90 Days to Success in Consulting is Available Again on Kindle

After a year or so hiatus from Kindle due to a dispute between my publisher and Amazon, 90 Days to Success in Consulting is once again available for Kindle.

http://www.amazon.com/Days-Success-Consulting-Edition-ebook/dp/B0038U0U72/ref=tmm_kin_title_0/183-7005285-7084135?ie=UTF8&qid=1248916588&sr=1-12

How to Predict the Future and Act with Certainty

Does it sometimes seem like very little is certain? Does that make it hard to plan – to the point where you don’t plan and just take care of what’s required immediately? I had a chance to speak with Daniel Burrus, one of the world's leading technology forecasters and business strategists and author of “Flash Foresight” a New York Times and Wall Street Journal best seller. He has an approach that helps you bring “the certain” into focus and then act on that certainty.


Here is a link to the article about Dan's approach to certainty (and the explanation for the picture of the chair.)

Where's Jeremy?

As a Golden State Warrior fan, I am watching in amazement the “Linsanity” that Jeremy Lin has created.    As most everyone is aware, Jeremy Lin has exploded onto the NBA scene.  As the Knicks ran out of options at point guard, in what might be considered a desperate move, Lin was thrust into the starting lineup.  There’s been no looking back.  His exploits on the court have been nothing short of amazing.

However, roll it back 1 year when Lin was a Warrior and he was the last guy off the bench – when he was actually on the team and not in the developmental league that is.  I was asked by an Asian-American friend about Lin then and I said that we don’t see him in the games very much, he must not have proven himself to the coaches and that he would probably be out of the NBA soon.  Well, I was right about the first 2 things, but I suspect he will be playing in the NBA for quite a while now.  At least I couched my statement with “we don’t see him in the games very much.”  Otherwise, I would be a very poor judge of talent.  And nobody could really disagree that he was probably headed out of the league then.

Circumstances intervened and now we have “Linsanity.”  What about your clients?  Do they have Jeremy Lin’s that have been suppressed and just need a chance?

I have often remarked that one of my main jobs at a client is to unearth the great ideas that are present in the staff, refine those ideas and turn them into productive action.  Often times, people don’t speak up out of fear of stepping on a superior’s toes or because they’ve otherwise been “put in their place” when they have stretched.  Sometimes they’re pegged below where they should be because it takes some people a while in their career or new job to shine. 

Organizations should support and facilitate idea development from all corners.  Leaving a client better means finding the Jeremy Lin’s in that organization and seeing to it that they get credit for their ideas and are able to improve the company condition.

Find the Jeremy Lin at your client.  What better way to improve the client condition than to give the client access to its hidden talent?

What I’m Reading: Grow Smart, Risk Less

It is easy to forget that when it comes to some of the needs of a consulting business - like small business growth, marketing, sales, speaking and client communications -  some of the best advice will come from the leaders of those domains across all industries, not just from consulting.  Taking that mentality a step further, I picked up “Grow Smart, Risk Less: A Low-Capital Path of Multiplying Your Business Through Franchising” by Shelly Sun.  While most consulting operations are not franchised by the definition of the Federal Trade Commission (are there any?), nonetheless the approach to business growth by many is through multiplying successful offices or practices into different geographic locations or practice areas.  The franchising approach is very analogous to expanding a consulting business.

This led me to “Grow Smart.”  In this book, Sun talks about how to build each practice from a “ground floor” perspective, honing them to the point where they can run without the founder involved daily.  Sun gives readiness criteria for expansion of the concept in this way.  She talks about the skills and capabilities that should be evident in those buying into a franchise and how to support them in the opening process, such as “Join-the-Team” days.  Finally Grow Smart is about how to maximize revenue from the “divide and conquer” approach of franchising.  Sun bases her advice on her experience growing her company from $1 million to $100 million in five years.

Expanding a consulting business from being an Oracle partner to a Microsoft partner or from Chicago to Seattle is obviously going to have differences from opening your first non-company owned franchise restaurant.  However, the mentality is the same.  As Sun, who has been on Undercover Boss, states, “the success of the franchisees and that of the franchisor are interdependent.”

Shirts and Prospects

I received some wonderful sports shirts last year for Christmas.  To this day, I am careful about where I wear some of them.  Exercising in them, in particular, would cause more strain than I want to put on these shirts I still perceive as nice and in good condition.  However, I also recall that last year at this time I felt the same about another batch of shirts which are now in the “anything goes” pile.  Those are shirts from Christmas 2009.  It seems once the new shirts came in, the older shirts looked a little less nice and candidates for soccer, basketball, yoga, the gym or something quick to put on for quick errands.

I notice the same thing about prospects.  Their status is often evident and we can tend to hang on too long to the hope of conversion.  The best remedy is new business.  I keep a list and recently got very liberal at removing prospects.  Why?  Incoming prospects with quick conversion and work I enjoy.  Rather than hold onto hope of conversion in vain, it behooves us all to develop new business.

Prospects are going to convert to clients regardless of the condition of the rest of our business.  However, it sure is easier to set them aside when something of higher value takes their place.

Interview on Business Info Guide

Here is some Q&A with me about the book and consulting in general.  The rest of the interview can be found at http://businessinfoguide.com/interview-william-mcknight-author-of-90-days-to-success-in-consulting/.

What is your book about?

It’s about how to be a great consultant and have a thriving consulting business.

What inspired you to write your book?

This is a “write what you know” book. I’ve been through a complete lifecycle of consulting. I’ve taken the bumps and bruises along the way, but I’ve also won several awards and been able to leave each client better, many times salvaging business-critical situations. I enjoy consulting and I’d like to see it pursued in the right way too, which will elevate the profession. There’s also more where the book came from, and obviously every situation is different and requires some personalization and I have some value-added services for that.

How did you come to do what you’re doing today?

About 13 or so years ago, when I took a position as an IT Vice President in a large company, I inherited dozens of consultants from a big profile consulting firm. Owning the budget, I came to understand what they were making and was astounded to understand it was more, sometimes way more, than I. I also knew what their real contribution was and knew I could do better. I furthermore was looking to leverage my abilities across multiple situations and consulting seemed to be the way to do that.

Can you describe a typical day in your life?

There are multiple profiles to my days. I might be heads down with a single client or I might be working many client situations. Clients could be short-term, high-impact or they could be my primary client over multiple months for a project. I might be at client sites or at my office or both. I might be presenting live or in a webinar. I might be on the phone a lot or a little. It depends on client priorities, but I make my commitments and am always responsive. These clients I speak of could be local, domestic or international, which obviously impacts the day’s profile. Either way, I’ve been 100%+ as busy as I’ve wanted to be in all my years of consulting. I’m very time conscious and try to apply my time to productive and/or fun activities and not time wasting activities.

What do you most enjoy about what you do?

I enjoy making a big difference to clients. What I do can have tremendous impact if done well. I enjoy stepping away knowing that people and the company will be on a different and better trajectory as a result. On a personal basis, I enjoy seeing people more engaged in their daily work and their life as a result of some direction I’ve helped with.

Are there any people and/or books that have inspired you along your journey?

There are so many. I’m always trying to learn more through reading, podcasts and audiobooks. Some of my favorite authors for business and success have been Tom Peters, Barry Posner (my MBA instructor), Peter Drucker, Dennis Waitley and Steven Covey. I’ve been inspired authors out of my field as well such as Jared Diamond, Ayaan Hirsi and George Orwell and noteworthy books In Cold Blood and The Black Swan.

I read a bunch of good blogs through my reader, as well as news online, daily. It’s an efficient way to take in the daily information I need.

And I’ve had several people who have believed in me including former bosses, clients and employees. They inspire me to continue to be the person they believed in.

It Seems Like the Basics

I'm often amazed at the degree to which otherwise smart people mess up on the basics over and over again, despite that fact that it is costing them serious business.  I know that many prefer the technical aspects of their field over the running of a business, be it their consulting business or their personal "business within" the corporation they work for.  However, doing some basics well is important in making the distinctions necessary to transcend the look of a potentially-outsourced skillset to one that is a competitive advantage for the company.  The company could be the company one works for or the clients they are working for.

It's almost true that "all I really need to know I learned in Kindergarden."  Different basics I've seen that need some work lately include:

1. Not responding to email the same business day
2. Not responsing to voicemail the same business day
3. Not being courteous and understanding of the other's situation, keeping the focus on their issues
4. Parading knowledge that's irrelevant or is about self-interest
5. Looking to partners to take care of you
6. Doing easy, low-risk, last-decade activities and calling it marketing
7. Fear to actually consult or take risks versus being directed by largely misinformed guidance
8. Fear to learn new methods for achieving client success
9. Spening inordinate time in comfortable relationships with those who cannot make things happen for you
10. Treating others as antiseptic barriers to your goal instead of the people they are

It seems like the basics, at least to me.

The Flight of the Bluebird

I just finished “Guns, Germs and Steel” by Jared Diamond for the second time. It talks about the real causal events in history. That, combined with some work I came to agreement on with a client this week, led me to think about some causal events in consulting and a term that sometimes gets thrown in with it – bluebird.

In consulting, the ‘bluebird’ term is used to refer to a nice piece of work falling from the sky onto your lap for you to sign and go. It’s a somewhat pejorative term used to indicate you did not do the necessary work to earn that business. I don’t use the term because the work that goes into coming to a consensus with a client over some business doesn’t have to have been yesterday or even this century, but there usually was work involved. This starts with the fact that you have to have taken the risk to start a business in order to win business.

Sure, some business comes easier when you have built the reputation. For those pieces of business that don’t come with a real sales cycle, I think back to starting in consulting 15 years ago where most everyone starts – with not much – and working pretty hard to build my knowledge, abilities and reputation. Unwinding the real causal events that led up to the business has always revealed a complicated cycle of awareness to contact to contract. Sometimes it’s years later when I get the call but I earned the awareness at some point.

What are the causal events of your business? Are you creating your ‘bluebirds’ of tomorrow?

Interview on Biz Talk

This podcast is a 45 minute conversation with I. Vitt Argent, "Dr. Ande."


The abstract: An expert on the ever-growing consulting career option and subject author, “90 Days to Success in Consulting”. William McKnight will be joining us this week with some insight and tips on how to handle modern consulting and career trends.

 http://www.blogtalkradio.com/ivaradionetwork/2011/01/19/kiva-biz-talk-wguest-william-mcknight

The Creeping Death of Productivity

What a year 2010 was when it came to optimizing your entertainment. Hitting mainstream was the fact that you can easily access most any movie, any YouTube video, any podcast, most any song, hundreds of games, service reviews, facebook updates and tweets on any reasonable medium (TV, computer, PDA, tablet) and you can do it anytime for very reasonable fees. Most of the aforementioned are used strictly for entertainment and not business.


Now I’d like to believe I put a business spin on a lot of these activities, but that only goes so far and the unproductive side of all these goodies can creep up on you. I’ve had to adopt a “Time Blocking” type of strategy, like what Chris Brogan discusses here in his blog. For me, this includes the business and the fun side of using the new technology.

I believe that there is a serious new element in determining success now. It’s something that has always been there, but is ever more important and that is avoiding procrastination and maintaining focus in a world where the distraction possibilities have exploded.

Stay focused on task. List your goals. Block your time, giving yourself ample time for fun. And when you feel like you’re falling victim to an unwanted distraction, recognize it and hopefully the rest will take care of itself.

Mind the Gap

2 consultants of equal delivery ability in the eyes of the buyer.


Consultant 1 is independent or from a boutique consultancy and consultant 2 comes from a large, well-known, branded global consultancy. All too often, although happening less frequently, the buyer is willing to pay more, sometimes substantially more, for Consultant 2.

Little of the largess goes to the consultant herself. It goes to the consulting organization, specifically the management of that organization. The question is “Is the employment of the consultant by a large, well-known, branded global consultancy worth the gap?”.

Some of the anticipated additional benefits of hiring the large consultancy include access to an internal network of experts, ability to be replaced quickly from within the firm, and motivated consultants because they have a career with a big firm.

What if these were largely untrue or not valuable? I’m just saying.

What if the independent has a much richer network of experts? What if the client is better off re-sourcing any replacement that might be necessary than accepting who the firm provides? What if big firm layoffs and revenue distribution are causing consultants to re-think loyalties? Heck, what if the client knew that the consultant boarding process was essentially the same for both profiles – or even better for the independent profile? Or that independents were more motivated to attain client satisfaction than billing hours?

And then there’s the “no one ever got fired for hiring ____ (large, well-known, branded global consultancy)”. However, I see the consulting economy moving to “no one ever got fired for hiring results.” Keep delivering results, whatever consulting profile you are in.

What’s Wrong with Work?

I had a conversation with a client recently and we were talking about holidays and vacations. We talked about what the company granted in terms of holidays, sick days and vacation days (btw, did you know that companies are not required to give 2 weeks of vacation? They give it to compete in the work marketplace.)


She asked about what I, as a consultant, take. I was about to say I take “a lot” of vacation when, after doing some mental math realized that, by most people’s use of the language, I had negative vacation this year. I was thinking vacation meant contentment and fulfillment, not the usual definition of hours spent working. It seems when I have squeezed out unproductive hours from work somewhere, I immediately apply those hours back to work somewhere else. For a moment, I felt a self-imposed, obligatory fatigue setting in.

But why should it be so? If you enjoy what you do, it is not work in some sense of the word. Smart hard work is generally rewarded and work can be a prime area of life where you can make a difference, have varied experiences and generally feel useful. So, similar to my last post, I’m suggesting today, when many people are taking a break from work, to head into 2011 mindfully about work, however you do your consulting, and the value that it brings.

McKnight Mentor Program

Now William brings consulting to the consultant.

My six-month retainer-based Mentor Program offers access to help the individual or organization create total business transformation. With my focus on your success, I provide you full, end-to-end solutions leveraging where the practice is and where it needs to be.

Designed to support independent consultants, consultants employed at consulting firms, those who operate as consultants but without the title and entire firms, practices and project teams, this program allows you to gain insight, advice, mentoring and knowledge transfer. Be ready for business transformation.

Topics covered during the program include any of the following, with a focus on your issues:

• Client management
• Staffing decisions and issues
• Marketing challenges
• Client engagement
• Engagement execution
• Reputation building
• Publicity ideas and outlets
• Social media and internet strategy
• Business instantiation
• Long-term planning
• Fee strategies
• Service planning
• Exit strategies
• Life balance
• Goal-setting and achievement
• Image makeover
• Collateral review
• Critical business decisions
• Managing capital

There are two options.

Option 1 is access via scheduled phone calls and guaranteed-response email as needed.

Option 2 is less client-directed. With Option 2, I will create a program of consulting mastery for you, based on your situation. The program will consist of milestone-based structure and review towards those specific goals. It is designed for complete and intense acceleration of your concept.

I propose a conservative approach to business spending in my book, but I can see no better place to invest for consulting success than in the McKnight Mentor Program I’ve designed.

Given the personal nature of the Mentor Program, space is limited. Contact me today to discuss the option that is right for you.

"I wanted to thank you for the mentoring that you have given me over the past few years and helping me mature as an entrepreneur. In my opinion, the program will improve the quality of consultants and ultimately benefit the clients better.

William has been Mercury's go to person for shifting the perception of our value and empowering us with the tactics needed for success. He offers an unbiased opinion and cuts a lot of the noise.

Mercury in turn passes on this valuable advice to our clients uses it to build the organization to support the industry trends, ultimately helping us grow stronger."

Vinay Balasubramanian

President

Mercury Software Consulting,Inc.

“My consulting business, Netra Technologies, Inc., has benefitted tremendously from William’s advice on a variety of topics including adoption of a better business model, improved profitability, business expansion, etc. It was really nice to get mentoring from someone who has been there and done it like, William McKnight. The value we received has far exceeded our costs and we look forward to continuing the mentoring service for the foreseeable future.”

Madhur Limdi

Managing Principal

Netra Technologies, Inc.

The benefits of working at a System Integrator/Consulting

The following question came into me some years ago at one of the forums I blog at in my industry.  It contains some industry jargon, but I thought the main points would be interesting to anyone in consulting.

The Question:

I am currently a principal data architect with a System Integrator (SI). I feel that being with a SI limits our involvement in client organizations' data architecture decisions. In turn, this limits our exposure to broader areas of data management, and subsequently the career path.


We are more driven by the client architecture team's decisions. I feel that if I been in the client organization, I probably would have had much more exposure and potential for growth in the data management field.

I feel beyond a certain role. Should I move out of the SI companies and shift to being part of the business organization's data management function?

The Answer:
Hello, and thanks for your question about data architect careers. System integrators do a variety of things for their clients -- from strategy through implementation and production. I certainly believe that there is no better position than a strategy consultant for contributing to important data architecture decisions at client organizations. You are probably part of implementation teams and yes, by then, many broader decisions have been made. You should always feel free to contribute your ideas for change and progress to your project leaders and clients. More importantly, with a System Integrator, you should be getting exposure to and understanding how and why decisions are made in a variety of environments, which is the best experience for enhancing your credibility, which will enable you to contribute to client decisions. In my experience, credibility is the number one factor that will enable you to contribute to decisions, not your organization or title. Be sure to work that end of the spectrum.

So, in general, looking at SI organizations versus client organizations, I disagree that being with a client organization is better for your goals.

Chapter 8: The Role of the Consultant available free of charge

I've made "Chapter 8: The Role of the Consultant" available free of charge at http://www.williammcknight.com/filedownload.html.

Party with the Cowboy

I’m watching a television commercial where the mother is all set for a pirate themed birthday party for the kids. Well, almost all set. Here comes the cowboy mascot and the insinuation is that the party is doomed. In the idyllic commercial, this was no problem. She is able to call in a real pirate (a real fake one that is) and the party is saved. The solution fits into the 30 seconds.

Maybe I’m just being too practical or like to pick my battles. First, I think it would have been fun to have a cowboy at an otherwise pirate-themed party. Second, if you make it out to be fun and no big deal, the kids would go for it. But finally, and most of all, the chances of getting that changed at the last minute and having the pirate make it to party with the kids with any time at all left in the party is slim and none. I would make the call and try, but when you see the writing on the wall, you might as well party with the cowboy.

How many of us are being sidetracked spending time working on enhancements to projects that ultimately will not materialize into productive work effort towards the project goals and deadlines? Many projects I review are immensely burdened by such activity. Instead of partying with the cowboy (reality), we keeping calling for the pirate (impractical wishisms) while the kids (clients, internal customers) get increasingly annoyed at not having a mascot (project deliverables).

Should I stay or should I grow now?

One of the major decisions an independent consultant entertains is whether to stick with a single, fulltime, lone-ranger client situation or focus on multi-person projects only. You can pursue both strategies at once if you have a flexible anchor client and are willing to work hard, but let’s face it, some leadership positions during intense project activity times require fulltime effort. So do some clients who may not have that level of need, but are only comfortable with that manner of working. So, should you take it/stay or go to pursue something bigger for your consultancy?

Some of the factors that should induce you to stay:

1. It is your business model – nothing wrong with that!
2. The client is local and you prefer your own bed
3. The technology to be used is an entry point to a career-enhancing opportunity
4. The prospect is an entry point into a career-enhancing industry.
5. The technology to be used is an entry point into a career-enhancing technology.
6. The client location is highly desirable, either from a personal standpoint or from a career-enhancing standpoint.
7. The application is an entry point into a career-enhancing application.
8. You see that the personal service you are providing can lead to multi-consultant services from your firm following this service.
9. The work is for a charity or a small firm doing good for society that you want to support.
10. Despite your best efforts following the direction of my book, you’ve been on the bench for longer than your comfort level

These are similar to the factors I present in chapter 7 of the book where I talk about when you would reduce your rate. This is no surprise since, for many, taking the lone-ranger situation is tantamount to reducing your (overall) rate by limiting your ability to grow multi-person projects.

December 31, 9999 will be a bear

Ten years ago next week, I, like many of you, were monitoring systems for any Year 2000 glitches as the new year came in and the calendar rolled over to 2000. It was a most uncelebratory new year as I stared at monitors at a client site along with everyone else who could potentially be useful should a crash have occurred. It was one of those things where we did not know what might happen or what we might be called upon to do. We just had to be ready for anything. Fortunately, nothing unusual happened except some PCs didn’t turn over the year correctly (insert joke here: how many consultants does it take to update a PC date?).

This seemed to be the case throughout the IT world as systems hummed along. There was some remediation done in the months prior, but not much. Does anyone remember all the predictions of gloom? A whole industry sprouted up (and down) around this “problem”.

This New Year’s Eve, there are no such concerns. We can party like it’s NOT (Dec. 31) 1999.

The Right Age to Begin Consulting

If you want to win the Masters one day and you can read this, you are probably too late.

It's a decade-long commitment to becoming a doctor after college and, well, most will begin that commitment in their early 20s.

While you may not stay in the same company while doing it, climbing the corporate ladder to the top takes a similar level of commitment, as well as one or more big jumps usually supported by a mentor in the organization.

Granted, some fields are more forgiving of later commitments and less competitive than these. Consulting is one of them.

Actually, to make it to the top in consulting, you may want to consider NOT starting your career in it. While fresh faces out of college joining the big consultancies or the boutiques can be a powerful strategy, so can spending time in industry - in positions not only doing the work you will be consulting in, but also in positions hiring consultants doing that work. This way, you will learn to understand the pressures, the politics and the budgetary issues involved. These can be invaluable skills when you are on the other side of the relationship.

This is the consulting equivalent of hiring a former IRS agent to help you in your disputes with the IRS.

Then again, whether you want to take consutling to the top or not is not really the career question is it? The question is whether it is the best path for you now. Your consulting goals are not burdened if it's not the first stop in your career.