You're right, but my contention is that the "work" is the relatively easy part - the hard part is navigating the social/political context in which the work is being done.
This may sound incredibly silly, but if a giant Fortune 500 company contracts with you for a huge consulting project, it doesn't matter if you're "right" - if the "right" answer isn't one that's relevant/applicable/palatable to them.
My argument is that being able to "play the game" under the unspoken rules that your future employer sets out is a useful signal for being able to "play the game" with the unspoken rules/strings a client attaches to a contract.
> As an employee of a big consulting firm, I'll second that. How and who you present your ideas to is much more important than the ideas themselves.
My wife actually works in procurement for a pretty big European oil company, and she had the "chance" to attend a couple of pitch presentations made by BCG, McKinsey and a few others for a "green energy" thingie. You're right, after all was said and done the company CEO was positively more impressed by the guys who looked and acted better during the presentations, and not necessarily by those who had the better ideas but had presented them more nervously. Also, having the looks (no matter if you're man or female) and height helps a lot.
This may sound incredibly silly, but if a giant Fortune 500 company contracts with you for a huge consulting project, it doesn't matter if you're "right" - if the "right" answer isn't one that's relevant/applicable/palatable to them.
My argument is that being able to "play the game" under the unspoken rules that your future employer sets out is a useful signal for being able to "play the game" with the unspoken rules/strings a client attaches to a contract.