Does McKinsey consultants do anything?

[Anonymous]

Years ago at one company we had Mc Kinsey consultants, I explained to them a very specific project that generated savings in this super particular area. 8 years later I'm at a different employer, but same industry. My new employer, based on McKinsey recommendations made before I arrived, is implementing an identical program. Given how few people would have any reason to understand this little corner of the world, it is fairly likely that one thing they do is not only take your watch and tell you the time but, they also sell your watch to their next client.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Years ago at one company we had Mc Kinsey consultants, I explained to them a very specific project that generated savings in this super particular area. 8 years later I'm at a different employer, but same industry. My new employer, based on McKinsey recommendations made before I arrived, is implementing an identical program. Given how few people would have any reason to understand this little corner of the world, it is fairly likely that one thing they do is not only take your watch and tell you the time but, they also sell your watch to their next client.

Agree, 😂

And they collect watches, exit into lucrative business to pull 600k/year while the original watch owner is drowning in debt.

[Anonymous]

These McKinsey consultants screwed over the South Africans. So yes, they "do" things. But like all people who do things for money, you may not approve of what they do.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/26/world/africa/mckinsey-south-africa-eskom.html

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I did MBB consulting just out of college / over 10 years ago. Often, leaders at companies don’t have the capacity to think about their business strategically because they spend so much time putting out fires. Consultants have the time to step back, think about the problem, iterate on solutions with the client, and then present those ideas. Cases I worked on as an analyst: post merger integration, cost savings during Great Recession, profit pools, pricing strategy that I can remember.

People say the insights that consultants offer are always obvious. Sometimes true, but sometimes not. You’d be shocked that the average Joe Schmoe senior manager has never learned about the business. And trust me, we were never eager to suggest layoffs. I only saw them come up once, and as a last resort to help a dying business.

As far as the young analysts - when you buy a teams time, you really are paying for the partners, who are industry experts and have done the work for 30+ years. The junior folks are there to collect and crunch the data to prove out the working hypothesis. They need to be polished bc they are in front of clients all the time.

These are hard jobs to get, teach you a ton, and pay incredibly well. My time at MBB was invaluable to my current role (executive at nonprofit with an operating budget of a few hundred million.) I genuinely think it’s the best first job you can have.

I am not a consultant but have worked with a number of them in the past at my work place. I think the PP explains very well what it is. My experience has been very useful and in many companies it is hard to find leadership that will think strategically and be able to take the tough decisions. That's where the consultants matter and provide value.

[Anonymous]

I've worked with McKinsey. Aside from justifying or giving cover to decisions that management would like to make, they do facilitate the percolation of good ideas or major issues from junior staff in the organization and tie it in a nice bow. Senior management could have done this themselves but they rarely go beyond their own direct reports for ideas. Getting this information is often very valuable because you sometimes learn things that junior or frontline personnel wouldn't say directly to management (e.g., organization dysfunction, poor culture, etc.). In well run organizations, this isn't a problem, which is the reason why they don't need McKinsey. In general, I think most MBBs as well as the Accenture, Deloittes, PwCs, etc. are mediocre and do not at all justify their expenses. Good people in an organization can usually do this better and more thoughtfully for organization themselves.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I've worked with McKinsey. Aside from justifying or giving cover to decisions that management would like to make, they do facilitate the percolation of good ideas or major issues from junior staff in the organization and tie it in a nice bow. Senior management could have done this themselves but they rarely go beyond their own direct reports for ideas. Getting this information is often very valuable because you sometimes learn things that junior or frontline personnel wouldn't say directly to management (e.g., organization dysfunction, poor culture, etc.). In well run organizations, this isn't a problem, which is the reason why they don't need McKinsey. In general, I think most MBBs as well as the Accenture, Deloittes, PwCs, etc. are mediocre and do not at all justify their expenses. Good people in an organization can usually do this better and more thoughtfully for organization themselves.

frontline personnels sometime lack the communication skill to get message delivered to executive audiences. Their managers often lack the incentive to deliver those messages (they want to look good and be buddy buddy with each other), consultants can overcome both to deliver the message, sometimes it's really just common sense.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I did MBB consulting just out of college / over 10 years ago. Often, leaders at companies don’t have the capacity to think about their business strategically because they spend so much time putting out fires. Consultants have the time to step back, think about the problem, iterate on solutions with the client, and then present those ideas. Cases I worked on as an analyst: post merger integration, cost savings during Great Recession, profit pools, pricing strategy that I can remember.

People say the insights that consultants offer are always obvious. Sometimes true, but sometimes not. You’d be shocked that the average Joe Schmoe senior manager has never learned about the business. And trust me, we were never eager to suggest layoffs. I only saw them come up once, and as a last resort to help a dying business.

As far as the young analysts - when you buy a teams time, you really are paying for the partners, who are industry experts and have done the work for 30+ years. The junior folks are there to collect and crunch the data to prove out the working hypothesis. They need to be polished bc they are in front of clients all the time.

These are hard jobs to get, teach you a ton, and pay incredibly well. My time at MBB was invaluable to my current role (executive at nonprofit with an operating budget of a few hundred million.) I genuinely think it’s the best first job you can have.

I am not a consultant but have worked with a number of them in the past at my work place. I think the PP explains very well what it is. My experience has been very useful and in many companies it is hard to find leadership that will think strategically and be able to take the tough decisions. That's where the consultants matter and provide value.

Thanks!

[Anonymous]

Now that they hire more data analysts/scientists in-house, they might be developing better insights for companies that do not have the manpower to do it themselves. But I feel bad for the backend teams at MBB -- they do the hard analytic work and the consultants just put it in a powerpoint and wear a suit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Now that they hire more data analysts/scientists in-house, they might be developing better insights for companies that do not have the manpower to do it themselves. But I feel bad for the backend teams at MBB -- they do the hard analytic work and the consultants just put it in a powerpoint and wear a suit.

It’s the same everywhere, back office is a grind for little money. If you are not pedigreed or handsome enough and still want to do something with life, the back office welcomes you.