Current McKinsey here. I don’t think anyone expects the current difficulties to last indefinitely. Its fairly well established that consulting struggles during times of economic uncertainty (but does fine when things are outright bad or good).
> Its fairly well established that consulting struggles during times of economic uncertainty (but does fine when things are outright bad or good).
The culture engendered into corporate America by businesses like McKinsey is exactly what causes economic uncertainty.
When the only thing that matters is the number at the bottom of the piece of paper being big enough for some analyst in lower Manhattan to be happy, humans will do all sorts of unpredictable things to make that number be that way.
The difference is, before, people had at least some confidence in their ability to make a living. We've whittled down the average person's wages and job security to the bone and when people don't feel secure, they don't spend, or maybe they do, but they put it on the card... which is another problem and story unto itself. And places like McKinsey are a part of the knife that did that whittling.
Anyways, when people don't spend, businesses don't do better over the long term.
I don't think people who are so bitter about not being in a position of power that they will say any hyperbolic thing they can about McKinsey should be trusted on the topic either
> Its fairly well established that consulting struggles during times of economic uncertainty
Only the bullshit kind of consulting McKinsey is known for, IMO. The value of someone coming in and repeating what the smart folks on the team are saying is no longer there. Plenty of boutique consulting shops are eating just fine right now. Delivering real results/solutions and being a SME is always in demand.
I don’t do that kind of thing but for what it’s worth The value of coming in and listening to what smart people are saying and then telling the C Suite to actually do it is hugely valuable when the organization is otherwise paralyzed by bureaucracy.
I have worked in specialist consulting for 10 years and I agree with this take. Our business does the best during times of uncertainty. During lean times, operators want to make sure they are allocating capital intelligently, so they pay for our insights and advice. In the good times, they just plow all their revenue into making the flywheel spin faster, no need to be cautious or thoughtful when money is coming in no matter what you do.
