One way consultants add value by being “insightful,” but what does that really mean? What’s more, if you aren’t “insightful” already, how do you improve?
I’ve been thinking about this lately and distilled 4 ways to push your thinking and get more insightful.
- Change your shoes
- Find parallels to things you know
- Ask ‘how’ and ‘why’ to dig deep
- Get super specific
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Who knew I spent so much time staring at walls… I now use that time to read articles, papers, reports, and more! Instapaper helped me find HOURS per week in my already jam-packed that I can spend reading.
Instapaper is a “read later” service that has changed my life. It allows you to easily capture content from multiple sources and store it in the cloud so you can consume it at your leisure.
Simply click, “read later” across Instapaper’s many incarnations and the service comes through the internet to capture text and images from an article. That content is now available to read whenever and wherever you have some free-time.
It’s a ubiquitous and beautiful reading experience that I never knew I needed.
- You’ll find new time in your day
- It goes where you go
Read on to find out more, and check it out at instapaper.com.
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Excel is the go-to tool for business calculations. Simple or complex, weeks of work or merely minutes, you’ll use Excel eventually. As with any tool, knowing a few tricks can transform the output from a clunky mess to a useful, beautiful creation. 
- Learn before you hack
- Make it pretty
- Document everything
These three hints apply to lots of life’s endeavors,
but let’s talk about how they apply to Excel.
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…or, “how I consistently defeat fruit fly armies”
I came home from a weekend trip to Atlanta to find my apartment swarming with fruit flies. Luckily, I’ve done battle with these little bastards before… (I keep fresh fruit and don’t spend much time at home) By the next morning all the fruit flies were gone. Here’s how I did it.
- Build the trap
- Hide the prize
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Being a consultant is not like being James Bond… but I pretend it is! When I find out I’ve got two hours to make the red-eye to Bucharest, I order another beer before I head out – I know packing will take 10 minutes, tops.
These are a few tips, tricks, and time-savers that I’ve learned that have made packing an afterthought instead of a project…
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As I’ve transformed into a consultant over the last year I’ve started structuring everything… The trick always finding the right structure. Here’s a great one!
I recently worked with a colleague who uses a work-planning structure that breaks big, wide-open questions into actionable next-steps. The Question-Data-Action framework is thorough, thought provoking, and easy to communicate with 4 simple steps:
- Define key questions
- Refine to sub-questions
- Determine what data is needed
- Identify actions to get the data
Each step gets you closer to an actionable workplan that will make your life easier and help you communicate timing and deliverables with clients and colleagues.
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We have talked about how to get an interview and how to nail the case section. The last step in the “PhD’s Guide to Getting a Consulting Job” is discussing your personal experience in a way that is clear, compelling, and shows that you’ve got what it takes to be a consultant. Click to continue →
CNN and FOX news can’t stop talking about it.
You may have seen someone ‘tweet’ in real-life.
You feel like you might be missing out.
Despite all the hype, twitter seems unbelievably stupid…
I thought so too when I first tried out the service, but by taking a different approach it is starting to seem like a useful tool.
You should follow me on twitter (@shawnlankton).
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Knowing about new research in my field helps keep my work informed and relevant. However, I rarely remember to log into IEEE Xplore, Springer, or Science Direct to see what’s new in top computer vision journals. Recently, I saw mention of using RSS to keep up with research on Productive Scholar.
It took a bit of searching, but eventually I found RSS feeds for many of the journals I’m interested in and loaded them into google reader. It is now quick to scroll through new abstracts as papers appear on-line prior to publication. Below are links to RSS feeds for some computer vision journals I’m keeping up with.
RSS Feeds for Computer Vision Journals
Finding RSS Feeds for Other Journals
It takes a bit of hunting sometimes, but I can’t imagine that a journal would not have RSS these days. IEEE Journals are easy to find, and I found that inezha.com was a good resource for finding some of the other ones I have listed.
Any good feeds I missed?
Other good ideas for keeping current?
Leave them in the comments.
When I really need to concentrate I listen to brown noise. I find that it boosts my productivity and keeps me from getting distracted by sounds around me. This is most useful in coffee shops or noisy offices, but I even do this when it’s quiet.
Brown noise is similar to white noise; it sounds like random static. However, brown noise is at a slightly lower pitch so it’s easier to listen to. That means that I can work for hours without hurting my ears!
You can download some free random noise MP3s to play on your computer or iPod, or listen to some right from your browser. Both work great.
This works better than my previous method (using ear plugs) because the sounds aren’t just blocked, they’re all scrambled up by the static. I get so much input from my ears that my brain ignores sound all together and focuses on work!
Anybody else tried this? How else do you keep focused?
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