That's completely consistent with the GP's point that companies who are struggling or companies that are taking big decisions tend to hire McKinsey to do some r

That's completely consistent with the GP's point that companies who are struggling or companies that are taking big decisions tend to hire McKinsey to do some reports for them. That applies equally to some really successful clients whose successes McKinsey deserves essentially no credit for. The company that actually advised Enron on how to do its false accounts, Arthur Andersen, was broken up. McKinsey's documented involvement was fluffy stuff on management culture and writing press releases citing Enron as a success story which look pretty funny in hindsight.