I Was Labeled a 'Process Guy' in My Early Consulting Career

This meant that I could manage processes well but was not good enough to do content-heavy projects

This is not the best reputation to have in strategy consulting.

Although painful, it was very much true.

I joined consulting as an experienced hire at the age of 34. Naturally, I was awkward at tasks like creating slides or modeling in Excel.

I dreaded the moments when I needed to create a new slide, knowing it would lead to half a dozen iterations filled with drama, stress, and tension.

That was an extremely embarrassing and uncomfortable experience, especially when my younger colleagues would do slides with greater speed and accuracy.

I lived in an endless hell in a profession where slide creation is the main activity. As a result, I developed a huge insecurity.

Despite all of that, I made it to a Manager level. Clients loved me. I was energetic and driven, allowing me to survive for a few years.

On my first project as a manager, I was staffed on a major strategy project (okay, maybe I wasn't that bad and had earned a good reputation with a few partners).

Partners helped me staff a team of five high-performing consultants, including Alex, who performed at a Distinctive level - the highest rating, top 5-10%.

Immediately, I could see that Alex was different. He was ‘a very stable genius,’ as Trump would probably call him.

I would give him a task, and within three days, he would present a polished document to which neither I nor the partners had anything to add.

His document was impeccable, packed with insightful analysis, well-thought-out synthesis, and advanced visuals. I could not comprehend how he had done this so quickly.

After a few weeks on the project, we became good friends. Alex was a very nice guy, but he could sometimes come across as arrogant, perhaps because he was a bit reserved. People assumed that if he was a high performer, he must be arrogant.

One day, we were working quite late. I told him about my predicament, that I was labeled a ‘Process guy’ and had difficulties creating good slides. He laughed and said that he had noticed that. It stung me a bit, but I was on a mission.

I asked Alex to teach me how to make great slides. He was shocked that a Manager would ask a consultant to teach him. I said I didn't care. I would do anything to learn and be better.

Long story short, we spent the entire project talking about how to create great slides, discussing his best techniques, thinking process, and rules.

We gamified it and had a lot of fun. He would assign me some challenging visual slides to produce. I would complete them, and then he would rate them. In the end, I became quite fluent and confident in slide-making.

—

The biggest misconception I uncovered is that people say, “It is okay to create dummy slides and share them with leadership as quickly as possible.” Apparently, it's not.

Dummy (ugly) slides create stupid work because they always lead to new comments, new iterations, and consequently more hours of wasted work. And you also condition your leadership that everything you do will be of a crappy quality.

Regarding slide creation, Partners and Managers love the MVP (minimal viable product) approach. They can see early progress and steer you in the right direction. But this approach doesn’t serve you well (unless you just started and need guidance), because in this process you damage your reputation, even on a subconscious level people will form opinions of your subpar work.

Instead, you should use the MLP approach (minimal lovable product). Make slides that will be client-ready quality at any time, even after the first iteration. Then, you will create a reputation for always creating high-quality outputs without friction and tension.

For example, Alex never allowed himself to send half-baked slides to anyone. He always strived to create the best version of the slide possible, using all available information—no stickers, no placeholders—just high-quality, client-ready slides with well-written texts and visually attractive designs.

After implementing these practices, I noticed that my productivity improved exponentially. I quickly repaired my reputation and was given more and more opportunities to work on complex strategy projects, and then got promoted fairly quickly. But most importantly, I saved myself hundreds and hundreds of hours of stress and frustration.

—

Many people asked to share Alex’s playbook to create great slides. Here is the link to that post - How to create great slides.

Moreover, a few talented consultants helped to push the thinking and create a playbook of How to create great documents.

---

P.S.

I feel your pain.

As a consultant, I struggled to perform and faced an impossible situation with extremely high expectations and minimal support.

My life turned into relentless stress, pain, and anxiety. But I always suspected that there should be a better way.

All that pain was not necessary with the right support.

Nine years later, I designed the coaching program I desperately needed back then. Its sole focus is helping you excel and achieve high performance.

Only then can you build strong sponsorships, find great projects, and become confident.

If you are an MBB consultant and want to achieve high performance, please
Book a 1-1 Discovery Session.

Learn more about the Hero Journey coaching program.

---