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I'm reading a book on McKinsey now titled "When McKinsey Comes To Town". Given the firms track record finally coming to light it's amazing that working at McKin

I'm reading a book on McKinsey now titled "When McKinsey Comes To Town". Given the firms track record finally coming to light it's amazing that working at McKinsey is a career booster instead of a black mark. Hopefully more people start to realize that putting the most ruthless business minds in charge of public healthcare leads to poor outcomes. I'd recommend reading the book, it is a bit of a downer though

deleted 2y ago
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pembrook 2y ago
Calling the 20-somethings who choose the MBA route and all start their career in consulting “the most ruthless business minds” is giving them wayyy too much credit. The majority of McKinsey employees are fundamentally risk-averse kids choosing a safe brand name instead of doing anything entrepreneurial. To write books about them as if these PowerPoint jockeys are doing anything more than providing political cover for executives on a prostitution billing model is beyond funny. I wish people would stop building the McKinsey brand by falling for their own marketing BS. Experts in business don’t need sell non-scalable human labor in hourly chunks, they create successful businesses themselves. An addictive painkiller has product market fit by default and is possibly the easiest product to sell on the planet. You don’t need evil geniuses to get the opioid epidemic, it was an inevitability given the US model.
- uoaei 2y ago
  You're acting as if the 20-somethings were holding the reins. They absolutely were not -- they were looking to the higher-ups for guidance and authority. The term 'banality of evil' comes to mind in regard to the limited knowledge the underlings had and how firmly they were held under control by those directing their actions.
  - pembrook 2y ago
    The “higher-ups” you speak of are just the top PowerPoint jockeys who get promoted extremely fast — all professional services firms are highly incentivized to give people fancy titles so they can bill them at higher rates. Even the senior management have never actually done or accomplished anything other than Googling stuff and pasting it on PowerPoint slides. Consulting firms like this are a one way street for young grads, up or out. It’s not like McKinsey is recruiting successful founders or corporate executives with actual business acumen to sell PowerPoint slides by the hour. There is no there there. Ironically, the scandals they're supposedly "behind" only serve to build their brand. It gives cover to the morally bankrupt executives at the actual company, while signaling to other executives that McKinsey will take the fall for you.

deleted 2y ago

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pembrook 2y ago

Calling the 20-somethings who choose the MBA route and all start their career in consulting “the most ruthless business minds” is giving them wayyy too much credit. The majority of McKinsey employees are fundamentally risk-averse kids choosing a safe brand name instead of doing anything entrepreneurial. To write books about them as if these PowerPoint jockeys are doing anything more than providing political cover for executives on a prostitution billing model is beyond funny. I wish people would stop building the McKinsey brand by falling for their own marketing BS. Experts in business don’t need sell non-scalable human labor in hourly chunks, they create successful businesses themselves. An addictive painkiller has product market fit by default and is possibly the easiest product to sell on the planet. You don’t need evil geniuses to get the opioid epidemic, it was an inevitability given the US model.

uoaei 2y ago
You're acting as if the 20-somethings were holding the reins. They absolutely were not -- they were looking to the higher-ups for guidance and authority. The term 'banality of evil' comes to mind in regard to the limited knowledge the underlings had and how firmly they were held under control by those directing their actions.
- pembrook 2y ago
  The “higher-ups” you speak of are just the top PowerPoint jockeys who get promoted extremely fast — all professional services firms are highly incentivized to give people fancy titles so they can bill them at higher rates. Even the senior management have never actually done or accomplished anything other than Googling stuff and pasting it on PowerPoint slides. Consulting firms like this are a one way street for young grads, up or out. It’s not like McKinsey is recruiting successful founders or corporate executives with actual business acumen to sell PowerPoint slides by the hour. There is no there there. Ironically, the scandals they're supposedly "behind" only serve to build their brand. It gives cover to the morally bankrupt executives at the actual company, while signaling to other executives that McKinsey will take the fall for you.