History of Consulting

Consulting is the professionalization—and later industrialization—of paid outside judgment. Students learn eras, firms, and systems (Bower, Kiechel, MBB, Big Four, tiers)—not logo worship—and end with stewardship: when to hire, when not to, and how advice can build capacity or dependency.

8 chapters (core course)

1. Why Advice Became an Industry
2. Founders and Early Firms
3. Marvin Bower and the Profession
4. The Strategy Revolution
5. MBB as a System
6. The Big Four Enter
7. Explosion, Tiers, and Specialization
8. Stewardship and the Future of Advice

Hard rule: this is not a 16-chapter product. Path-choice material lives in the companion course below.

Companion course (separate SKU)

Careers in Consulting — map, grind, tracks, exits, and life cost (Careers in Finance model). Optional after the history course; never chapters 9–16.

Curriculum status

• MERGED readings ~4k words/chapter · production .docx + media
• Densified web lecture slides · consulting-themed image pack
• Firm dossiers · cases · labs · HW + keys
• Private content repo: history-of-consulting
• Shared player: history-of-consulting (slide-player)
• Self-directed list: $25 (pair with Careers at $39 — see SELF_DIRECTED_PRICING.md)

Commerce & Calling stack

1. I · Riches Redeemed
2. II · Advanced Finance
3. III · Careers in Finance
4. IV · History of Business
5. V · Micro & Macro Economics
6. VI · History of Consulting (this volume)