One of my favourite games right now is, loosely stated, “what structural thing can I understand about an industry that would allow me to predict the shape of an individual career within it?”
This week, the game applied to consulting: commoncog.com/blog/the-consu
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This post was incredibly annoying to write, though. Maister’s book matches my experience of software consulting, but I read Duff McDonald’s The Firm anyway just to check against McKinsey’s history.
It checks out.
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Done with this book. Rating 3/5 
. I think that Duff McDonald tries to be fair to McKinsey, but in the end, the reader walks away with more negatives than positives.
The book’s done nothing for my suspicion that management consultants aren’t worth the money 70% of the time.
. I think that Duff McDonald tries to be fair to McKinsey, but in the end, the reader walks away with more negatives than positives.
The book’s done nothing for my suspicion that management consultants aren’t worth the money 70% of the time.Show this thread
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McKinsey started out as an ‘expertise’ oriented firm in the 1920s. They took on ‘Brain’ projects, and only hired experienced businessmen.
After McKinsey died, Martin Bower professionalised it. It eventually became a ‘Gray Hair’ hybrid, and hired straight from HBS’s MBA program.
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(Confession: I suck at software consulting. Here ends this thread.)