Just made the jump from MBB to a Fortune 500 strategy team six months ago. The reality check hit hard – yes there’s less slide work, but now I’m stuck in endless stakeholder alignment meetings that make deck reviews feel efficient. Watched a few community video diaries from recent transitions and realized I’m not alone in missing the pace. For those who’ve made the switch: what parts of the day-to-day caught you completely off guard compared to consulting expectations?
ppt hell gets replaced by email purgatory. spent my first month ‘strategizing’ font sizes for exec memos. pro tip: learn to love the 37-step governance process for changing the coffee brand in break rooms. real work? that’s what consultants bill for.
wait so like does corpo strategy use case frameworks still? im prepping for interviews but all i know is consulting style cases. should i practice different stuff? pls help ty!
Three key differences I tell mentees: 1) Stakeholder management becomes 60% of your value 2) Decisions move 3x slower but have 10x implementation impact 3. Your consulting toolkit works if adapted – I now run light-touch versions of discovery sprints for internal initiatives. Biggest adjustment is measuring success in quarters rather than weeks.
You’ve got this! The growth potential is huge once you learn the new rhythm. So exciting to see lasting impact!
My first week in corp strat I got looped into a 6-month ‘digital transformation’ initiative that turned out to be picking new project management software. Consultant me would’ve rage-quit, but honestly? Seeing the rollout actually stick after 2 years felt weirdly satisfying. Different kind of wins I guess.
Analysis of 18 transition stories shows median 68% reduction in slide creation, but 41% increase in cross-functional meeting hours. Key recommendation: Master influence without authority frameworks (Cohen-Bradford model) before transitioning. Bonus: Internal strategy memos average 3.2 revisions vs consulting’s 7.1 per deliverable.