Here are five things big consulting has taught me.
By: Fenton Jagdeo
Tags: Education, Motivation, Facts, Consulting, Careers

I built my last model at Deloitte last week. As part of my exit, I want to share five things working for a consulting firm has taught me (if not reinforced).

1. There’s a lot more feelings involved than you think…

Management consulting can come across as an impersonal client-consultant relationship, where our thinking matters more than how we show up; it’s the opposite. At times, it didn’t matter what we put on paper; what matters is how our clients feel, and whether we’ve provided enough comfort to help leaders execute. Even though I sat behind an excel model or a deck, half my job was therapy paired with thought leadership on the subjects I knew best.

2. Networking never stops

There’s a reason why Deloitte has a fishbowl at the corner of Yonge and Adelaide. Sure, to show off the busyness of the trade with all the fancy business people, doing fancy business stuff — but the bowl is a conversation facilitator, and the topic is bridge building. Whether it’s talking your way to interesting projects, volunteer opportunities, or other people who could potentially progress your career (and vice versa). I argue this skill is undervalued outside the bowl, and beyond the 1 km radius of Bay Street. No matter what your formal job is, we are all in sales, and the prime product is ourselves and our ideas.

3. You have to fight for what you want

A good friend at the firm once told me that the “squeakiest wheel gets the oil” — implying self promotion and vocalization. A firm mentor once told me that “this experience is what you make of it” — implying a sense of intrapreneurship. I’ve started telling juniors that this thing (life, even) is kind of like Runescape (y’all remember Runsescape)? Choose your quests, chase your accolades, improve your tools, test your ideas, achieve your goals, and level up within the given environment’s rules. You are the master of your trajectory, so learn how to play the game.

4. Innovation is more science than art. If you don’t believe me, you’re doing it wrong. Don’t @ me.

I’ve had the privilege of working with some of the greatest innovators to ever walk this planet (clients and co-workers in their own right), and I’ve seen how this fable named innovation can be distilled into an algorithm. It takes a bit of time for newcomers to navigate the discomfort of ambiguity, but eventually they get there, trusting the process as a powerful tool. Also, one other note: innovation does not have to (dare I say it) be human centered. What about asset centered design? I’m writing something up, so more to come on that one.

5. Conformity is a blessing and a curse.

You have a unique personality, and sometimes it doesn’t match the archetype sought, or the environment you work in. I dare anyone at the firm to say that there’s no such things as a ‘type’. Business chemistry all you want, there is a ‘type’. And, honestly, that’s okay. Conformity is an easy route to take because fitting in is half the battle — but it’s inherently unauthentic to your soul. I’ve learned from leaders to ask one question: how might you balance traits of who you are to the elements that help you succeed in a certain social / professional context? As an extension, how can your personality be a competitive advantage to your growth, and how might it benefit those around you in a positive and productive manner? Learning how to do these things is imperative.

I’ve got a few more I want to share, but for another post. Don’t want to flood the matrix.

Thanks for reading.