August, 2019

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The road to hell is paved with metrics.

Markovitz Consulting

Michael Harris and Bill Tayler wrote a terrific article in the new Harvard Business Review on “metrics surrogation”—the tendency for people to mentally replace their business strategy with metrics. Although these metrics are supposed to reflect the company’s progress towards its goals, the focus on metrics can destroy an organization. Wells Fargo’s “” Eight is great ” initiative, which had the company measuring daily cross-sell numbers, caused employees to focus on increasing that number—not nec

Metrics 211
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3 Reasons Why You Need a Strategic Plan

Strategic Planning and Management Insights

Are you leading an organization or a business? Whether you are leading a big or small organization, or a non-profit or for-profit business, you need to have a strategic plan.

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Consulting business plan template – free outline

Consultant Journal

Many people write to ask where they can find a consulting business plan template. Well, here’s a free outline of a consulting business plan template. It’s just an outline, though – see here for my full business plan kit , which includes the actual materials I use to help clients with their business plans. Executive Summary. Business Overview. Products & Services.

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The Consulting Firm Danger Zone (and How to Avoid It)

David A Fields

I’m going to walk way out on a limb and assume you want to grow your consulting firm or your bank account and/or your personal capabilities. Okay, it wasn’t much of a limb. More like lounging in a lawn chair while looking at the tree. Regardless, there’s a Danger Zone that applies to every endeavor. … Continued. The post The Consulting Firm Danger Zone (and How to Avoid It) appeared first on David A.

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State of AI in Sales & Marketing 2025

AI adoption is reshaping sales and marketing. But is it delivering real results? We surveyed 1,000+ GTM professionals to find out. The data is clear: AI users report 47% higher productivity and an average of 12 hours saved per week. But leaders say mainstream AI tools still fall short on accuracy and business impact. Download the full report today to see how AI is being used — and where go-to-market professionals think there are gaps and opportunities.

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How to Discover Your Purpose

Consulting Matters

Are you at a point in your career where you're starting to ask life's big questions: Who am I? What do I want? What is my purpose? Then you're going to be relieved that I put together this video to help you start finding answers. Let me give you a few things to think about as you watch this video: Questioning your identity and wondering about your values isn't a sign that everything is falling apart (even though it feels that way.

How To 248

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5 Tips for Providing Effective Feedback for eLearning Programs

Clarity Consultants

However, not all approaches to feedback are as effective as promoting success as others. If you want your employees to excel, here are five tips for providing useful feedback for eLearning programs. The post 5 Tips for Providing Effective Feedback for eLearning Programs appeared first on Clarity Consultants - Training Development.

Training 217
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How Scientific Thinking Won the Women’s World Cup Title

Markovitz Consulting

In the glow of the US women’s national soccer team’s World Cup title—and the long record of success the team has had over the years—it’s easy to forget that victory didn’t always seem quite so inevitable. Although the team dominated and won the World Cup in 2015, a year later it lost to Sweden in the quarterfinals of the Olympics. Coach Jill Ellis noticed that Sweden employed a fundamentally different strategy than she expected.

Sports 180
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Service Jobs Should Be — and Can Be — Middle-Class Jobs

Harvard Business

42 million Americans work in retail, food service, and similar roles.

Retail 132
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Niche: Required or Overblown for Your Consulting Firm?

David A Fields

You’ve undoubtedly received plenty of advice to position your consulting firm in a narrow niche. Of course, you’ve also been advised to coat your daily diet with chocolate. (Maybe the latter advice was only from me, but it still counts.) Niche, chocolate. Is either one really necessary? Absolutely! Let’s look at some examples, a few … Continued.

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Less Stress, More Success: Accounting Best Practices & Processes for 2025

Speaker: Duke Heninger, Partner and Fractional CFO at Ampleo & Creator of CFO System

Are you ready to elevate your accounting processes for 2025? 🚀 Join us for an exclusive webinar led by Duke Heninger, a seasoned fractional CFO and CPA passionate about transforming back-office operations for finance teams. This session will cover critical best practices and process improvements tailored specifically for accounting professionals.

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How I Ditched the Fear of Being Seen and Launched my REAL Business

Consulting Matters

I’ll never forget the moment the Disney team turned around the performance of the Animal Kingdom theme park. This beautiful park opened in 1999, full of compelling backstories and adventure. However, it wasn’t resonating with the Disney guests as expected. The breakthrough solution to this challenge came in the middle of a 2-day strategy session.

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Don’t Focus on Leads For Your Consulting Business (Until You’ve Done This)

Consulting Success

Any consultant whose gone independent understands an important truth: You’re not just in the business of consulting. You’re in the business of marketing. Without marketing — generating conversations with buyers (leads) — you cannot generate revenue. And without revenue, you don’t have a business. But marketing is much deeper than generating conversations with buyers.

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Rich Media That Is Pushing the Training Boundaries

Clarity Consultants

While these rich media techniques are often considered cutting-edge, they are becoming more widely available. Here’s what you need to know about the learning technology and how it is pushing training boundaries. The post Rich Media That Is Pushing the Training Boundaries appeared first on Clarity Consultants - Training Development.

Media 188
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Start small. Move fast.

Markovitz Consulting

An improvement team at my client was struggling to get started on their experiment. They spent nearly a month interviewing people in multiple functions, trying to understand all the possible permutations of the current condition. They discovered that it’s really, really complicated. And that made it difficult to start improving the process. Trying to get all the pieces in place for their first experiment was laborious—so many moving pieces, so many people to include, so many variations to consid

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PowerPoint Best Practices for Creating Stellar Presentations

Mastering data visualization in PowerPoint will help accelerate your career because it positions you as someone who can present data that drives business decisions forward. think-cell's PowerPoint Best Practices eBook was created specifically for professionals aiming to master the art and science of data-driven storytelling. What’s inside: Practical Insights: Uncover valuable tips for crafting engaging and persuasive presentations.

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Hire Leaders for What They Can Do, Not What They Have Done

Harvard Business

Three questions to ask about each candidate.

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7 Consulting Firm Rules for Asking Questions

David A Fields

As a consulting firm leader, you know that asking the right questions will reveal your prospect’s situation, uncover their hidden needs, and heighten the perceived value of your solution. Could you inquire more effectively and serve a deeper purpose by following certain rules? Yes. First, though, what is the role of questions? For most adults, … Continued.

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How to Choose a Business Mentor: 10 Ways to Ensure You're Getting the Support You Need

Consulting Matters

Hiring a mentor is the most significant business development decision you'll make. It signifies three things: You're done with trying to cobble together best practices from podcasts, webinars and books and are ready for real traction. You're wanting to grow your business right without wasting time and money on what won't work. You want your business to be the best.

Video 201
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10 Consultants Share Their Best Advice: Podcast #100

Consulting Success

It is the 100thepisode of Consulting Success Podcast. To celebrate this milestone, host Michael Zipursky takes you through the top ten episodes’ key insights. Implement them in your business and apply them to your mindset to perform at even higher levels as consultants. Gathering golden nuggets brought by some of the great guests that graced. 10 Consultants Share Their Best Advice: Podcast #100 is a post from: Consulting Success.

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Savings Consultants Are Needed in Today's Market More Than Ever

Savings Consultants are needed in today’s market more than ever. With an increase in expenses, businesses are looking for opportunities to save. Often unknown to businesses are savings in expense reduction, specialized tax savings, specialized savings including medical underpayments, health benefits cost reduction, zero cost processing, and more. Blue Coast Savings, with over 20 years in business, assists Savings Consultants in helping these companies move toward more profitable businesses.

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Tips for Building Accessibility and Flexibility into Your Training Programs

Clarity Consultants

By building accessibility and flexibility into your L&D program, you can make sure your employees have options that can make training easier to manage. If you aren’t sure how to begin, here are some tips that can help you optimize your training delivery. The post Tips for Building Accessibility and Flexibility into Your Training Programs appeared first on Clarity Consultants - Training Development.

Training 187
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An Unanticipated Benefit from Toyota Kata

Markovitz Consulting

I’m using Toyota Kata to help a client shorten its lead time for product design/delivery. This company sells primarily to department stores and mass merchants, a distribution channel that’s facing incredible pressure to shorten lead times—no one wants to guess six months out what’s going to sell, and inevitably be stuck with a bunch of closeout inventory.

Course 113
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Every Computer Science Degree Should Require a Course in Cybersecurity

Harvard Business

Just one of the top 24 U.S. undergraduate programs does.

Course 132
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5 Decades of Critical Lessons for Your Consulting Firm

David A Fields

Can history teach your consulting firm anything? I mean, other than the importance of avoiding giant asteroids, bubonic plague and Bucky, the neighbor’s biting, St. Bernard? Maybe. I’ve cherry picked a handful of recent-ish decades and highlighted seminal (U.S.-centric) events to glean some lessons for us consulting firm leaders. See whether or not you agree. … Continued.

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TOOLS and METHODOLOGIES for developing DECISION SUPPORT PACKAGES

This White Paper targets opportunities for Management to develop proficiency in the Decision Framing and Analyses element of input to Decision, & Risk Analyses for Major Project Funding Decisions.

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How to Create Breakthrough Success without Burnout: Interview with Rachelle Stone

Consulting Matters

Interview with Rachelle Stone. Betsy Jordyn: Welcome everybody, this is Betsy Jordyn. I’m super excited to have an opportunity to interview Rachelle Stone, one of my favorite Consultant Institute members, almost graduate. Rachelle, welcome. Rachelle Stone : Thank you. Good to be here, Betsy. Betsy Jordyn : So really what I want to understand from you cause there’s going to be a lot of people who are in the same boat that you were when we first met who are trying to grow your business

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Profitable Prospecting For Consultants with Mark Hunter: Podcast #103

Consulting Success

Prospecting, especially when you are still starting your consulting business, can be a nightmare. In this episode, Mark Hunter, the man behind The Sales Hunter, shares how he created his consulting business, how he got his notable clients, and how to do profitable prospecting for consultants. Just like any business, climbing to the top of this niche.

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Remote-First Training Tips

Clarity Consultants

The workplace is evolving at a rapid pace. More companies are embracing flexible work arrangements and remote employees, both of which come with benefits and drawbacks. While employees that can work from home are often happier, training a geographically diverse team can be a challenge. After all, you can’t usually get them all in the same room for in-person training, and some remote workers may have learning needs that differ from on-site staff.

Training 186
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Consultants’ Conference Features Innovative Open Space Technology

IMC USA

Consultants’ Conference Features Innovative Open Space Technology. Fort Lauderdale, Florida. — August 28, 2019 — The Institute of Management Consultants USA (IMC USA, www.imcusa.org ) has scheduled an entire track of its annual Consult-Con Conference with Open Space Technology, a format that encourages attendees to create their own agenda based on what is important to them.

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Why You Need to Use Case Studies in Sales and Marketing (and How to Start Now)

Case studies are proof of successful client relations and a verifiable product or service. They persuade buyers by highlighting your customers' experiences with your company and its solution. In sales, case studies are crucial pieces of content that can be tailored to prospects' pain points and used throughout the buyer's journey. In marketing, case studies are versatile assets for generating business, providing reusable elements for ad and social media content, website material, and marketing c

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4 Tips for Managing Organizational Change

Harvard Business

Start with a trusted group of early adopters.

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Case Presentation Interview: New Style of Case Interview

Management Consulted

Management consulting is a decades old industry. And the case interview has been a consistent staple in the consulting recruiting process. Some firms, however, use what’s known as the “case presentation interview” to test candidates. They use this to test … Continue Reading. The post Case Presentation Interview: New Style of Case Interview appeared first on Management Consulted.

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Are You Making These 3 Rookie Entrepreneur Mistakes? Follow These Profitable Steps Instead

Consulting Matters

The majority of us who take the leap from high-paying corporate jobs into full-time business ownership do so because we want control over our career, time and earning power. We are SO done with those 70-hour workweeks investing in someone else's bottom line! So, it can be totally soul-sucking when after making this big move, we find ourselves in the chase for small-paying or labor-intensive gigs, working as many hours as we did before.

Video 180