Even Global Consultants Suffer Useless Engagement

The above is an (29 July 2016) instagram posting by Booz Allen Hamilton. The account strap; “Telling our #BoozAllen story through photographs”.

Then first, what about the photo they posted here?

My views on it probably help explain why I never landed that plum global consulting giant entry-level job.

Yuk.

A kind of 21st century clipart. If photos truly do tell their story, then such inane stock photography bereft of imagination or impact, adding nothing to anything, is surely as damning as it gets.

I really try and make sure my imagery is nowhere near this rubbish. And so should you in the sales furnace.

Their values tribrander is a half-decent 3 Ps; People Purpose Passion. Yet feels so generic as to be vacuous.

So what of their conversation starter?

Bouncing ideas off of clever colleagues is a great way to brainstorm. 💡We want to know: How do you brainstorm? What techniques do you use? Are there any exercises that get your creativity going? 👉Share your insights below❗️#brainstorming #creativity

I feared the worst as soon as I read this. And if you thought this was bad, then three days later, their next-but-one pic asked, “what’s been on your summer reading list?”

You could bang on about the responses that were random punters plugging their own feeds. Or wonder how Godwin’s Law mystifyingly failed to produce reference to The Third Reich. Or marvel at how lovely a place “my mind palace” might be.

But what about simply the fact that a big blank zero came forth in the shape of insightful authentic brainstormery?

We solution sellers try and tease out this kind of engagement every day across our universe. Whether blunderbussing our target market right through to meeting alone with a key pair of prospects.

When do you want them to riff, how and what do you call it?

I feel a slight cartoon guilt in actually answering the initial question. So before the Acme Rocket Bomb chases me over the cliff edge, providing any kind of rubric to this exercise is the only way. In one sense, you could say that the typically desired ‘outside the box thinking’ emerges best when first forced to think firmly placed only inside it.