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My life in Accenture before startups

swombat.com

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Re: My life in Accenture before startups

#11

Post by swombat »

44Aman wrote: post #7

"The height of absurdity was reached, I believe, when I was asked to prepare the proposal for the preparation of a plan to produce a proof of concept for a module of a tool the client was implementing." Wow, that sounds pretty inane.

The best part was my manager, at the time, taking me aside and giving me a little speech on how I should be honoured that the client was getting me involved this early in the project - that typically only senior managers and partners got involved so early in a project, and that as a consultant I should realise that this was a great opportunity to help the client define what needed to be done, etc.

In the meantime, I was busy working on not one but two startups on the side, so although I nodded agreement (you have to be political..), I wasn't particularly awed by the chance to work on this particular bit of work :-)

The rest of the project, once I got into managing the actual delivery of the module, was much more sensible. And of course it didn't quite follow the plan. Nothing ever does.

Re: My life in Accenture before startups

#12

Post by swombat »

kitsune_ wrote: post #10
swombat wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Any company with 100k+ people is going to have its share of idiots. I worked there for 4 years and, in my experience, this type of person was definitely a very small minority. I'd blame the person rather than the company for this kind of terribly flawed character.

I'd blame the person and not the company myself if it were not for a) Witnessing the havoc Accenture consulting unleashed upon a couple of businesses personally b) Knowing, albeit superficially, a load of people who currently work or had worked at Accenture. With the exception of one they're the poster jerks nobody likes.

Perhaps the culture is different in other countries. This was in Accenture UK.

Edit: I hate to suggest it, but perhaps there's also a bit of a perceptive bias going on, in both directions. I look for the good in people, and I found plenty of awesome people in Accenture. If you expect Accenture people to be arrogant idiots, probably every Accenture person you meet will look like just that.

Re: My life in Accenture before startups

#13

Post by gaius »

swombat wrote: post #6
gaius wrote: post #4

but which I saw I could now do with almost all subject areas. Mmm, but you can't tho'. No-one can. What consultants do is fake expertise, then actually learn it on the time the client is paying for an expert. Not that that isn't a skill mind, but don't confuse it for something it's not.

I never mentioned anything about expertise. What I said was: I also gained a lot of confidence in my abilities to pick up and absorb new things and become productive quickly - something that I knew I could do with technologies, but which I saw I could now do with almost all subject areas. I think you're letting a prejudiced opinion of consultants get in the way of the article.

I believe that you believe it, and can make others believe it, Accenture spent a lot of money training you to, but c'mon, you can be productive in any subject quickly? Really? Have you tried it in anything that was truly outside of your comfort zone?

I'm an ex-Consultant myself, like you right out of college, so I know about this from the inside.

Re: My life in Accenture before startups

#14

Post by gaius »

swombat wrote: post #12
kitsune_ wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd blame the person and not the company myself if it were not for a) Witnessing the havoc Accenture consulting unleashed upon a couple of businesses personally b) Knowing, albeit superficially, a load of people who currently work or had worked at Accenture. With the exception of one they're the poster jerks nobody likes.

Perhaps the culture is different in other countries. This was in Accenture UK. Edit: I hate to suggest it, but perhaps there's also a bit of a perceptive bias going on, in both directions. I look for the good in people, and I found plenty of awesome people in Accenture. If you expect Accenture people to be arrogant idiots, probably every Accenture person you meet will look like just that.

Individual people I judge on their merits, same as anyone, but Accenture's involvement with the UK govt has been a disaster for everyone but them. What did they charge the NHS, and what did they deliver? Ripping off a healthcare provider is pretty low.

Re: My life in Accenture before startups

#15

Post by swombat »

gaius wrote: post #13
swombat wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I never mentioned anything about expertise. What I said was: I also gained a lot of confidence in my abilities to pick up and absorb new things and become productive quickly - something that I knew I could do with technologies, but which I saw I could now do with almost all subject areas. I think you're letting a prejudiced opinion of consultants get in the way of the article.

I believe that you believe it, and can make others believe it, Accenture spent a lot of money training you to, but c'mon, you can be productive in any subject quickly? Really? Have you tried it in anything that was truly outside of your comfort zone? I'm an ex-Consultant myself, like you right out of college, so I know about this from the inside.

Any topic that involves advanced maths or other hard science will be hard to pick up quickly (despite doing a Physics degree), but other than those, most business-related activities tend to be fairly straightforward to pick up, so long as you have the right "learning materials" (be it work samples, manuals, people to coach you, whatever makes sense for the activity).

Sure, there's a world of difference between "being productive" and "being an expert", but again, I'm not saying you can become an expert in a week, I'm saying you can be productive.

Moreover, I'd argue that with the right coaching/motivation/environment, most smart people can do this.

Re: My life in Accenture before startups

#16

Post by swombat »

gaius wrote: post #14
swombat wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Perhaps the culture is different in other countries. This was in Accenture UK. Edit: I hate to suggest it, but perhaps there's also a bit of a perceptive bias going on, in both directions. I look for the good in people, and I found plenty of awesome people in Accenture. If you expect Accenture people to be arrogant idiots, probably every Accenture person you meet will look like just that.

Individual people I judge on their merits, same as anyone, but Accenture's involvement with the UK govt has been a disaster for everyone but them. What did they charge the NHS, and what did they deliver? Ripping off a healthcare provider is pretty low.

Accenture's involvement with the NHS was a major disaster for Accenture too. I can see why they went for it - it was the kind of huge contract that a company like Accenture can't resist - but unlike the other providers, they pulled out when they realised the whole thing was doomed (and took a very hefty financial penalty to do so).

FYI, they cancelled one of the twice-yearly promotion points because of the NHS debacle (which resulted, iirc, in a $450m write-off by Accenture UK, and basically wiped out the profits for the year). That pissed off a lot of people and caused a lot of their best people to leave the company. So, yeah, they took a big hit!

Re: My life in Accenture before startups

#17

Post by dools »

44Aman wrote: post #7

"The height of absurdity was reached, I believe, when I was asked to prepare the proposal for the preparation of a plan to produce a proof of concept for a module of a tool the client was implementing." Wow, that sounds pretty inane.

"Number 1.0: [waggling his finger] D-D-D-D-Don't quote me regulations. I co-chaired the committee that reviewed the recommendation to revise the colour of the book that regulation's in. We kept it grey. "

http://www.futurama-madhouse.net/scripts/2acv11.shtml

Re: My life in Accenture before startups

#18

Post by kitsune_ »

swombat wrote: post #12
kitsune_ wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd blame the person and not the company myself if it were not for a) Witnessing the havoc Accenture consulting unleashed upon a couple of businesses personally b) Knowing, albeit superficially, a load of people who currently work or had worked at Accenture. With the exception of one they're the poster jerks nobody likes.

Perhaps the culture is different in other countries. This was in Accenture UK. Edit: I hate to suggest it, but perhaps there's also a bit of a perceptive bias going on, in both directions. I look for the good in people, and I found plenty of awesome people in Accenture. If you expect Accenture people to be arrogant idiots, probably every Accenture person you meet will look like just that.

When, 9 out of 10 experiences with a company turn out to be negative, it could be argued that you build up a negative bias. I'm not saying that there are no decent people at ACN, there definitely are.

Either way, Accenture has an awful reputation within the technology sector imo.

Re: My life in Accenture before startups

#20

Post by arethuza »

swombat wrote: post #15
gaius wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I believe that you believe it, and can make others believe it, Accenture spent a lot of money training you to, but c'mon, you can be productive in any subject quickly? Really? Have you tried it in anything that was truly outside of your comfort zone? I'm an ex-Consultant myself, like you right out of college, so I know about this from the inside.

Any topic that involves advanced maths or other hard science will be hard to pick up quickly (despite doing a Physics degree), but other than those, most business-related activities tend to be fairly straightforward to pick up, so long as you have the right "learning materials" (be it work samples, manuals, people to coach you, whatever makes sense for the activity). Sure, there's a world of difference between "being…

Out of interest, what business areas did you do projects in?
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