"What is a Management Consultant?" the prized MBA candidate asked. "The best of us--and that could be you--know without ever needing to ask. We're a Breed Apart," the consultant observed, arrogance and irony in perfect balance. "Okay, so that could be me, but what does that mean?" the MBA persisted. "Of course there's money involved," the consultant offered. "Great deals of money. World travel, first-class living. A chance to influence every corporation on the planet. Virtually no limits to whatever secrets and appetites you feel you need to indulge." "Yes, but what is it that we do?" the recruit tried one last time, his doubts rapidly evaporating. "You'll see.
In this gripping and colorful account of the American dream gone astray, Lewis Pinault takes us to the shiny heights scaled, and the darkest depths sunk to, by those ill-defined creatures known as "Management Consultants."
At once a riveting narrative, an alarming cautionary tale, and a treasury of useful advice, Consulting Demons is a rare insider's view of the lucrative arena of global management consulting. In this stunning exposé of some of the most prestigious and respected names in the business, Pinault takes his readers by the hand and leads them into a world where a client's interests are skillfully subordinated to those of the consultants, where money rules the day, and where principles and morals are but unwelcome baggage.
For aspiring consultants, this is an unvarnished look at the life of a consultant, with essential, darkly revealing guidelines on how to get ahead and an enlightening perspective on the brutal infighting that can engulf even the most civilized consulting firm.
For current executives and potential clients, Pinault reveals what consultants are really thinking and scheming, and explores the unscrupulous lengths to which a consulting firm will go in order to protect and increase its own lucrative fees.
For the general reader, this is a rollicking yarn brimming with vignettes drawn from a consultant's daily work, including such characteristic consulting activities as "benchmarking" (deep-cover corporate espionage), "business transformation" (mass brainwashing), and "client entertainment" (global debauchery).
In this unique firsthand account, Pinault takes readers behind the scenes of the dehumanizing indoctrination of an academic intellectual into an exploitative--and exploited--"global transformation contractor." This incisive and telling book details his ascension in the business, the compromises he made to his integrity, and his eventual escape from a world he could no longer come to terms with.With true accounts of harrowing days spent in the hallowed trenches of consulting, and nights pondering personal relationships gone out of control, Consulting Demons offers the most complete look at an industry that exacts the highest prices for the most questionable standards of success.

Consulting Demons: Inside the Unscrupulous World of Global Corporate Consulting

Business & Money

PINAULT, Lewis

Job Hunting & Careers

Harper Business

In this gripping and colorful account of the American dream gone astray, Lewis Pinault provides the essential guidelines on how to get ahead and an enlightening perspective on the brutal infighting that can engulf even the most civilized consulting firm. This stunning exposé of some of the most prestigious and respected names in the business leads you into a world where a client's interests are skillfully subordinated to those of the consultants, where money rules the day, and where principles and morals are unwelcome baggage.
Humorous and insightful, this no-holds-barred account takes you behind the scenes of the dehumanizing indoctrination of an academic intellectual into an exploitative -- and exploited -- "global transformation contractor." Featuring new material dealing with the e-consulting industry's boom, bust, and its future, Consulting Demons offers the most complete look at an industry that exacts the highest prices for the most questionable standards of success.

Business Culture

Play Zone, The

Lewis Pinault experienced an interesting phenomenon after the publication of Consulting Demons – instead of shunning him, consultants of every stripe were eager to echo his experiences, and wanted him to test and assess consulting techniques being developed in light of the new economic regime. In this environment, Pinault discovered how consultants were changing to keep up with the leaner economy, and his role as a consultant to consultants led to an invitation to join EDS as its VP of Consumer Industries and Retail.
 Against this background, Pinault again draws back the curtain on the professional services industry, this time revealing the latest cutting–edge findings set to revolutionize the consumer experience: the amazing relationship between innocent play and complex technologies, and how the growing importance of our creative power as consumers is redefining the multi–trillion dollar consumer industry.
 By integrating the latest findings from the fields of complexity science, and customer service and management, and rendering them simply and logically, Pinault has created a system of 6 principles that can be successfully applied to any organization to unleash the power of play in all aspects of the consumer experience. 
 Filled with entertaining stories, larger–than–life characters and eye–opening revelations, The Play Zone will guide readers through a boisterous crowd of important new ideas so that they can connect with consumers like never before.

Industries

HarperBus

&#8220;A fun and informative read...The intended takeaways of this tome are many.&#8221;

HarperPB

John Wiley&Sons

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by PINAULT, Lewis. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by PINAULT, Lewis

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by PINAULT, Lewis. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Consulting Demons: Inside the Unscrupulous World of Global Corporate Consulting

Consulting Demons: Inside the Unscrupulous World of Global Corporate Consulting

Play Zone, The

Play Zone, The

Consulting Demons: Inside the Unscrupulous World of Global Corporate Consulting