One of the side effects of the "up or out" business strategy is that by definition, almost nobody has to live with the long-term results of their work. If they

One of the side effects of the "up or out" business strategy is that by definition, almost nobody has to live with the long-term results of their work. If they did something that had a short-term benefit, they can walk away with a win, even if it becomes a dumpster fire a little bit later. (And even then, yay, another project to put out the fire - more revenue!) So the big consulting shops build a practice where short-term is the only term. That is also why many people who land in the "out" route end up having the same level of disasters elsewhere in industry - they pile up years of experience running projects that hit short-term goals, make money, look good on paper, and even launch well... but have zero accountability as to whether they are still stable and maintainable a year later. That doesn't mean everyone from such shops is a disaster. There are some good folk in those shops. But that is exactly why career success in consulting does not correlate with whether or not you leave disasters in your wake.