Context: At Bain, one of my most energising “extra 10%” responsibilities was sharing my advice on what to focus on when you start. Formally, this is a training session for new starter “ACs” (“associate consultants” aka graduates) - These are my speaker notes from that training.

Although there is a strong consulting context throughout this advice, I do think there are some general principles applicable to anyone starting a new (individual contributor-type) role.

A common question that ambitious new starters at Bain ask is in the form of “What should I do to make my first 6 months a success?”

I recently read the essay “95%-ile isn’t that good” which argues that you can get to the top ~5% in a given domain by only focusing on avoiding common mistakes. I thought this tied well to Bain broadly (Peter, our managing partner, always referred to the first step in our strategy being a focus on ”brilliant basics”) and to the early AC experience more specifically.

Assuming this is true, this means that an underlying principle that should drive the most ambitious new ACs is that they don’t do dumb shit. This could be an endless list if you are creative enough, but the areas I would focus on nailing are to:

Live the ‘zero defect’ mindset
Buy yourself more time (to do great work)
Don’t just do — Present!
Build energy in yourself and others
Take charge of your personal development
Invest early in those you started with

⚙ Live the ‘zero defect’ mindset

Being ‘zero defect’ does not mean that you never make a mistake (otherwise I’d be long gone!). Instead, it’s about how you set up your process to avoid / minimise mistakes and what your attitude is when you catch a mistake. Zero defect is also the perfect example of something that is ‘table stakes’ (e.g. I would never have it as a “goal”), so the quicker you can adopt the mindset the better.

Have a zero defect process

Have an initial answer that you pull up on frequently. If the answer you’re getting is wildly off, this answer will help you spot the mistake. Check every ~30mins you’re on the right path.

Similarly, have interim checks while you’re completing the task (e.g. spellchecking before you move to a new part of the slide, checking the formulas in the calc are right). Having simple, nice formatting will also help spot mistakes from quick ‘back of the envelope’ calculations. So will leaving time at the end to sense check (30mins+).

Caveat any work you haven’t error checked heavily **with your supervisor (if for nothing else but to CYA).

And please, please be careful when copying data over.

Have the zero defect attitude when you do make a mistake

Mistakes happen, and to have some perspective - our bad days are definitely not as bad as others (e.g. Doctors, Pilots…). But someone is still paying a lot of money for our analysis that will inform decisions that affect others, so it’s worth taking mistakes seriously (particularly if they change the advice).

You can have a crack at fixing the mistake yourself to see how large the change to the answer is (it might also help reduce a few bpm from your heart rate if you do!). But timebox this to ~15-30mins - speed is more important than pride.

When you do update your supervisor, the best thing you can do is lay out the facts clearly, including what has happened, how the mistake changes the answer, and what the solution might be (if possible - it is honestly fine if you need their help).

⌚ Buy yourself more time (to do great work)

People love to work with others that reliably deliver when they say they will. One trick to consistently do this is to buy yourself extra time by always giving yourself a buffer (more than you initially think) and frequently, proactively keeping people in the loop (so they know you are tracking along nicely). Being proactive here is also going to help you manage your own balance between all of life’s commitments!

Estimate how long your work will take (then 2-3x it)

Your supervisor primarily needs to know how long you will take on a piece of work so they can do their own planning.

Always add a buffer of 2-3x the time you think you require. Most supervisors won’t actually need something urgently and just want to plan. If it is urgent (e.g. a deadline), work together to develop a plan to complete the work required including how much detail they need (e.g. is this a one hour answer vs. one week answer) and what the trade-offs are (e.g. it may be an estimate that is +-20% of the actual).

Learning to scope work properly will also be helpful when it comes to work planning later on (an incredibly important skill!).

Have frequent check-ins / interim updates

Depending on the size of the work, the common check-in points are 5% (this is how I’ll approach it), 50% (this is the key emerging insight I want to share) and 90% (the analysis is complete, and this is how I want to communicate the insight).

If you go too far in the wrong direction without checking in, the time has been wasted AND it takes longer for the supervisor to bring you back on track.

The golden rule is the longer the time between check-ins, the higher the expectation of the work. Frequent check-ins make life easier for everyone.

📣 Don’t just do - Present!

I strongly believe all ACs should aim to present their work as soon as possible. The AC years are all about increasingly owning as much of your work end-to-end as possible - presenting is the simplest way to force this. You also don’t need to present to the client or partner to do this because the process of preparation and facilitation are remarkably is always similar. Having said that, it is more fun to present to a client or partner, and so to get that opportunity I would recommend investing time in preparation and being answer-led.

(Over)prepare to present

Start with at least 30 minutes, then reduce over time. I know this sounds long, but it is worth it. When you write your presentation down, your logic becomes clearer and it is easier to lead with your answer (more on that below). Worst case, you have given yourself a buffer to complete your analysis. Best case, you finish your preparation early and can go get a coffee!

I would also test key messages with your supervisor prior. It is a fantastic way to put their direct feedback into action immediately to get up the learning curve quickly. You will also get another rep in and come off more polished during the session. Both of these build trust.

Always, always lead with the answer first

Supervisors and junior clients will care about the answer and how you got there. Managers, Partners and more senior clients will care about the answer only (trusting the process). If you want to present to the latter, you need to default to leading with your answer.

And remember - Use plain, concise language when you do present!

Note: I wrote more about how to prepare and present well here: 🔊 How to present in collaborative sessions

⚡ Build energy in yourself and others

Energy is contagious. The way you show up each day affects not just your own experience but the entire team. And the best part? It makes the job more fun for everyone, including yourself!

Be a culture carrier.

When you join a team, the Senior Manager is looking to you as a source of energy and inspiration (also known as a “culture carrier”). This is particularly important when it’s a difficult case, where a fresh face can genuinely spark a team that has worked together for a while.

This can range from more formal roles in the team (e.g. running a fun game at the end of the day, organising team events) to just always staying positive, smiling and having fun! But there are no rules - Find something that is authentically you and the case experience that you want to have.

Show intellectual curiosity.

It can be incredibly uplifting working with someone who is genuinely excited to work on a problem, understand what is going on and how it works. My personal belief is that every problem we solve will offer plenty of new opportunity to learn (whether it is domain knowledge or a skill) for a minimum of three months. Lean into this fact with your curiosity and people will love to work with you.

Take on the 1%ers.

Small actions (or 1%ers) consistently repeated over time compound into a significant impact on the team experience. Whether that is booking a room for important team calls, setting up the Zoom early or grabbing lunch. No one will ask you or expect you to do it, but it will be noticed if you do.

📈 Take charge of your personal development

Although I left this last, not taking charge of your personal development (PD) could be the dumbest mistake here (as it relates to your entire career, not just a specific project team). You can materially accelerate the quality and velocity of what you learn from those around you by being intentional about what you want to learn and getting your team invested (I mostly learn from the people I work with these days).

Set and track focused PD goals

I would have 1-3 goals max, and at the beginning primarily focus on problem solving (then team, then client - this will change over time).

Two resources that may help you track are the:

PD plan: to communicate your goals to others at the start of the case and refresh between cases
Review tracker: to spot trends that may inform goals

Note: Link to both of these coming soon, feel free to reach out for a copy!

Get your supervisor invested in your development

In apprenticeship cultures, the quality of what you learn will be derived from your relationship with your supervisor. Two key techniques to get my supervisor invested in me are thoughtful preparation and follow-through.

Preparation: Before the chat, come prepared with reflections (e.g. against PD goals, in general), any upward feedback and the key topics to discuss.
Follow through: After you chat, send a short summary email of key takeaways and actions (ideally in a single email chain) and overshare with them when you use their feedback in practice

The rule of thumb is that your supervisor (manager, mentor, …) should feel scared if they don’t come as prepared as you are to your 1:1s (because if you don’t prepare, then most will wing it).

Note: I wrote more about PD here: 🚀 How I approach personal development (at Bain)

🤝 Invest early in those you started with

When I started at Bain, a few others in my start class and I had a lighter workload in our first week. Instead of doing random online training modules, we caught up every day for a long lunch, just to chat - that turned out to be by far and away the best use of my time, because:

My start class is my go-to for all kinds of questions - if I have a problem, they have either already solved it or are going to face it eventually, so we are all learning together.
We have pretty impactful career-decision related chats, regardless of where people end up (and suspect these will continue indefinitely)
It is fun! We spend a lot of time together, so becoming close friends makes it more enjoyable

Be proactive about spending time with your start class

Set up the coffee / lunch runs, create the group WhatsApp chat, or organise something social - whether it’s a casual dinner or a weekend trip (if that is your thing) - think of it as an extension of “building energy in yourself and others”. I’d also rotate between doing it as a group and 1-on-1.

While you can (and should) connect with more senior people, those relationships tend to form more naturally when you work together - I would not stress about needing to aggressively reach out here.

Go to all the social events

Work also offers plenty of social events early on - take advantage of them! They are a great way to spend time together, and as you get busier, you will find you naturally have fewer opportunities to join.

Don’t overcomplicate it too much more than that! It should be fun and pretty natural.