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| Who Needs a Vacation?
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Lots of people, it seems.
Many of us are returning to work this week after some year-end down time. For some people that year-end break may be their only real vacation of the year.
According to researchers at Expedia, people across the globe are on the brink of vacation deprivation, which, coming from a company that sells vacations, isn’t a startling finding. But there’s a clear trend emerging: people aren’t taking their time off. In North America alone, the estimated value of unused, worker vacation time is approaching $80 billion.
Workers in Great Britain are the most “under vacationed” group in Europe; Canadians received less vacation time in 2006 than in previous years; and Americans earn and take the least vacation time of workers in any other country. Australians rank near the bottom in the number of allotted vacation days, and many don’t even take those days off.
So, if you’re making a New Year’s resolution, think vacation.
We’re kicking off 2007—our sixth year of publishing Management Consulting News—with a look at the history of the industry. Christopher McKenna, a faculty member at Oxford University and author of a new book on the consulting industry, The World’s Newest Profession, suggests that history does repeat itself. According to McKenna, consultants should brace themselves for turbulent times ahead.
In his column, Alan Weiss offers advice for teaching the un-teachable: don’t bother.
Phil Rosenzweig, author of the forthcoming book, The Halo Effect, finds that the teachings of many well-known management gurus don’t offer much help but instead contribute to simplistic, quick-fix thinking. Rosenzweig wants us to buck the management-by-fad approach, and he has some advice for doing that.
Have you ever had a last-minute fee negotiation that you wish hadn’t happened? Jeff Thull, the best-selling author and sales strategist, can save you time and heartburn. The title of his article says it all: "How to Avoid 11th Hour Negotiations."
We’ve also got some timeless advice on being pragmatic from consultant Lonnie Pacelli. And Mathew Hayward, a Professor at the University of Colorado, joins us for a podcast on his new book, Ego Check: Why Executive Hubris is Wrecking Companies and Careers and How to Avoid the Trap.
Happy New Year! Enjoy
the issue.
And send me an email if you have comments.
Mike
McLaughlin
Editor
Management Consulting News is a publication of
MindShare
Consulting, LLC.
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| Interview:
Christopher McKenna |
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  The work of management consultants is not directly connected to Frederick Taylor any more than corporate lawyers evolved from ambulance chasers.
Christopher McKenna, a faculty member at Oxford University’s Saïd Business School, is the author of The World’s Newest Profession, which examines the development of the management consulting industry in the twentieth century.
McKenna’s book, which Strategy+Business magazine named one of the best business books of 2006, isn’t so much a history lesson as a revealing portrait of how the business environment, smart people, and firms gave birth to a new industry.
We asked McKenna how the history of the industry and the experiences of our predecessors can shape our approach to the consulting business today.
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| The
Writing on the Wall, by Alan Weiss |
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 The Threat of Learning
I’ve found that there are colleagues in consulting and clients who share an odd and dysfunctional trait: They are threatened by learning.
You know them. They can’t wait for you to finish a sentence before they are explaining why “it can’t be done.” They project their own weaknesses and shortcoming on to others. After all, if they can’t do it, no one should be able to. They critique books they refuse to read, ideas they refuse to heed, and people they have never met.
There are dozens of these crippled psyches roaming around Amazon giving one-star reviews to books that otherwise are universally five-star. They hang out after a warmly-received speech to share with others why what they just heard can’t possibly work.
They refuse to attend meetings to hear a new idea because they, themselves, didn’t come up with it.
Read
the article
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| Top Ten Articles of 2006 |
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In 2006, the Management Consulting News site had more than 800,000 page views. If you're interested in what people were reading,
here are the ten most requested items from the archive last year.
An Exclusive Interview With Tony Buzan:
What's the Brain Got To Do With Business?
Common Sense Web Design with Steve Krug
Cliff Atkinson Goes Beyond Bullet Points
A Conversation with Philip Kotler
W. Chan Kim and Renee Mauborgne:
How to Make Your Competition Irrelevant
Flawless Consulting with Peter Block
Rosabeth Moss Kanter on Confidence
Michael Gerber Unravels the Myth of the Entrepreneur
Marcus Buckingham's One Thing You Need to Know
Connecting with Keith Ferrazzi
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| How to Avoid 11th Hour Negotiations |
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 by Jeff Thull
One of the enduring myths of sales negotiation is that there will be a back and forth struggle with your client in the final stage of the sale, or the “close.”
At its best, though, negotiation is open, honest, and straight-forward communication based on mutual respect and trust. When you recognize it in this form, it becomes clear that negotiation begins with the very first conversation and continues throughout the relationship.
Read
the article
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| Reality Bytes |
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Want to Help Your Client’s Board of Directors?
In a 2006 survey of corporate board effectiveness, researchers found that only 15 percent of directors view their boards as highly effective in executive talent management and leadership development. Survey respondents lament their lack of success in implementing effective succession planning programs for key executives. The issue of CEO succession has grown in importance among directors, and it is an area for potential, future investment.
Source: Mercer Delta Consulting, LLC
CapGemini Expands in India
CapGemini, the global management services firm, announced plans to merge with Kanbay International, the India-based services firm, for $1.25 billion. The acquisition strengthens CapGemini in IT services, the financial services industry, and its operations in India. Analysts look for CapGemini to make further acquisitions in the months ahead.
What’s on the CIO’s Mind?
A recent study of more than 800 IT executives found that the focus on IT cost reduction is slowly giving way to improving IT service levels. IT will always face cost pressures, but there’s a new, noticeable emphasis on IT value and service.
The survey authors believe that organizations are on “the brink of a new cycle of IT investment focused on initiatives to grow and differentiate businesses.”
IT consultants may have a great opportunity to help their clients plan and implement IT strategies in a less restrictive cost-control environment.
Source: Accenture
Infosys and Nasdaq
Infosys Technologies, the India-based IT solutions and services provider, joined the Nasdaq 100 index, making it the only Indian firm in that group of stocks.
"The move is important as it will make us a global brand improving our profile," Infosys CEO and Managing Director Nandan Nilekani said.
The Nasdaq 100 index comprises the largest non-financial stocks on the exchange.
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| Coming
Attractions |
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 One
sometimes sees corporate visions these days that promise
the world but don’t provide a clue as to how or
why a transformation is feasible.” - John Kotter
One
of the highest hurdles to success in most consulting
assignments is leading people through change. More than
a few projects fall flat because consultants—and
clients—believe that change can be “managed.”
Next
month, we’re joined by Harvard Business School
Professor John Kotter, who is widely regarded as the
world's foremost authority on leadership and change.
Kotter’s international bestseller Leading
Change, which outlined an actionable,
eight-step process for implementing successful transformations,
became the change bible for managers around the world.
His latest book, Our
Iceberg Is Melting, illustrates the
eight-step change process within an allegory, making
it accessible to the broad range of people needed to
effect major organizational transformations.
Don’t
miss our interview with John Kotter in the next issue
of Management Consulting News
on February 6, 2007.
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