You get pretty limited say in what projects get picked up, so sometimes you have to find ways to make a dull gig interesting- the managing partners do listen and do their best to match people with projects that they enjoy, but sometimes other constraints win. It's true that you could probably make a higher salary via a remote job for a huge product company, but I think that working face to face with good people is worth the difference. And at the end of the day, billable hours are what keeps the lights on, so it can sometimes be tough to make a case for activities and benefits that chip away at them (e.g. leave, outreach activities)