Gazhoo and Lillilooloo are definitely interesting sites for management consultants to be knowledgeable about. On first blush, what struck me about Gazhoo was that there seemed to be somewhat sophisticated topic areas being addressed. As for Lillilooloo, the add-on services of getting documents revised, "beautified", etc. ... well I have started to hear more annecdotally about other small consulting firms using similar types of outsourced services as part of their backoffice operations. Docstoc is another portal, community, document store thats strikes me as targeting a similar market demographic, e.g., mass-market SMB and individual professionals.

Very interesting observation about the shift to using "you" as the engagement moves toward the end. Makes me wonder if there are any differences between the masses and those consultants who have a cultural focus in ensuring from the get-go that the client does not develop a dependency on the consultant. Also makes me wonder in cases where a consultant is brought in specifically for their 3rd-party, independent view, whether there is a tendency to create some distance between the client and consultant by using the term "you".

Matthew, Thanks for the pointer. Nice post! Best, Steve

Yes - I am a dad. As for the professional aspects in the collage, many aspects of this collage have to do with me being a good partner and #2 right-hand man (as opposed to playing #1 role). In cases where I play a right-hand role, I don't simply see myself as an extension of the #1 role. I bring a separate set of skills to the table. I get my hands down and dirty too. I value duty, professionalism, and mastery.

Shanz, You may want to check out the attached website. It is targeted at folks trying to get into management consulting. http://managementconsulted.com/ Might also want to check out this post on consulting analysts. http://steveshu.typepad.com/steve_shus_weblog/2007/01/musings_on_the_.html The long and the short is that I see a few major ways into consulting firms (via engineering track): - be a good analyst (per post above) - get an MBA - target a firm that hires engineers - be an expert in an industry vertical - get a PhD and target a narrower set of firms (and/or specialized consultancies) Simply being an engineer is not a high probability route to get into a consulting firm. You will need to develop an "angle" that differentiates you.

Consultant Insider, Glad things came in handy! Best, Steve.

Bonnie, Thanks for the links. I had actually wanted to write this post (quite) a number of years ago and remember the SCIP materials, but I hadn't visited the site in quite some time. Thanks again for pointing out your site to readers. Best, Steve

Sorry forgot to post a link. Here it is ... http://seenasharp.com

Anne, Excellent wireup. Thanks for the contribution. Is the second link broken, however? As an aside for readers, I am reading a book by Seena Sharp on competitive intelligence. Although I haven't yet gotten to sections on ethics in CI, it looks like a very-focused book for those unfamiliar with CI. Best, Steve

Joshua, thanks for sharing your perspectives. At least based on my experience, it seems like #1 of the two you mentioned is more common. That said, I've never directly asked a client why they've hired two or more consultants, so I'm only making a guess based on how I see them treating the firms. I will add this question to my list of questions to ask clients going-forward!

A venture professional(who knew the answer already) posed another good case ... What if info lands on your desk during the course of due diligence (e.g., during investment or M&A)? Should that info be used for competitive intelligence (legal issues aside)?