Pricing

By Julie Ahadi.

I used to enjoy sleep. And then I had a baby. Much like the heyday era of consulting, when an abundance of cheque-happy clients and high fees was the norm, I used to roll around in bed of a Saturday morning thinking ‘there’s plenty more where that came from’. Not only has my window of opportunity for a relatively easy life closed, but I am now conditioned not to be able to sleep, even if I am permitted to.*

And to some extent, I’m the problem – I’ve created an adorable baby Frankenstein. At some point along this magical journey, my daughter may just (may just, mind you) have mistaken my kindness for weakness. The moment she’d call; I’d jump. And she got used to it. And so did I. And it really didn’t need to come to this – I’d read all the books, listened to (far too many) people’s helpful advice and yet here I am – me and my eyebags. But, like so many sleep deprived, busy mums (and there are plenty busier than me), I soldier on.

I was recently on a plane with a big group of Italian tourists. We all duly read our magazines, ate our peanuts and landed safely – to a huge round of applause and whooping for joy from the Italian tour party. It is perhaps this delight in simply staying alive which explains the sanguine nature of the Italian response to yet another year of a consulting market which is not growing at all.

By Edward Haigh