I Don’t Understand My Feedback
Most consultants treat feedback as a to-do list they must complete. But what if it's just a symptom? How to identify and address the real root causes?
MBB consultants often don’t understand their development feedback.
It’s vague. It’s generic. It’s confusing.
Your partners tell you to work on problem-solving, slide-making, or communication.
You take it seriously. You try to fix it.
But then, in the next review, something new pops up. Then again. And again. Often, you can make a full circle, and your old feedback reappears again.
I call it the Whack-a-Mole game.
You know that arcade game? Little moles pop up, you hit one with the hammer, it goes down, and another one pops up somewhere else.
That’s exactly how development feedback feels. A never-ending game, and often quite pointless to be honest.
Why your feedback is not what it seems.
The real reason is that you receive symptoms as feedback, not root causes.
So what are the real root causes then?
In fact, there are two main root causes.
The first one is a lack of exposure.
Partners simply don’t know you. Your partners never really see you work because they interact only with your EM.
If the partners haven’t seen you, or only saw you once or twice, they form some incomplete or incorrect impression of you. That’s why they provide pretty generic feedback.
If you think this is your problem, read this post:
The second one is that your work doesn’t stand out.
It doesn’t impress your partners. They NEVER react like that:
“Damn, this is amazing! We absolutely love how you work. Come join our next project.”
Instead, you sort of blend in with ordinary people. You look more or less the same as everyone else.
Then, when it’s time for feedback, your partners can’t say,
“You know, I don’t know her,” or “I just don’t like how she works.“
That would sound highly unprofessional.
Instead, they say generic feedback that is safe. You can tell it to any consultant of your tenure, and it won’t be wrong.
For example, needs to work on problem-solving, improve presence, and upgrade slide-making.
But you take this feedback at face value and start fixing it religiously.
Guess how effective that would be?
And it’s not your fault. You are not doing anything wrong. You might even be doing everything your partners told you to do.
But you haven’t added anything of your own. No insights. No wow factors. Nothing above and beyond. Just adequate execution.
Unfortunately, in MBB firms, this is not enough.
There are always some eager and smart consultants who do incredible things. And you will look bleak compared to them.
I promise, there are always people like that. And partners remember them, and mentally compare you to these people.
In fact, that generic feedback itself might be technically true.
Yes, your problem-solving could be sharper. Your slides could be prettier. Your communication could be better.
But even if you fix that, you don’t address the root causes.
Actually, addressing the real root causes requires a different set of actions.
The main priorities are to make partners know you and to like how you work.
Let me pause here and emphasize these important points.
You must stand out.
You must impress your partners.
How to do that?
Fortunately, you don’t have to fix dozens of different problems and issues.
Almost all of your issues are rooted in problem-solving.
Think about it. Staffing issues, sponsorship problems, performance reviews, long working hours, unbearable stress, and a bad lifestyle.
If your problem-solving process doesn’t work well, everything starts resonating in a negative way.
Your partners don’t like how you work, they start providing negative feedback, and it all results in many bad implications, such as staffing issues, poor feedback, and overwork.
But the moment you fix your problem-solving to the level that your outputs impress your partners, everything changes.
Suddenly, partners start liking what you do, and by extension, you as well.
Your motivation and confidence improve. It becomes much easier to work and score new wins.
You kickstart a positive momentum.
That’s why most of your focus and effort should be directed at improving your problem-solving.
If you want to learn how to do that, read this post:
That’s why in my coaching program, 80% of our focus is directed to upgrading problem-solving.
We break it down into every micro-component, from receiving tasks to logical thinking and slide-making. We look at everything, and I try to find the exact point where it breaks.
Typically, consultants struggle to improve their problem-solving because they approach it as a whole. They lump everything together into one pile and say, “My problem-solving doesn’t work.”
They don’t know what to fix. So they start thinking, “My problem-solving is bad. I am not smart enough.”
But in fact, it’s just a technical problem. We must break it down into smaller components and logical steps, and find specific bottlenecks to fix.
As a result, we see these beautiful transformation moments.
A consultant fixes just one or two bottlenecks.
Suddenly, partners tell them: “Whoa, you changed overnight! We love your outputs. What happened?”
And immediately, the positive feedback starts flowing. People like it. They become cheerful around you. They want to help you.
When everyone around you is in a good mood and wants to help, work becomes easier. Your own mood improves. Your motivation improves. And when your motivation improves, you realize you’re actually getting smarter. New ideas start coming to you.
A positive cycle begins to spin.
That’s how you improve fast.
If you struggle with understanding your vague feedback, I can help you.
I developed a new AI tool that takes your specific development feedback and breaks it down to specific symptoms and root causes. And it provides you with actionable advice you can start implementing today.
Try it now: MBB Feedback Decypher
If you are an MBB consultant and want to improve your performance through personalized coaching support:
We will discuss your pain points, challenges, and aspirations. No strings attached, just straight answers to your biggest questions.
If you want to learn more about my coaching program, read this post:
The coaching program for MBB consultants.