Jesus is the only reason I've made it this far.

I used to think I’d cope with an onsite role. Honestly, I don’t think I would. Wake up at 4 or 5am. Beat the morning traffic. Work. Beat the evening traffic. Eat, prepare for tomorrow, text a friend, scroll a little, sleep. Then repeat. I respect everyone who does this daily. It’s not easy.

I’m very grateful for Howfar God has helped me. Happy Sunday 🎉

I shared that your definition of the problem may not be the client’s definition. There’s a second part I learnt: your definition of success may not be theirs either. Here’s an example that stuck with me. A cruise line asks a consulting team for help. Sounds simple, until you ask what “help” means. It could be: → Competing harder in the market and gaining more recognition → Offering better service so passengers enjoy their trip → Fixing a ship that is taking on water and putting lives at risk Imagine spending weeks on a marketing strategy when the client’s real worry is passenger safety. That’s why the conversation upfront matters. Before recommending anything, ask: “What does success look like for you?” “How will we know we’ve achieved it?” You might be certain you’ve spotted the problem, but the client may be looking at something else entirely. You need enough information to tailor the solution to what they actually need. The more I learn, the more I see that consulting starts with good questions. When you start a project, do you agree on what success looks like first?

Hello, everyone 🥹 Thank you for always reposting , liking and commenting on my posts. 🥹🥰 So I’ve been sharing videos on YouTube where I talk about my love for consulting, career growth and lessons I’m learning along the way. Please check out my channel and subscribe, I appreciate it. ❤️ YouTube: youtube.com/@joy_osaremen

One of the fastest ways to waste resources in business is to solve the wrong problem. A team spends hours on a manual task, and the immediate reaction is to automate it but what if the real issue is unnecessary approvals, unclear ownership or disconnected systems?

There is more to Consulting than I know. We assume it is just to look through the process, find the gaps and issues, then recommend a solution tailored to the business so it can compete in its market. Then I learnt something while going through the McKinsey Forward problem-solving model: your definition of the problem may not be the client’s definition. A client might say, ‘We need better operational efficiency.’ It sounds clear, but it isn’t. What does operational efficiency mean to them? You can’t throw out a big term and expect everyone to picture the same thing. That’s why you need a proper conversation and enough information from the client in order to define the problem and break it into smaller elements, until you know what is actually causing it because you can’t solve a problem you haven’t properly defined. This is so exciting to know that there is actually more to learn. What’s a business term you’ve heard that meant something different to each person in the room?”

A process can look efficient on paper and still be slow in practice. Why? It’s because the real bottleneck may not be in the tasks themselves, but in the handoffs between teams.

God is love. I just want to bask in it today, you should also. ❤️ His warm embrace 🥹🫂

I'm still working through my problem-solving module, and this week's lesson broke problem solving into 5 approaches, depending on the context of the problem: 1. Hypothesis-led approach 2. Domain/IP-led approach 3. Advanced analytics approach 4. Design thinking approach 5. Engineering approach Having 5 distinct approaches doesn't mean you must pick just one. Some problems call for more than one, and the context of the problem tells you which approach (or combination) to use. Another thing that stood out is that even though these approaches differ, the problems they solve share common ground. A few things show up every time: → Stakeholder perspective: Who is affected, and how do they see the problem? → A focused problem statement: You must understand what the problem is really about before trying to solve it. → Fact-based thinking: Your solution can't rest on opinion or unrealistic assumptions. It has to be grounded in facts. As I keep learning, I'll share what I understand in my own words. What approach do you reach for first when you face a new problem?

A process that should take 20 minutes was taking almost an hour. Guess what? The SOP looked perfect with clearly defined steps, ownership and timelines. It’s a reminder that documenting a process and seeing it happen in real time can be different.

Yesterday I shared that the McKinsey Forward module looks at the type of problem. It also looks at the solution you’re trying to reach, and it breaks solutions into two kinds. - Convergent: you are looking for the best possible answer. For that particular problem, you’re eliminating to get the best possible solution. - Divergent: you are looking at an array of possibilities and opportunities. For the same problem, there can be different, unique and creative solutions. I had honestly never thought about this before. We don’t always have to see a solution as linear. If we look at the full range of possibilities out there, I believe it will help us solve problems better. That makes sense to me, and it’s why I wanted to share it. So most people literally might be using the wrong approach to solve a problem. You can be spending time doing divergent thinking, not knowing you’re supposed to converge on a situation and vice-versa. When you face a problem, do you usually look for the one best answer, or do you explore the range of possibilities first?

I recently registered for the McKinsey Forward Learning Program. There is a lot to learn in it, but it is aimed specifically at the workplace. I’m currently on the problem-solving module. It is what got me writing about this. While reading, I came across something I didn’t know existed. Instead of only looking at our approach to problem solving, we can look at our approach to the problem itself. A problem can be quantitative, qualitative or even both. How you approach one will be different from how you approach the other. - Quantitative problems are the analytical ones, they involve numbers. - Qualitative problems are the conceptual ones. They deal with no numbers. The question becomes something more like: how do I approach someone to speak about this problem?

Before you choose a solution, ask these questions. Earlier, I shared what problem solving means to me. Here are the structures I’m learning to go through, and why each one matters. 1. Understand the problem: What is the problem, and what is the issue? What is its impact on individuals, on the business, and even on your clients? 2. Explore the possible solutions: What could curb this problem? How do we adjust it to fit in? What are we going to do, and how? How can we improve it, and how can we reduce the risk? What is it costing us? Which solution is tailored to taking this problem away? It might not take it away fully at first, but as time progresses, it can or is there a particular solution that takes it away fully? 3. Check that it fits: All of those questions matter, because you have to know the solution is tackling this problem and not something else. It has to be specific to this problem and its context, whether that is a department, the business as a whole, or something different. 4. Plan the time and the implementation: It could take a moment, two weeks, a month, or a longer-term project of months, or even a year. How do you implement it? How long will that take? Will there be changes to the implementation along the way? And what are the benefits? 5. Confirm the value: You might have various solutions listed out, but you need the one specifically tailored to the problem you are solving. You can’t just come up with any solution. It has to be properly aligned with the problem. It has to create more value, reduce what the problem was costing, and make things work more efficiently and effectively. That end-to-end view is what matters, and it’s the beautiful thing about problem solving. It’s one of the things consulting made me learn, and I’m still learning. What’s a problem you solved recently, and how did you approach it?

Asides from pitching, Sales also teaches you how to think on your feet. You can prepare for a conversation but you can’t completely prepare for the person you’re about to meet. This is why listening is very important, so you can process what’s being said and actually respond in a way that makes sense.

You solve problems every day, Consulting taught me to do it with structure. Problem solving is one of the things consulting has helped me learn, and I’m still learning. To an extent, I can now say what it means to me. Problem solving is taking steps and making decisions, for ourselves or with our team, in a business setting. It is a structured approach to handling problems, whether they are difficult, complex, or just a small situational issue, and driving them to an actionable insight. The funny thing is that it happens in our day-to-day lives. What differs is the approach, and the manner in which we see it across different activities. The context matters too; someone in a different department will have a different problem from yours. They are both problems, but each one is specific to its own context, and so are the solutions and recommendations that come out of it. Solving a problem is not one quick step. There are a lot of structures you have to pass through before you get to the answer. In my next post, I’ll walk through those structures and the questions I’m learning to ask along the way. Where do you solve problems in your daily life without realizing it?

Daniel 11:32: “The people who know their God shall be strong, and carry out great exploits.” You remember that’s my theme for the month, and I’m holding on to the exploits. So go ahead and close that deal. Speak to that customer. Send that email. Do more than you normally would, not from a place of pressure, but from rest. What are you doing differently today, this week, this month or even this quarter? You have another day to move forward and do more. Happy Monday and a new week!

Your pulpit is anywhere you have been called to be. I learnt a lot in church today, and I believe every believer needs to know this. You can feel like the only place you are truly living or fulfilling purpose is on the pulpit. Please, no because if everyone is a pastor, who will take over the career, business, government and family spaces for Jesus? Your pulpit is not necessarily in a church meeting. It can be your workplace, a political position, a business space, or even your family, through training and making the home a conducive and safe space. So hone whichever space you are in. You are making an impact there, just as those on the pulpit do. Don’t see yourself as small or limited because you aren’t holding a mic. Your presence and impact are felt in other spheres of life. This is also part of why we see agnostics and atheists rising. They know there is a God, yet the nations that don’t hold Him in high esteem are often the ones putting in more effort, building and growing, so they quickly conclude they don’t need Him. This is where you and I come in. If you stand on the pulpit in church, fine but if that isn’t where you are, take where you are seriously and do it excellently. Bring your best foot forward, because God will also bless you greatly in that place. This is a word for anyone who has felt, or been made to feel, that because they chose not to be on the pulpit in church, they can’t be great or God can’t use them. Step into it today with full conviction and let it flow. Happy Sunday!

Something I realized is the simplicity in Christ. It isn’t complicated or complex at all. I thank God for my friend who introduced me to commentary. Everything is properly explained, and you see how amazing and loving God’s word is to mankind. Even the Holy Spirit helps too. I don’t have much to say today. I just want to add that love is the ultimate plan. Stay with God’s word today. Happy weekend!

I decided to drop bloopers today because I wanted to show you how imperfect content creation can be. I make mistakes and forget lines. Sometimes I record a video again before posting, or struggle to pick the right take to edit and put out. Through all of it, I enjoy what I do. Most times, I look forward to it. Other times, there’s a block, and I don’t know what to say or what to put out. So, cheers to all the content creators who are just starting, myself included. Cheers to those who have built before us and shown us what’s possible, and the freedom that comes with it. Happy Friday, and do have a restful weekend!

Is your SOP actually doing its job? Here's a quick way to check. On a transformation project, I read SOPs that ranged from very clear to barely usable. Some had everything while some were a list of steps and nothing else. A Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) documents how a department carries out its day-to-day processes, so anyone can pick it up and run the process without asking someone for help. A good one has five things: - The steps are in order: Each activity written out from start to finish, with nothing skipped. - Clear ownership: One named role for each step, not "the team." - A timeline: When each step should happen, or the deadline it has to meet. - A duration: How long each step should take. When a step runs past its allocated time, that’s an SLA breach. - Someone in charge: The person accountable for the whole process when it breaks down. Then run this quick test on yours: - Can a new joiner follow it without asking questions? - Does every step have an owner, a timeline and a duration? - Does it match what people actually do day to day? If the answer to any of these is no, the document is not yet doing its job. The third question matters most, and it's where the real findings come from. If your SOP fails that test, that's usually where a transformation starts. When was the last time your team's SOP was updated?