The Biggest Misconception That Hurts Your Productivity
Leaders teach you to work in iterations. They'll ask you to show them early drafts. But in fact, this approach hurts you. You develop a reputation as a consultant who always produces crappy slides.
I joined consulting at the age of 34. Needless to say, I struggled a lot.
For me, the most challenging skill to learn was slide creation. Before that, I had never created a single slide in my life, but then I had to create dozens per week.
From the first days, I was taught to work in iterations and show dummies and early drafts to managers.
Initially, this approach made a lot of sense when I didn't know what to do. Getting early guidance from managers was very helpful.
But it always turned into a soul-crushing and stressful process. Managers would provide lots of random comments, and I had to implement them. Each slide took 3-4 iterations to complete.
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As a result, I never felt I was winning in this job. I felt stupid and not enough. I was working in a reactive mode, doing menial jobs of fixing comments.
It made me think that consulting was about constant pain and suffering. And I was not cut out for this profession.
Then, I met Alex, a superstar consultant.
He was a proper nerd. I remember hearing office legends about him. Once, he took the GMAT test on a bet with his friends. He prepared for only a few days and scored 780 (99th percentile). He didn’t even apply for an MBA.
He worked at an unimaginable level, creating impeccable documents in hours. Partners and clients adored him.
I was his manager on a project. Despite that, I ate my ego and asked him to teach me his secrets.
Luckily, we became good friends. Throughout the project, he taught me his tips and tricks.
One of the biggest insights was:
Always produce and present high-quality slides to your leaders.
Alex never allowed himself to show anyone half-baked, unfinished, and ugly slides. He always maintained the reputation of a consultant who produces impeccable slides.
In a few months of working together, he showed me how he worked, his routines, and his style preferences. To be honest, it was not rocket science. He just had a solid system focused on high quality.
After implementing his playbook, I noticed a step change in my performance. I dramatically reduced the number of iterations, freeing up lots of time. It boosted my productivity and improved my reputation.
Once I removed all the visual noise, it allowed leaders to understand my ideas. We often engaged in forward-looking problem-solving and developing new creative ideas. The leaders thoroughly enjoyed these conversations.
Thanks to Alex's secrets, I became an over-performing manager. The demand for me sharply increased, and I got promoted very quickly.
That was also the first time I enjoyed myself working in consulting. I became more confident and fulfilled by the impact I was creating.
Don't get me wrong. Working in iterations can be helpful, especially for complex and ambiguous problems.
But sometimes, we push this to an absurd. Most of our work can be done with much fewer iterations and wasted time.
There is a point in consultants' journeys when they must shift from a high-iteration to a low-iteration operating model. The earlier they do it, the better their performance will be. It took me three years to make this transition—so much wasted time.
Only now do I realize how wrong this approach is. It doesn't motivate consultants to think independently. They over-rely on their managers. It is trained helplessness.
Instead, go against the system. Focus on quality, not speed. That's how you boost your productivity and get ahead in this game.
My mission is to help consultants to achieve high performance. This newsletter equips consultants with the right knowledge and best practices.
If you want a more detailed guide on creating slides, read these posts:
Boost Your Slide-Creating Skills
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.
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Rustem, the advice to always share polished slides rings true. Many times in my career someone has asked for something quick and dirty to make sure the narrative is right and "we'll worry about the visuals later". But then they'll nitpick the visuals and ignore the content :)