When I was at McKinsey, one of the biggest reasons clients cited for repeatedly hiring McKinsey was: “perspective.”
Clients would say that the firm helped them see their own businesses in a new way.
At the time, this seemed like a somewhat amorphous reason for spending a few million dollars in consulting fees.
However, as I started serving clients in my own consulting practice, I started to appreciate what clients meant by this.
Opportunities that were hiding in plain sight suddenly become visible for the first time.
Tough decisions that had been lingering and people had procrastinated over for years were suddenly made on 24 hours notice.
When it comes to perspective, I like to borrow a phrase from the field of neuro-linguistic programming called “framing.”
Framing uses the metaphor of a picture frame as a way to describe the biases by which we view the world (in this metaphor, the world is represented by the painting that resides within the frame).
In all facets of life, the “frame” by which you view a situation makes a profound difference.
If you view lack of success as “failure,” that’s one kind of frame.
An alternative frame is to view lack of success as “feedback” instead of “failure” — it’s the same facts but an entirely different PERSPECTIVE.
In the last recession, I had a prospective client that was struggling financially.
They said, “We don’t know what to do. We are very good at what we do. Our clients and prospective clients agree we are better than any other providers. We have no competition.”
My reply was: “Yes, you do. Instead of using the word ‘competitor,’ use the phrase ‘alternative to buying from us.’
“From your prospects’ point of view, what is the alternative to buying from you?
“Answer: Not buying a damn thing from anybody.
“In other words, the alternative to buying from you isn’t buying from another company. The alternative is to DO NOTHING.
“Instead of thinking of competitors as other providers, think of competitors as ‘alternatives to buying from us.’ It changes everything.”
I helped them change their “frame” and perspective.
They immediately replaced all their marketing materials that showed how they were better than other providers. They replaced it with materials that showed how buying from them was better than not doing anything to solve their problems.
A simple perspective change AUTOMATICALLY implies all kinds of downstream decisions and actions.
This is why Fortune 500 CEOs like it when consultants give them new “perspective” on their businesses. A simple perspective change makes hundreds of smaller decisions simple and easy.
Here’s a potential perspective shift for you.
Whether or not you realize it, you are pursuing a dream.
The real question is: Are you pursuing your own dream or someone else’s?
Share your thoughts with me below.
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43 thoughts on “Deep Perspective”
Thanks for sharing your thoughts, Victor, & opening this up for discussion.
I designed my college major focusing on our unconscious perceptions by combining studio art & philosophy. So I think there’s a clear parallel here (:
I’ve read your notes, & they’re nice affirmations for what I consciously practice. I’ve spent a decade honing my approach to things, & sharpening my critical & creative thinking skills.
The trouble is: what do I apply it to? That dream question has long troubled me. I know what is not my dream, but I don’t know what my dream is. More than a single aspect like a job, I don’t know what overall lifestyle I want to strive for.
As a somewhat fresh grad, I’m happy to start anywhere so long as I learn & get challenged. But with my liberal arts degree & background, I’m not even getting my foot in any door for interviews. I know I can learn quickly & well on the job, but i’m not even given that chance.
Any thoughts, Victor, on the possible steps I might take? Or any perspective on this?
Thanks so much for your time, I appreciate it.
Warm regards,
Amelia
Amelia,
Generalize your interest and skills into a higher level category of capability.
What is philosophy? What is it’s functional use? Is it to make sense of complex situations? Is it to digest historical information and make it useful in the presence?
Take the higher level skill and do a market search — who values such a skill.
I perceived myself and being a good consultant. What I really realized is my higher level skill was being able to make sense of complex ideas and make them simpler for other people to understand and to troubleshoot. My higher level skill set has much broader applicability than consulting — but I didn’t realize that initially.
The same is true for you too — though I don’t know the specifics.
-Victor
Hi Victor
Thanks for sharing your thoughts. I really like reading your newsletter, especially the previous one about integrity.
With regards to the value consultants bring to the table, I must say I have mixed feeling. I started my career in Investment Banking and 2 years ago I switched to the Wealth Management arm of a big financial institution. Throughout my career I have worked with numerous consulting firms, more known ones (McK, BCG, Bain, Accenture, KPMG, E&Y etc.) and smaller, less famous ones. Without any doubt smart people work for these companies, in particular McK and BCG are able to attract skilled talents. However, when interacting with them, I have noticed the following:
1) majority of the consultants come straight from university and have worked in the consulting business, hence often adopt an “academic/text book approach”
2) given consultants work in project organizations they often struggle to understand the complexity of big firms
3) because of the previous two points, senior guys at banks often don’t take their work/advice serious given none of them have actually closed a deal with a client
4) usually senior management likes to hire them so that they can point the finger on other in case the project backfires (which is not the fault of consulting firms but rather of weak, indecisive management)
5) they have a very good database and often sell the same project to various players
Consultants can generate added value but the most successful ones I have seen are usually the ones which first worked the in the respective industry and then join a consulting firm. What’s your point of view?
I’ve seen both types of consulting be useful — though usually for different reasons. The industry expert knows a lot. The smart consultant can objectively and quantitively test client ideas. Useful for different reasons.
-Victor
I love this. A lot.
Dear Victor, thank you for such great letters!
I loved the topic of “Perspective”, in my career it has been sometimes a very easy and very complex question to answer i.e. what dream am I pursuing. I did both: someone else’s (like getting my MBA in Finance b/c everyone did it and I thought I could do it, and I graduated, and realized that is not my cup of tea); and I did PMP b/c I wanted and now start to considering Consulting, which never crossed my mind before.
I think that pursing your own dream is a way to look within oneself. And, it is very important b/c sometimes your inner voice gets quite midst all the noise of others. It is an ongoing pursuit for me.
Thank you for your newsletters, so motivational and thought-provoking!
Hello Victor Sir,
I feel really motivated with your articles and I am reading them since 2008.
What if people around yo doesn’t want to change despite of all the efforts you do to change there perspective?
Is it wrong to pursue the same dream as of your family? Like in my case is to buy a house for them.
Amit,
The primary person whose perspective you can change and influence is your own.
Is it wrong to pursue the same dream as your family? No, provided it is actually YOUR dream AND their dream too — as opposed to strictly their dream that you’ve adopted by default because you didn’t think you were allowed to have your own dream.
-Victor
This is a good topic, Victor. In my work, I also found that how to frame a problem or a message is extremely important and sometimes nuanced. Would love to see you write more about HOW to frame things. Thanks.
Victor,
Thank you so much for keeping sharing your insightful thoughts with your audience. With your helpful materials, LOMS and Behind the Door, I successfully got an offer from PwC Strategy&, and will be with them from this summer. I appreciate your efforts to help fresh people entering their dreaming career.
Your story about “Perspective” reminds me of my recent experience to look at another perspective of myself: Fearfulness. I had not thought I could be so scared for something since I was not a child any longer. I don’t fear any animal or any criminal. It seems to me I don’t have any natural enemy at all. However, when I was put into the cockpit to start learning aviation in 3,000 feet high sky, I was scared so much by stall and engine failure that failed to manage the maneuver required by instructor sitting beside me.
I recalled I was always a conservative people, well, OK, a bit chicken. When I was a little one, I was teased by my cousin because I felt fearful to hold a firecracker when lighting it. I was scared to jump into water and could not learn swimming as fast as my friends did. I was shy and fearful to speak before group…. Now I think I was lucky to be in this situation and got an opportunity to remind my weak perspective, so that I could be prepared and have a good start with my new career.
Thank you Victor and I hope you have a wonderful day.
Regards,
Hugh
The question is what happens when I don’t know my own dream and don’t know the means to find it. I’m a scientist and I love science, but it’s a love hate relationship as being a scientist is a very commited and a non rewarding profession, we’ll, most of the time. I don’t have enough passion to do science and I guess that if there was something else I could do
With more passion, I would leave science, but I’m already 38 years old in my second postdoc. The question is how should I think about it? Should I re-frame my thinking to have more passion or should I find something to be passionate about? And if I decide one or the other, how do I go about developing a strategy or some other means to understand what is that I need to do in order to be more content and satisfied with my decision? But maybe these are big questions to answer in a simple mail. Thanks for sharing your posts, I always find myself engaged and RE-FRAMED after I read them.
Ariel,
Rather than think in black and white terms, be a scientist or not. Think in a more segmented way. What specifically do you love about science? What do you dislike?
Create a mental composite of your ideal profession — the best of what you love, none of what you dislike. Get clarity on this idealized profession. Then look at what careers exist that fit the attributes you’ve described for yourself.
I did NOT do this when I left McKinsey. I disliked the travel and all the paper document creating, but I love the problems solving aspect of consulting. I didn’t like working for anonymous big companies, but I did like the work.
15 years later the consulting practiced I started has no travel, I don’t write any powerpoint, and I do no spreadsheet analysis. In addition, I work for individuals who own companies, not anonymous companies. It took me 15 years to figure out that my first job out of school was actually pretty good for me, minus 3 things I didn’t like about it.
Never too late. The key is to critical challenge your own thinking.
-Victor
I wouldn’t have been able to answer this question while I was getting my bachelor’s degree. I doubt I would have been able to answer this question while I was at my first job in Aerospace. After several years, I reached a level of dissatisfaction where I had no other choice but to face this question and it has changed more than my career path. Undoubtedly, I ask myself now whether my reasons are my own each time I purchase something, go some place or take a stand for something. Thanks for the article, Victor. You’ve reassured my change in perspective.
I do my own. Still I have some to pursue, which represent alternative to what I do now. So, it is a matter of choice if I want all of then