Technique
I wrote the original article anchored in the old-school way of tracking project burn-downs. The fundamentals still hold, but AI now gives us a not-so-old-school way to keep forecasts current....and it will blow your mind.
Skill
The Most Overlooked Skill in Consulting Starts Before the Work Does, with a a structured approach.
Consulting Insight
This one-page capability map brings together 39 capability areas and 172 supporting elements across the full system of consulting to help you build your career with intention.
Technique
Missed dates and stressed teams aren’t the problem. They’re symptoms. The Viable Systems Model (VSM) can help consultants diagnose structural underlying issues.
Consulting Insight
Timesheets are necessary commercial hygiene in consulting, but they also reveal culture. Done well, they’re quick and useful; done poorly, they steal Fridays.
Project Management
Executives don’t ignore status reports by accident. They ignore bad ones on purpose. Good reports surface uncomfortable truths early and make it obvious where leadership attention is needed.
Technique
Win your next assignment with structure, not luck. This script helps you craft a best-practice consulting approach through guided questions that turn ambiguity into clarity, delivering clear phases, outcomes, deliverables, and tools you can adapt for any engagement.
Consulting Insight
Chapter 4: This is the 4th in a series on Santa's digital transformation. See my Investment Logic Map Framework here and lessons for consultants when they develop one with a client
Tool
A decision-support super-prompt that asks consultants targeted questions to clarify the situation, uncover complications, interpret implications, and produce a clear “What → So What → Now What” advisory package with options, actions, and recommendations.
Consulting Insight
Chapter 3: I'm going to try to bring consultant tools, templates and techniques to life using Pole Enterprises as my case study. This is the 3rd in a series on Santas Digital Transformation. See my PMO Framework here.
Consulting Insight
Chapter 2: I'm going to try to bring consultant tools, templates and techniques to life using Pole Enterprises as my case study. This is 2nd in the series on how to do customer journey mapping. The 1st was Mrs Claus letter.
Project Management
Change dashboards must tell the truth, support decisions, and reflect the human reality of change, not just make things look tidy. This article serves up the special brew for building a change management dashboard that gives executives the clarity they need to lead with confidence.