Technique
The ConsultantCafe underground map with 80+ methods, frameworks and the like
Every consultant has a method drawer. Mine became a London Tube map with 89 stations across several lines in one slightly nerdy ride. Mind the methodology gap.
Change Management
My Change Management Playbook subscribers can download now
Enjoy these 44 pages of my Change Playbook. I have tried to capture everything I have learnt over the years about change management.
Technique
Project Burn-Downs: From Old-School Spreadsheets to AI-Powered Forecasts
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
Why Great Consultants Start With a Delivery Compass
The Most Overlooked Skill in Consulting Starts Before the Work Does, with a a structured approach.
Consulting Insight
My Consulting Capability Map you can download
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
Is Your Program Actually Viable?
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 Without Tears: How to Make Them Work for You
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
The Anatomy of an engagement Status Report That Builds Executive Trust
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
ChatGPT script to give you a winning consulting approach
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
Lessons in developing an Investement Logic Map from the North Pole
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
ConsultantCafe Executive Decision Support Super-Prompt
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
Lessons establishing a PMO from the North Pole (download the PMO framework)
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.