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Disastrous First BCG Engagement

A young BCG associate, lets call him Bill, recently faced tough questions after his first engagement turned out to be, in his words, an utter disaster. If you are a younger consultant in Bill's situation, you may ask yourself similar questions: What happens when your first engagement is not just bad, but is a disaster? What went through partner's head when you performed poorly?  Do you have a future? Should you consider leaving? When this happens you will also want to know if this was an anomaly or if management consulting is just not for you. Management consultants must have 5 attributes to be successful Management consultants must have 5 attributes to be successful. You can learn all of them over time, but you must be aware of them from day 1 with the firm: Will – do you have the burning desire to be a successful management consultant? Capacity – do you have the time and space to be successful? Capability – do you have the skills to be successful? Emotional Intelligence – can you read the personal dynamics at play? Political awareness – do you understand the rationale and motivations for client decisions? The filter to understand the reasons for failure and the…

A young BCG associate, lets call him Bill, recently faced tough questions after his first engagement turned out to be, in his words, an utter disaster. If you are a younger consultant in Bill's situation, you may ask yourself similar questions: What happens when your first engagement is not just bad, but is a disaster? What went through partner's head when you performed poorly?  Do you have a future? Should you consider leaving? When this happens you will also want to know if this was an anomaly or if management consulting is just not for you. Management consultants must have 5 attributes to be successful…

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Chapter Three: My First Engagement at Bain

Power at Bain lays in the staffing office. The all-powerful staffing office is responsible for looking at project needs and comparing this to the performance evaluation and development needs of consultants and staffing them. I am sure that having a close relationship to a powerful partner helps a little, but the staffing office is overwhelmingly influential. The project manager and his team felt my arrival was somewhat “forced” on them. They never said it openly but I could feel they were not so excited to have me on the project and were more interested in working with some of the other consultants either on the beach (not billing) or in the unit. My airline project was slightly different. The office was running low on consultants, a partner with whom I had worked closely at the research unit was leading the client interaction and the firm needed someone with a consumer products background on the project. That was going to be me. The project manager and his team felt my arrival was somewhat “forced” on them. They never said it openly but I could feel they were not so excited to have me on the project and were more interested in…

Power at Bain lays in the staffing office. The all-powerful staffing office is responsible for looking at project needs and comparing this to the performance evaluation and development needs of consultants and staffing them. I am sure that having a close relationship to a powerful partner helps a little, but the staffing office is overwhelmingly influential. The project manager and his team felt my arrival was somewhat “forced” on them. They never said it openly but I could feel they were not so excited to have me on the project and were more interested in working with some of the…

Read more…