Hi all,
I’m currently partner at a smaller boutique consulting firm (~40–80 people, technology / CIO / transformation consulting, energy sector focus) and part of management board for the company.
At the same time, I’m in discussions with EY around a possible Director / Associate Partner role in Technology Transformation / CIO Advisory. (In europe)
I’d really appreciate some honest perspectives from people in Big4 consulting (ideally EY, or understanding EY) — especially around the tradeoff between:
- boutique partnership-like environment
vs.
- Big4 scale and platform
What makes the decision difficult for me:
- At the boutique, I have a lot of influence, visibility and entrepreneurial freedom.
- The culture is relatively human and collaborative,
- but we went down the path of a holocratic organisation, and now we have a too high amount of “anti performance/we need to discuss everything and decide democratically” kind of people
- this leads to structural and leadership changes happening, constant direction fights on which kind of organisation we want to be and this leads naturally to uncertainty around long-term stability and scaling.
- it feels like nothing is moving
On the EY side, the appeal is:
- larger platform
- non negotiable standards
- stronger client access
- bigger transformation programs
- more structured career and delivery environment
- ability to scale offerings beyond pure “sell your own time”
But honestly, my biggest concern is:
- or being pushed out quickly if sales/politics don’t work out fast enough
- if culture to collaborate (professionally) is just a lie, and every D/AP/P would stab you in you back for some bucks.
For context:
My background is mostly around CIO Advisory, IT Operating Models, Cloud / Infrastructure Transformation, Governance, IT Cost & Value topics, and large-scale technology transformation programs. I also spend 5 years at Deloitte as SM, so I have at least some clue how cultural is at big4.
If you were in my position:
- Would you make the jump?
- How stable / political is Director or Associate Partner level really at EY?
- Or would you stay in a smaller but more entrepreneurial environment?
Would appreciate honest opinions — especially from people who have seen both worlds.