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I’d say this is more a corporate autobiography than an industry exposé. It does lift the lid on some of the more dubious practices of management consultants, but only by documenting Craig’s career from consultancy bottom feeders through to Big Four prestige assignments. He never reveals the names of his employers, or his clients, but with a little detective work it’s usually easy to figure out. Believing his ex-colleagues would all be reading his book, I found myself being annoyed by his need to periodically state “and if you’re thinking of suing me, I have the recordings/memos/files to prove it”. Like another reviewer, I also found his habit of inserting a single dash into a swear word to ‘clean it up’ offputting. I think the audience for this book is grown up enough to handle some bad language. There are some shocking stories here, but then anyone could write some stuff about the company they work for – just read Scott Adams’ Dilbert Newsletter. It’s only because Craig has worked for some dodgy employers in a ‘smoke and mirrors’ industry, with a wide variety of clients, that he’s got enough material to fill a book. It’s an interesting read purely for curiosity value, not for uncovering the inner workings of the more respected consultancies (and he was never in very senior roles). And don’t expect anything useful on the tools and techniques used by good consultants to improve performance. Now a book from a Partner…..that would make for a good read.
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