Category — out of the box

Folks,

after I got a great email today from Martin from Germany, and from  Akarsh from India earlier last week, it is time to put a big thank you note up here. It gives me a lot of joy to see that I what I write for the KillerConsultant really is of value for some people out there, and the occasional email that I get with positive feedback and further questions on the subject are invaluable.

Let me tell you, it is absolutely awesome to reply to a sceptic friend who asks me why the heck I run this website something along the lines of “you know, there’s Pete, a student from the US, and he just told me that the things I put online really helped him in making the decision to go into consulting – I helped someone in real life. So, you know, it’s kinda worth it.”

Thus: Thanks everybody, really. You make this a worthwhile thing to do, and I do appreciate every piece of feedback I get.

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.

Most of you will have noticed this little phenomenon called “twitter”… and apart from my personal account, the KC has now joined as well. You can follow it under twitter.com/the_KC

I’ll be posting updates about new articles, the occasional consulting-related link and maybe a question to the audience once in a while. It will be a fairly low-frequency thing, so don’t be afraid that you’ll be spammed.

BTW, how dou you like that “KC” logo thing?