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McKinsey is doing what they're paid to do - take the blame for bad decisions and deflect attention away from the leadership of companies who actually choose to

McKinsey is doing what they're paid to do - take the blame for bad decisions and deflect attention away from the leadership of companies who actually choose to follow their advice. Even from this article you can see they're doing an excellent job. If I were an executive I would absolutely hire them after reading this article since I can just use them to enact unpopular changes I've always wanted, and wouldn't be blamed if it goes south.

matwood 4y ago
Yeah, I rarely see consultants give much advice beyond what the leadership already said they wanted to do - albeit not often directly. What seems to commonly happen is a consultant comes in, listens to leadership, and then regurgitates what leadership already really wants to do. This lets leadership absolve some of the responsibility when it fails ("The consultant told us to do X"). And it makes sense because who knows the business better than leadership? The consultants can't really do much else other than take their cues from leadership. What routinely surprises me is just how much companies are willing to pay for this service.
- lmm 4y ago
  > And it makes sense because who knows the business better than leadership? The consultants can't really do much else other than take their cues from leadership. What routinely surprises me is just how much companies are willing to pay for this service. The company pays but the leaders benefit. You can charge a lot when it's other people's money.
- DSingularity 4y ago
  Wow. I wonder what conditions and experiences lead executives to end up that perspective on hiring consultants. Naive me took them at face value: idea generators for companies whose executives suspect untapped potential.
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richliss 4y ago
Once you read this utterly true and appalling state of affairs it changes your frustration to disillusionment around corporate leadership. Large consultancies have subverted many large organisations with a revolving door hiring system - jump into a consultancy, jump back out and bring your consultancy in to fix the company, years later jump back out to the consultancy in a senior role that's low effort as a reward. Before I worked with consultants directly at large banks I thought they must have all been geniuses but that's not the case, they're merely people from good universities who follow the instructions of the more senior people inside the consultancy rather than independent thinking. Basically they're bodies.

matwood 4y ago

Yeah, I rarely see consultants give much advice beyond what the leadership already said they wanted to do - albeit not often directly. What seems to commonly happen is a consultant comes in, listens to leadership, and then regurgitates what leadership already really wants to do. This lets leadership absolve some of the responsibility when it fails ("The consultant told us to do X"). And it makes sense because who knows the business better than leadership? The consultants can't really do much else other than take their cues from leadership. What routinely surprises me is just how much companies are willing to pay for this service.

lmm 4y ago
> And it makes sense because who knows the business better than leadership? The consultants can't really do much else other than take their cues from leadership. What routinely surprises me is just how much companies are willing to pay for this service. The company pays but the leaders benefit. You can charge a lot when it's other people's money.
DSingularity 4y ago
Wow. I wonder what conditions and experiences lead executives to end up that perspective on hiring consultants. Naive me took them at face value: idea generators for companies whose executives suspect untapped potential.

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richliss 4y ago

Once you read this utterly true and appalling state of affairs it changes your frustration to disillusionment around corporate leadership. Large consultancies have subverted many large organisations with a revolving door hiring system - jump into a consultancy, jump back out and bring your consultancy in to fix the company, years later jump back out to the consultancy in a senior role that's low effort as a reward. Before I worked with consultants directly at large banks I thought they must have all been geniuses but that's not the case, they're merely people from good universities who follow the instructions of the more senior people inside the consultancy rather than independent thinking. Basically they're bodies.