With all the interest I received for free copies of my book (Jack of All Trades Master of Some, An Introduction to Consulting) for anyone that was a student or unemployed, I’ve decided to make a new
ebook available perma-free for download. “An Introduction to Consulting – A Primer” is a shorter version including major key elements and is now free from my website under the “free stuff” section. I hope you all find it valuable!

For more insight into an Introduction to Consulting, check out my book Jack of All Trades Master of Some, An Introduction to Consulting.

Check out the rest of the series tied to the book on the blog as well!

Introduction to Consulting – Free eBook Download

When I first started consulting and reviewing my own billable rate, I could not even process how and why companies would pay that kind of money for someone like me. For that kind of money, companies could pay the salary of three or four versions of myself for the same period. It just did not add up.

There are a few major reasons most companies will hire consultants instead of hiring their own employees:

The work is project-based

The first major reason it makes sense for a company to hire a consultant is that the needed work must be completed in finite time with limited scope. Although the cost of the project can be high, a client will save thousands of dollars by not having to hire long-term, full-time resources. They can pay highly skilled, subject matter experts to come in and knock out the job. After completion, they can send the consultants on their way and transitioning the ongoing support to existing employees as a portion of their day job. The initial cost of the project is considered an investment with a long-term payback.

The work is temporary

Similar to project-style work, sometimes a company is simply short staffed. Maybe it is the year-end, maybe Mary is on maternity leave, and maybe they just need an extra hand hitting a deadline. In these cases, this work is usually called “Staff Aug,” short for Staff Augmentation. Staff augmentation is where the current staff is supplemented by consultants for a limited time. The cost in this scenario is temporary because the role is temporary.

Consultants don’t get benefits

The cost of a company’s full-time employee exceeds his or her salary. Companies pay for the employee’s desk, computer, parking pass, coffee, perks and—most importantly, the second most expensive item next to salary—benefits. With most reputable companies now offering retirement matches and health care benefits, the usual cost of an employee is over 20% beyond that person’s salary. This is where the cost of hiring a consultant can begin to make a lot more sense.

The work is hard

Many times, a company will bring in a consultant because they just cannot do the work themselves. The work may be too complicated, or the organization may not have enough time or resources to complete the work on time or at all. Finding an expert to assist in complicated tasks is usually very hard to find and even more expensive to hire for the long-term. This is where specialty firms and their resources can flourish. Deep expertise in a business domain, an industry, or a technology drives most of the work for consulting firms.

The work is mandatory

Mandatory or regulatory work is where Big Four firms make much of their money. Audit season, Tax season, Merger and Acquisition reviews can be the reason you see an empty conference room get invaded by forty new folks dressed in the basic business casual starter kit and travel laptop. It is not rare to see these consultants working 80 hours a week, ordering take-out, hunching over documents and filling out spreadsheets. This type of work is necessary either by law/regulations or is required because of due diligence work. This is frequently where consultants get started.

For more insight into an Introduction to Consulting, check out my book Jack of All Trades Master of Some, An Introduction to Consulting.

Check out the rest of the series tied to the book on the blog as well!

For more insight into an Introduction to Consulting, check out my book Jack of All Trades Master of Some, An Introduction to Consulting

Wearability
These are the softest over the earpieces I have ever used. Even after a few hours, and with glasses on, there was no pain anywhere which was shocking. Other headsets I had used in the past, even if they started off comfortable, overtime would cause some discomfort from the pressure against the head. Even with the extremely light pressure, the earpieces created a nice seal providing great quality sound. As in all over the top headphones, it was hard to rest on the side of your head due to the sides but unless you are using earbuds, all headphones will have this problem.

Sound
The sound as expected from Bose headphones was really clear. I cycled through some classical, hip hop, EDM, folk and basic easy listening and the sound quality was really good across all the genres and the sounds they produced.

Noise Cancelling
Incredible. I was seated right over the back of the wing on a four-engine, two story 747. The plane is insulated very well but even the best insulation is no match for a jet engine ten feet away from your head. As soon as I flipped the switch on my headset, it was as if the engines had shut off. I could hear a soft hum of passing air but it was as if the volume on a TV had gone from a 10 to a 1 in an instant. I instantly wanted to google how this technology worked, but we were already in airplane mode so I just had to assume it was good old fashion magic.

Battery Life
The final verdict is out but I went a full 8 hours on the first flight and then another 8 on the second leg and have not replaced the battery as of yet or been notified if the battery is low. At this point, the battery life is rated somewhere between really good to excellent.

Overall and Results
I was thoroughly impressed by the Bose Quiet Comfort Noise Cancelling Headphones. I had used the cabled version which provided some annoyances, so I imagine moving up to the Bluetooth version would be a nice upgrade. Overall when I landed, I do feel like I felt a lot better rested then I do when I normally fly internationally. Some of that could be a placebo effect of knowing I was experimenting with the headphones, but I did not feel as dazed and groggy as I do getting off my flight even with all the time zone hops. The noise canceling was worth it, as listening to music or movies without having the sound fight over the jet engine made everything sound a lot better. Overall, I don’t think I will fly long haul with noise canceling headphones again.

1. More Deep work and Less Shallow Work. Setting up blocks of time for when to work and when not to work.
   Set a very strict schedule for yourself for when you will be working and when you will be checking emails. While you are working be deliberate on the item you are working on. During this block of time, that one task is all you do. No stopping to check an email, or social media and no jumping to another task. The goal is to hit a state of flow and do good deep work.
   Set up 15-minute blocks of time for shallow work. Checking and responding to emails, or other housekeeping items. If you need a mental break, do it during this time as well. The key take away is that when you are working, you are working. For the brain to switch gears, there is valuable time lost as you shift back into a state of flow.
2. Kill the alerts
   Every ping from your phone, or pop up on your computer screen will scream and beg for your valuable attention. Go into each setting and shut every notification off. You will learn most responses can wait until you are ready for your designated block of time to respond. I’ve only half tacked these issues by shutting off my notifications and still find myself responding to instant message requests but over time I hope to avoid the temptation and set better expectations with my teams in the future.
3. Do not be a human router
   Checking and responding to emails less then 3 sentences for the most part just turns you into an old school phone operator, just moving information around from one party to another. Not much of value is created during this effort which you may think is a valuable exercise of coordination. Think through batching efforts and emails in your designated email time slots.
4. Set up a daily work schedule
   Either the night before or first thing in the morning, plan your day and your goals. Break this down by the hour if possible but at a minimum, shoot for a pre-lunch and post-lunch block to get started. An extraordinary amount of time is lost sitting thinking about what you are supposed to be working on next and then sprinkling in a few random Google or Reddit searches.
5. Productive meditation (walking)
   Get up from your desk from time to time and go for a walk over 5 minutes. If you can walk or bike ride to work, this also works well. Use this time to think about and meditate on the big problem for the day. Similar to those brilliant shower thoughts you get, your brain will be better able to crack problems you are stuck on when you free it and let it run wild in a stress-free environment. A nice added benefit will be getting your 10K steps in which equates to about ~350 calories burned on average!
6. Learn to focus
   The author discusses a technique to memorize a full deck of cards but the overall goal is not to learn a neat party trick but rather sharpen your brain to focus. This can be achieved through other methods as well. I’ve begun a meditation practice, as well as created homemade memory flash cards which I will try to play every few days. As a personal experiment in improving my focus, I recently bought a 10th-grade Algebra book and try to work through a few problems every few days. No verdict on if this has helped but I have gotten better at 10th-grade Algebra again.
7. Shut down routine
   When you are done with work…you are done with work. When the day ends, try to make a routine for your self that trains your brain that it is time to take a break. Make notes of what items you will work on tomorrow, close Excel document and save them. Shut the computer down, do not put it to sleep! This has been a hard one for me as I usually have items to work on in the evening due to the nature of consulting, but I do make sure from when I leave the office and I head to the gym and have dinner, work is on complete pause and not dominating my thoughts.
8. Quit Social Media
   This is going to be hard for a lot of people. It took me a long time to wean myself off of social media but now due to the requirement of marketing my book and blog, I had to reengage the platforms. I have set aside three blocks of time in the evenings a week that I have marked as “Marketing” which I allow myself to really engage in social media. Although I have cheated a lot on this self-discipline tactic, the goal has been set and I hope to improve in 2019, hopefully, you can do the same!

If you have not already ready Deep Work I highly recommend it. I also talk a little bit about a healthy work life balance in my book Jack of All Trades Master of Some – An Introduction to Consulting.