3 ms·

Have you worked with Bain or BCG? Are they any more competent?

Spooky23 4y ago
They are all competent. It’s just that they work for their principal in the company and are always selling. If you think something these guys are doing is awful or dumb, follow the money. The guy signing the checks is calling the shots. McKinsey’s lack of ethics and self-preservation is notable. But they weren’t hoodwinking innocents into preying on the weak. Perdue and the medical providers writing those oxycodone scripts to make money. The other stuff is a byproduct of modern corporate management. Most companies don’t have departments that do administrative or organizational analysis. They run lean and hire the capability.
- EFreethought 4y ago
  Being "competent" is not sufficient. Are they doing anything useful besides telling clueless CEOs what they want to hear? Is there any difference between a stupid person and a smart person doing something pointless?
- hitekker 4y ago
  > The other stuff is a byproduct of modern corporate management. Most companies don’t have departments that do administrative or organizational analysis. They run lean and hire the capability. Another quality comment from Spooky23. Your points cannot be understated. I would add my own biased and limited insight; companies should not* investigate the history, decision-making, conflicts and other explosive topics that makes a company tick. The kind of topics managers gossip about but are loathe to put into writing as key insights, either out of fear or out of a lack of detachment. If the company needs that "central intelligence" function enough to hire internally, the company is probably dying, i.e. the management has failed and can no longer produce intelligence. But when management fails every now and then, executives will bring on a neutral third party to perform this kind of sensitive research, which could lead to heads rolling. Or that third party could just be a hatchetmen who does the killing themselves.

They are all competent. It’s just that they work for their principal in the company and are always selling. If you think something these guys are doing is awful or dumb, follow the money. The guy signing the checks is calling the shots. McKinsey’s lack of ethics and self-preservation is notable. But they weren’t hoodwinking innocents into preying on the weak. Perdue and the medical providers writing those oxycodone scripts to make money. The other stuff is a byproduct of modern corporate management. Most companies don’t have departments that do administrative or organizational analysis. They run lean and hire the capability.

EFreethought 4y ago
Being "competent" is not sufficient. Are they doing anything useful besides telling clueless CEOs what they want to hear? Is there any difference between a stupid person and a smart person doing something pointless?
hitekker 4y ago
> The other stuff is a byproduct of modern corporate management. Most companies don’t have departments that do administrative or organizational analysis. They run lean and hire the capability. Another quality comment from Spooky23. Your points cannot be understated. I would add my own biased and limited insight; companies should not* investigate the history, decision-making, conflicts and other explosive topics that makes a company tick. The kind of topics managers gossip about but are loathe to put into writing as key insights, either out of fear or out of a lack of detachment. If the company needs that "central intelligence" function enough to hire internally, the company is probably dying, i.e. the management has failed and can no longer produce intelligence. But when management fails every now and then, executives will bring on a neutral third party to perform this kind of sensitive research, which could lead to heads rolling. Or that third party could just be a hatchetmen who does the killing themselves.