What's one thing you wish you'd known before joining PA Consulting?

PA Consulting is a great place to work with an excellent team of people. I'm coming up on my 25th anniversary and never believed that I would be with the same firm for this period of time. There are only two thing that have bugged me on and off over the years. The first is how "UK centric" things can feel at times. The bulk of staff are in the UK, with headquarters in London. UK management style is a bit more directive and sometimes punitive compared with US firms that I know. It comes through in the style of communication and in policy choice. I've learned now to ignore it and not get upset about such things, but it took a while to get there! The second is that PA is very cost conscious. Since we are all shareholders, this does flow through to us in the share price down the line but there are probably some investments that would make sense -- like giving people slightly more souped up laptops that while more costly up front also increase consultant productivity.