The point that he is making is not that management consulting is useless, but the framework for teaching is ineffective. As he says, "What they don’t seem to te

The point that he is making is not that management consulting is useless, but the framework for teaching is ineffective. As he says, "What they don’t seem to teach you in business school is that “the five forces” and “the seven Cs” and every other generic framework for problem solving are heuristics: they can lead you to solutions, but they cannot make you think." The problem (and I see this in technical management as well as in the business world) is that a good manager can think themselves out of the situation without gimmicks or formal training; whereas a bad manager does not become a good one with all the MBAs and training courses in the world. The other great point he makes, that confirms my own impression, is: "If it’s reminiscent of the kind of toothless wisdom offered in self-help literature, that’s because management theory is mostly a subgenre of self-help. Which isn’t to say it’s completely useless." I think that is exactly right. Yes there are some people that will derive some benefit from reading a self-help book, but it rarely provides a lasting benefit and is no substitute for an intelligent and mature reflection on your problems.