Some generalizations from my time indie consulting:

- most companies do way too little user research and know almost nothing about their users

- most companies have almost zero conception of what "brand" actually means

- most companies have too many KPIs and awful dashboards
Continued:

- most companies talk a good game about innovation but have explicit structures in place to prevent rapid change

- most execs, despite being senior are starved for autonomy (vp layer gets hella crowded)

- most employees have zero clue what the companies strategy is
More:

- most companies don't even have a strategy. They have a loose collection of plans.

- slack is great but most companies radically bias towards sync communications

- hiring is essential to biz success and often related to auto posting to job boards and hr folks
Bonus:

- procurement structures and budgets force execs to make big investments (e.g. design agency) where rapid iteration would be more effective

- orgs are political. from memory of past events to narrative of "who's in charge".
Yeehaw:

- for any mid or large company momentum far outweighs actual business impact

- presentation design (and concise narrative framing) is a super power whether you like it or not
Giddy up:

- effective execs generate false urgency. Bad execs generate *too much* false urgency. Done well highly effective. But generates narrative violation for smart employees

- narrative strategy is a 21st century skill. Teams frustrated at lack of buy-in suck at narrative.
Kicker:

- this whole thread is a good demonstration of bad consulting. Pithy ideas delivered as business koans. Real consulting needs to start from a place of nuance and context. 'Yes! And..." is more powerful than "here's the answer"

😂
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