance!

I just signed up with this fun service called formspring.me – they provide the form below. You can post your questions anonymously, if you chose to. Answers will be posted on formspring.me/theKC . Of course, I might not be able to answer all questions you have – but hey, try me!

Wishing you all a great holiday season,

Florian

[UPDATE: The posted form did not seem to work, sorry to all who submitted a question here, it did not reach me! Please post it directly at formspring.me/theKC. ]

I’ve been reading “Up in the Air”, the novel an upcoming movie starring George Clooney is based on. As the title demands, I get most of it done on my flights to and from work, and the last good hour I managed to get close to finishing it. Towards the end, the book gets more and more dense – confusing at times, but rightfully so, as it is told in first person by the protagonist, who grows more confused as the story progresses as well. The story moves me, touches a lot of spots of my brain – but again, rightfully so, as it portraits a consultant who is flying around, getting asked by his friends and family where he calls from and counts his frequent flyer miles much more vigilantly than he watches what he eats.
I am not that person – not in total, not to the extreme level the author provides for the novel – but there are parts od my life scattered all over the script.
It ain’t a self-help book, so there is no 10 point checklist for me to tick off that offers me short-term bliss or long-term contemplacy. The story just lays there, fictional as it is, and almost seems to look at me with a smirk: Gotcha!
So what do I make off of this? Deep reflection on life, values and life goals? I doubt it. What I make out of it, for now, is a simple action. I start to write again. I just did. I re-open that pocket of “just writing”, without so-what’s, without bullet points, without action title and footnotes. I allow for the pleasure of ranting, if you want to call it that, the pleasure of being moved by something and converting it into something else.
The cab has arrived – I have. Home. Getting ready to leave it after a quick shower and head off into the night. The night, remember that, is always a friend.

In part 1 of “How personal should you get with clients?” we looked into keeping your perspective as an external advisor, making sure that a water cooler-talk does not get you hosed for disclosing confidential data or bad-mouthing your company and into being aware of the potential pitfalls of calling the client “John”, while all his staff addresses him as “Mr. Doe”.

In this second and -so far- last post on the issue, let’s look at the frivolous side of things – and as requested by reader Sebastian, I’ll look at relations inside your firm as well.

• No getting drunk-drunk.
  Let me state it without evaluating it: In many countries, alcohol is part of socializing. You will most likely end up at a restaurant or a bar with your clients once in a while, especially after you and your team did a good job, of course. At those occasions, people will drink alcohol, and you will, too. Now – remember the last time you had a crazy night out with your friends? Hangover and all? You don’t want this to happen. [Read more →]

As consultants, we have a special role when interacting with our clients. Although we only work with them for a limited time, from a few weeks to months, the level and intensity of interaction is very high. With that, naturally, comes getting to know each other. Long meetings and long working days spent together, water cooler-talks, joint team dinners, etc., often lead to a certain level of intimacy. But how personal should you get? Where are the boundaries, and what are the pitfalls?

• You always work FOR them.
  Even if you achieve your results in strong collaboration WITH them – which is for sure my preferred way of doing consulting – you are still hired as an external advisor. This distance is important to keep perspective. [Read more →]