Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I worked for a company that used them and they advised us to violate federal fair housing and fair credit laws. We did not do it, but as the compliance lawyer, it was a long road to get the business to understand that McKinsey (who they paid a fortune to for their advice) was wrong and the conduct was illegal.

wow would love to know more about this story! did McKinsey have any housing attorneys on their staff, or did their “brilliant” 22 year old come up with blockbusting as the most smartest and satisfying way to “crack the case” on their own?

On the nose! A brilliant 20 something came up with the strategy and was shocked to hear it was illegal.

I will add that is was “super fun” trying to get upper management to understand why we couldn’t possibly do this while navigating a would be whistleblower who was sure we were doing it in spite of the illegality (which we were not).

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I worked for a company that used them and they advised us to violate federal fair housing and fair credit laws. We did not do it, but as the compliance lawyer, it was a long road to get the business to understand that McKinsey (who they paid a fortune to for their advice) was wrong and the conduct was illegal.

wow would love to know more about this story! did McKinsey have any housing attorneys on their staff, or did their “brilliant” 22 year old come up with blockbusting as the most smartest and satisfying way to “crack the case” on their own?

On the nose! A brilliant 20 something came up with the strategy and was shocked to hear it was illegal.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I worked for a company that used them and they advised us to violate federal fair housing and fair credit laws. We did not do it, but as the compliance lawyer, it was a long road to get the business to understand that McKinsey (who they paid a fortune to for their advice) was wrong and the conduct was illegal.

wow would love to know more about this story! did McKinsey have any housing attorneys on their staff, or did their “brilliant” 22 year old come up with blockbusting as the most smartest and satisfying way to “crack the case” on their own?

Anonymous wrote:I worked for a company that used them and they advised us to violate federal fair housing and fair credit laws. We did not do it, but as the compliance lawyer, it was a long road to get the business to understand that McKinsey (who they paid a fortune to for their advice) was wrong and the conduct was illegal.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I worked at one of MBB out of college (10+ years ago) and even then, remember there being very real conversations around professional standards and which clients/cases to work out. I wasn’t staffed on any morally questionable cases (think tobacco, opioids) and generally felt good about my time there.

I would take anything the NYT says with a grain of salt. They are not without some very real biases (think: anything large and corporate) that make me question their reporting. Still, as a former consultant, I do think there’s some element of truth here that McK really needs to reckon with. Companies are only Teflon for so long.

And as to some of the comments here - standard DCUM that think the only meaningful and moral work can be found in the public sector. I think it’s short sighted to say anyone going into these jobs simply only cares about money. It’s intellectually dishonest and weak argument at best. Most people go into consulting (or law or medicine or finance) because they are also very intellectually curious and competitive. The work and analysis is *hard*. It’s refreshing and invigorating to “crack” a case as we used to call it and then implement that solution. Not everyone wants to work as a teacher or public servant and that’s ok!

But as another PP said, it’s not a binary choice of consulting vs digging ditches in a village in Honduras. There are lots of jobs and companies and places to work. Why did PE and consulting become the holy grail?

PP. I can’t speak for PE, but my time at MBB was invaluable. The business model means that you get exposed to a wide variety of industries and clients very quickly. It’s a great job for a kinda nerdy person who loves to learn. You learn tons of business frameworks and then, with the help of more seasoned consultants, how to use/modify those frameworks (or simply parts of them) to analyze your client’s business. I had tons of responsibility at a young age, including modeling and presenting my work to clients. The professional training is unparalleled and you get tons of very helpful (and honest) feedback. It’s not for the faint of heart though. It’s a really hard job, especially when you factor in the sky high expectations and travel, and I totally get why people burn out quickly. I ended up going to law school afterwards and the 5 years of MBB + law school truly made a stronger thinker and better professional.

More than a decade later, it’s still the best employer/training I’ve ever had and I use the skills to this day. It’s also a great brand to have on your resume and I still get a nod of respect when I say I worked there. I would definitely encourage my kids to give it a go, though places like McK need to clean things up measurably.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I worked for a company that used them and they advised us to violate federal fair housing and fair credit laws. We did not do it, but as the compliance lawyer, it was a long road to get the business to understand that McKinsey (who they paid a fortune to for their advice) was wrong and the conduct was illegal.

Lots of McKinsey hate on here. What about BCG or Bain?

Anonymous wrote:I worked for a company that used them and they advised us to violate federal fair housing and fair credit laws. We did not do it, but as the compliance lawyer, it was a long road to get the business to understand that McKinsey (who they paid a fortune to for their advice) was wrong and the conduct was illegal.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I worked at one of MBB out of college (10+ years ago) and even then, remember there being very real conversations around professional standards and which clients/cases to work out. I wasn’t staffed on any morally questionable cases (think tobacco, opioids) and generally felt good about my time there.

I would take anything the NYT says with a grain of salt. They are not without some very real biases (think: anything large and corporate) that make me question their reporting. Still, as a former consultant, I do think there’s some element of truth here that McK really needs to reckon with. Companies are only Teflon for so long.

And as to some of the comments here - standard DCUM that think the only meaningful and moral work can be found in the public sector. I think it’s short sighted to say anyone going into these jobs simply only cares about money. It’s intellectually dishonest and weak argument at best. Most people go into consulting (or law or medicine or finance) because they are also very intellectually curious and competitive. The work and analysis is *hard*. It’s refreshing and invigorating to “crack” a case as we used to call it and then implement that solution. Not everyone wants to work as a teacher or public servant and that’s ok!

"crack" a case = figuring out how to squeeze money out of poor sick people that they don't actually owe! whee!

+1 I pray I am never in a position where I would describe "cracking the case" of helping a corporation to get richer as "refreshing and invigorating." Cringe.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can someone give a primer on why McK is so evil? Genuinely curious here. I have my own thoughts but would love to hear others’ too.

They basically were the brains behind how to get as many people addicted to opioids as possible. Even when they started to know how bad it was to do that.

It's beyond that. They also didn't manage conflicts in an ethical way and got into trouble for their work with S Africa. And they were always touting Enron before it imploded. Honestly the Enron thing is embarrassing. I would be embarrassed to say my kid worked there. Luckily for me my kid wants a better lifestyle so wants to be a dermatologist

The opioids thing genuinely makes me sick to my stomach. Disgusting how people are so proud of their affiliation with McK.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can someone give a primer on why McK is so evil? Genuinely curious here. I have my own thoughts but would love to hear others’ too.

They basically were the brains behind how to get as many people addicted to opioids as possible. Even when they started to know how bad it was to do that.

It's beyond that. They also didn't manage conflicts in an ethical way and got into trouble for their work with S Africa. And they were always touting Enron before it imploded. Honestly the Enron thing is embarrassing. I would be embarrassed to say my kid worked there. Luckily for me my kid wants a better lifestyle so wants to be a dermatologist

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I worked at one of MBB out of college (10+ years ago) and even then, remember there being very real conversations around professional standards and which clients/cases to work out. I wasn’t staffed on any morally questionable cases (think tobacco, opioids) and generally felt good about my time there.

I would take anything the NYT says with a grain of salt. They are not without some very real biases (think: anything large and corporate) that make me question their reporting. Still, as a former consultant, I do think there’s some element of truth here that McK really needs to reckon with. Companies are only Teflon for so long.

And as to some of the comments here - standard DCUM that think the only meaningful and moral work can be found in the public sector. I think it’s short sighted to say anyone going into these jobs simply only cares about money. It’s intellectually dishonest and weak argument at best. Most people go into consulting (or law or medicine or finance) because they are also very intellectually curious and competitive. The work and analysis is *hard*. It’s refreshing and invigorating to “crack” a case as we used to call it and then implement that solution. Not everyone wants to work as a teacher or public servant and that’s ok!

But as another PP said, it’s not a binary choice of consulting vs digging ditches in a village in Honduras. There are lots of jobs and companies and places to work. Why did PE and consulting become the holy grail?