THE MCKINSEY WAY - Is all of this true? From Ex-McKinsey (up or out policy, weekend work)
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 13 พ.ค. 2024
- Is there anything like a "McKinsey Way"? As an Ex-McKinsey consultant I will share my experience having worked at the firm for 6 years. In his book "The McKinsey Way", Ethan M. Rasiel, a former McKinsey consultant, claims that there is. He describes many ways how the strategy consulting firm McKinsey operates. As I worked at McKinsey for several years myself, I scrutinize the book and give my candid opinion whether his claims are true. If you are interested in MBB consulting (McKinsey, BCG, Bain), this video is for you. Ever asked yourself, how top management consulting firms operate? I discuss the up or out policy, the working hours at McKinsey and similar firms (work-life-balance), the necessity to work on weekends and many more things. Ever wonder what a day in the life of a McKinsey consultant looks like? If you want to get into McKinsey and join McKinsey as consultant, watch this video first. It will give you good insights you can leverage in the McKinsey recruiting process.
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Chapters
00:00 Introduction
03:03 How does McKinsey structure problems?
04:25 What is the Up-or-out-Principle?
06:32 How is McKinsey hypothesis-driven?
08:45 Slide Writing course
09:15 Does McKinsey sell the same solution to different clients?
12:14 How bad are the McKinsey work hours?
14:09 Wrap-up
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Very helpful
As someone who has worked 4 years in Seoul, 2 years in Tokyo, 7 years in the Bay Area, and the past 3 years in Munich with the same firm, I would say based on my experience that the Germans work the fewest hours and enjoy the most paid time off. (Not complaining; I love my 30 days PTO per year.) However, my German colleagues are highly productive during working hours. My impression in Korea was that the people worked extremely long hours but seemed to be running at 70% productivity the whole time (probably due to a lack of breaks and vacation). To reiterate, this is my personal experience with just one company. It was just interesting to hear you say that Germans are known to work long hours -- I've never heard of this before and just haven't experienced that. But again, Germans are dang productive.
How are Germans more productive than Koreans or others during workhours? As in, they do no work socializing?
As a student prepping for consulting and having read the book, I find the video super insightful in letting us know your perspectives as an insider! I also want to do a book review on this one too, thanks!
Happy to hear that thank you. Great mask! :) Best, Heinrich
@@FirmLearning so happy to get your reply haha thanks!
Hi Heinrich, thank you so much for your valuable and informative videos. This recommended book by you was read by me during Xmas and New Year. Very helpful
Hi Kelly, thanks for your comment. Super happy to hear that you read the book and found it helpful. Great start to the new year to you! :) Best! Heinrich
Great video and thank you for all the links! As someone who didn't worked for Mckinsey but worked with a leadership team that was entirely former Mckinsey - I think the weekend work culture may be specifically US, where we often have much less regard for personal time, including weekends, than our colleagues in Europe.
Hi, thanks for your comment! Yes, the culture might differ by region. Though German MBB firms have the reputation to already be on the tougher end :) Best! Heinrich
Thanks Heinrich for your recommendation. It’s very good for people who are interested in consulting firm and it definitely can adapt to business world. Now time to pass this book on to other classmates in business school!
Happy to hear it is helpful. Best! Heinrich
This is a really good discussion! Very helpful! Thank you:)
Glad it was helpful!
I have been extremely inspired by your videos and about to complete 10 years in consulting across Big 4 and CBRE. Love your clarity of thoughts and smooth and lucid narrative style....Super work !!!
Hi Anirban, thank you so much for your feedback. Highly appreciated! Best, Heinrich
Thanks for this perspective on how McKinsey operates. Really helps to understand The McKinsey Way a bit better :)
Glad you enjoyed it! Best, H
I really liked this video, and your style of offering your thoughts for key paragraphs of the book is great!
Thank you so much for posting this, I have read the book and I liked it too- very insightful to see two different views. Thank you again.
Yes, agree the book is great. Thanks for watching! Best, Heinrich
Hey Heinrich, I saw a lot of interesting books on your shelf! Could you perhaps make a video about the best books to read to gain insights about Consulting and business in general? Your top recommendations would be incredibly helpful
Hi, thanks for the suggestion! Might for sure pick that up in one of the future videos. In the meantime, I do include some book recommendations of books I have enjoyed in the past in the video description. Best! Heinrich
I love your videos thoroughly. It has helped me immensely in building decks for my sales and delivery org. There are couple of areas I always seem to struggle in any presentation -
1. Operating Structure/Governance Framework
2. Risks and Mitigation strategies
This can apply for any business situation like internal Asset development initiative, partnership/Alliance, ecosystem expansion, moving into new service verticals or even talent retention strategy.
Can you make 2 different videos on these two topics with Amazon links to any books or blog references that I can use to build content.
I am glad you enjoy the channel! I will consider making videos on these topics in the future. :)
I'm currently advanced in learning mckinsey, I think this video was very clear on the way mckinsey approaches troubleshooting.
My top 5 of what I've heard of MBB (please correct me if I am wrong):
1. Hard to get in if you didn't have an internship in a consultancy in the past. Also, marks are very important.
2. Work/life balance is very bad. Workload is somewhere between 50 and 60 hours a week.
3. 65k as an entrance salary.
4. You build slides most of the time.
5. You need to be super proactive and energetic, otherwise burnout.
Obviously, I didn't mention advantages here cause Heinrich already have vid about them.
Yes, directionally this is right. To add some nuances:
1. Agree, there might be exceptions for otherwise exceptional candidates but usually MBB will require prior internships.
2. Very bad is of course relative depending on your expectation. Average week is probably 60 hours. What imo makes it much better than banking is that usually weekends are free and holidays are respected.
3. Of course depends on what "MBB" firm you are looking at, but directionally right for entrance with a Master.
4. Yes, this is for sure one major activity. However, spending time in meetings with clients and your own team and working in Excel plays a major role as well :)
5. Introverts can be successful in consulting as well, though yes you need to have some mental resilience as the job can be challenging in many ways.
Best! Heinrich
Does the internship need to be from recognized firms?
@@thanhnguyenminh4704 MBBs have their own internships
Very helpful thanks for sharing!!
Thanks for watching - glad you like it! Best, H
Great video! I just can’t believe the working hours stuff haha! Haven’t worked on McK but all the former consultants I know say the same! If you work there you won’t have any balance!
Hi Kevin, thanks for your comment! Yes agree, the hours can be tough, but you do get used to it :) Best! Heinrich
This is totally me being a troll, but did anyone else notice that the mece circle at 4:20 doesn't actually fully overlap? The white borders inside of it create an area that is not covered so it technically isn't collectively exhaustive. Once you see it it's really hard to unsee...
But I'm of course just being silly about it; great video Heinrich and thanks for providing us with some insight into how consulting works. I'm considering it as the next step in my career and your videos definitely help me make an informed decision.
Thank you for another helpful video :-)
Sure thing, thanks for being a regular viewer :) Best, Heinrich
What an amazing video. I guess the book is referring to the US branch of the firm, and before research were made on how productivity increases with more leisure time. I am asking to my self since years "HOW THE PROBLEM SOLVING PROCESS DIFFERS ON BCG, you had a lot of colleagues, so I imagine somebody was coming from BCG, do they have a similar K issues 7 step iterative approach? Again thank you, as bonus would like to know if you never met Dominic Barton that was my favorite manager from what I can see on the Internet.
Hi Giovanni,
Very happy to hear you liked the video, thanks for your comment!
While the 7 step approach is taught in McK trainings, in practice it is not always super strictly followed, depending on the individual project requirements.
In my opinion, the 7S-Approach ist just a formalized way of the "hypothesis-driven consulting" approach, which is followed by many firms, also BCG (based on what I hear from friends who work at BCG).
I.e. it is about quickly developing a hypothesis what the result to a question a client has could be, then splitting the hypothesis up in the assumptions on which it is based, then testing the assumptions and finally refining the hypothesis in the end if needed.
Yes, Dominic Barton attended several social events of the German office. In these settings, I heard several speeches from him and he for sure was a great leader. Though of course, as a more junior consultant at that time I did not have any super deep interactions with him.
Best! Heinrich
@@trocchiettoski Just wanna thank you for suggesting the book! Sounds interesting. I also do believe that this scientific approach or hypothesis driven approach is a great in any application even for a creative one.
I'd like to see more videos with this format.
Hi Michael, thank you well noted. Trust will create more videos like that in the future! :) Best, Heinrich
As a student I find this video very insightful, thank you Heinrich!
Love from Kolkata, India
Hi Niloy, thanks for your comment, very much appreciated. All the best from Germany! Heinrich
Hi Heinrich!
I just saw this video and lot other videos from your channel. I have a question. I am a MSc graduate in Electrical Engineering, worked for 2+ years in a reputed German company and looking to make a change to Management consultancy in the MBBs. I can also speak fluent German, so that should not be a problem. However, I donot have any "internships" or prior experience of working in a consultancy. Could you please tell me if its an important factor? How good are the chances, given everything else on the CV is good, that I will be called for an interview?
Thanks!
Very insightful
Thank you!! Best, Heinrich
Thanks for your insightful videos. Do you mind doing a video about transitioning to consulting after a non-business PhD. I would like to know your thoughts. Thanks
Hi Tolu, thank you for the comment, great question! Yes, might pick this up for a future video! Best, Heinrich
I would like to work at McKinsey, thank you for the headsup 🙏
Thanks for your comment Timo! Lots of success to you! Best, Heinrich
You should do a video about Consulting vs "Management"
Great idea, thank you! Appreciate it! :) Best, Heinrich
Thanks for all the great content! I'm 43 years old and looking to complete my MBA at world leading business school. My ultimate goal is to transition my career to management consulting, and McKinsey would be my first choice. Any specific tips for a mid-career applicant to the consulting world?
Completing an MBA at a world leading business school is certainly a good way to get into consulting! Best of luck and thanks for watching! :)
Thank you very much... I am 38. I was feeling top old to Undertake an MBA.... What a great comment. You help someone out.
Thanks for this video, would toy be able to share the best and work offices to work at in terms of working hours?
Hi Ingrid, at McK, the Nordics countries and Netherlands and Belgium have a good reputation for favorable working hours. You might still be staffed on a project with a German EM though ;) Best! Heinrich
Great Video thanks! However all the points you mention are also true for all other consulting companies. I guess there is just nothing so different about McKinsey then ;)
Hi Gregor, you might be right ;) Indeed working for e.g., BCG will likely not be super different than working for McK. Best, Heinrich
Hello. I would like to know if there is a The Mckinsey Way Spanish version? I hope you can help me. Thanks a lot.
Hi Erik, to be honest I do not know, would need to look that up e.g., in the spanish amazon? Best, H
I would love to see how MECE method works practically
Hi Batool, thanks for the comment! I actually made a whole video about the MECE methodology with real world examples. Check it out on the channel :) Best! Heinrich
I have a hard time changing careers from law to management consulting. I only have one McKinsey office in Panama and I can't pass the structure game exam. The way to prepare for clients as a lawyer (no litigation) is very different, but I want to deliver more value to the client by being a MC. What do you think or recommend I should do? I have 9 years of experience as a lawyer with 2 MSc in Finance.
Consulting firms accept people from many backgrounds so this is definitely possible! For the McKinsey online game I would look online for many resources that can help with this. Further than that I would make sure that you are thoroughly prepared for case interviews by doing lots of practice. Hope this helps, thanks for watching!
Hi ! Clicking on the link available on the description it seems the slides course is going to be launch soon but in the video it seems that it is already available …. Is the link right or should I browse online? Thank you so much!
Hi Letizia, the course will come back soon in an improved way.. stay tuned :) Best, H
Perfect !!! Browsing on internet I found probably the old version…. Shall I start with that ? Do you have a rough idea of when it will be available?
I would like to know about how McKinsey catalogue and store client cases , which later can be reused for new project at other clients.
Hi Orlovsky, thanks for your comment! The consulting firms usually have some form of knowledge management system where they store sanitized examples of best practices, past approaches etc. They will usually not just upload actual client documents but always make sure the client is not clearly recognizable. Best! Heinrich
@@FirmLearning Sounds interesting, so do they use some sort ERP or own IT solutions? Is there any public information how to do yourself?
Problem solving follows general principles like the scientific method.
love it
Thanks! Best, Heinrich
Consulting as it sounds (experienced) should be provided by experienced people. I still dont get the idea when fresh grads join consulting firms. Probably good on "summarizing" skills ?
Hi Arsu, believe the mix of profiles on a team is key. The project leads and partners will be quite experienced in the industry. The juniors of course not so much, but they will bring solid analytical and methodical skills. Best! Heinrich
@@FirmLearningthanks for explaining that. I was wondering what value new grads brought to consulting companies
Sorta unrelated but does anybody know the guy in the painting (on the right) at 3:04
Frankly do not know myself ;) Best! Heinrich
I believe Ethan M. Rasiel worked in the US branch of McKinsey. Please correct me if I am wrong.
Not 100% sure to be honest. Best! Heinrich
1. Does one need to speak German to work in consulting in Germany?
2. Are the German known for long hours? I have friends working for Mckinsey in Atlanta and Shanghai. They all have to work on Saturdays, fewer hours than workdays though.
1 yes 2 yes
Hi Ariel, agree with Gregor ;) Though usually no work on the weekend in Germany. Best! Heinrich
@@FirmLearning haha thanks!
Im always wanted to work more than anyone else .So Im okey with 12+ hours work .
Fair enough :) Definitely important to know what you get yourself into in a new job. Thanks for watching! Best, Heinrich
Any book recommendation?
Yes! Check out the link in the video description! :) Best, Heinrich
Watching your videos at 2x speed #theMcKinseyWay haha
Go for it!! :) Best! Heinrich
If you could chose another career would you still have gone to work for McKinsey?
Hi Anna, would have probably founded a start-up :) Best! Heinrich
@@FirmLearning Good idea. But you are still very young and have plenty of time . What type of start up were you wanting to do? I am considering a real estate tech start up that makes co-investing globally easy in REIT market
Top
Thank you Tianjiao!! Best, Heinrich
GooooooooooD Job
Thanks!
If there's something proprietary about their "techniques"; don't they make you sign a "non-disclosure agreement" that precludes you from speaking on it at all?
Yes, this is correct. Of course I cannot and will not share any IP or any other proprietary information about McKinsey on this channel. Thanks for watching!
Can you solve a few real life case studies?
Hi Saurabh, yes, have something like this planned for the future!! Best, Heinrich
@@FirmLearning Thanks, a live session with participants would be helpful. We could discuss the solution with you.
Is it true the consultants are arrogant and have an attitude towards the average guy in the customer company?
Hi Ali, no did not make this general experience. But of course there are individual persons who might not always behave in the optimal way. Best, H
I don't understand how can a student has the dream of being a slave working 80 hrs a week and sleeping 4 hrs a night, for doing what in the end? Making richer a partner? Life is one and time once has gone never come back.
What kind of problems McKinsey deal with? Could you give solid examples?
Hi Aziz, some examples from past projects:
1) Pricing Strategy: Investigating the pricing practices of a company and suggesting improvements to the pricing scheme
2) Cost Transformation: Looking into the SG&A cost structure of a company and identifying improvement potentials
3) Production portfolio: Investigating the global plant portfolio of a company and suggesting changes where to reduce or increase capacities.
4) Corporate entrepreneurship: Helping a corporate to incubate a new business idea, leading the implementation for the first year.
Best! Heinrich
Hypothesis pronounced Hi-por-the-sis
Thanks for the feedback!! Best, Heinrich
Were you within the lucky few who got to optimize structural issues with Abu Graïb?
No I was not... First time I am hearing that McK was involved with Abu Ghraib. Do you have any source / news coverage on that?
Whats your good name?
Hi Dilip, what exactly do you mean with good name :) Best! Heinrich
Hi-pawth-eh-sis
Or, easier: hi-paw-thuh-sis
Thanks ;) Indeed need to improve my pronunciation. Best, Heinrich
@@FirmLearning please don't! I watch you mostly because of your awesome accent! Grüße aus Göttingen!
I don’t like it that you don’t follow top-down communication in your videos- give the punchline right away man.. ;)
Hi, thanks for the feedback. Do not see the videos as "business communication" but rather an exercise in storytelling ;) Agree that it should not be too unconcise though. Best! Heinrich
hypotHesis
:) Thanks for watching
Lear
Thanks for watching! Best, H
The energetic cross proximally trust because porcupine anecdotally jog around a various show. long-term, overt dash
Hmm not sure if I understand what exactly you mean.. still thanks for watching!
Hmm not sure if I understand what exactly you mean.. still thanks for watching!
Hypothesis- pronounced wrong.
Thanks for letting me know! Best, Heinrich