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The McKinsey Mind

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The McKinsey Mind

Understanding and Implementing the Problem-Solving Tools and Management Techniques of the World's Top Strategic Consulting Firm

McGraw-Hill,

15 min read
10 take-aways
Audio & text

What's inside?

If you can’t afford to hire McKinsey & Co., this is the book for you.

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Editorial Rating

7

Qualities

  • Applicable

Recommendation

Throughout the 1990s, consultants were the kings of business and one firm, McKinsey & Co., reigned above all others. In The McKinsey Mind, Ethan M. Raisel and Paul N. Friga, former McKinsey & Co. consultants, describe the methods that the famed firm uses in improving the performance of its consultants. These techniques, which relate to problem solving, management and communications, combine to produce the equivalent of a basic MBA textbook. But unlike much of your grad-school reading, this one is right on target to address your real-life business executive. As such, getAbstract recommends this book not just for its McKinsey cachet, but for its applicable approaches to business.

Summary

Making Decisions the McKinsey Way

McKinsey & Co., founded in 1923, has become one of the world’s most successful strategic consulting firms.

It has 84 offices around the world and employs 7,000 professionals from 89 countries. It has consulted with over 1,000 clients, including 100 of the 150 largest companies in the world, and many state and federal agencies in the United States.

Many of is former consultants have become well known, including Tom Peters, author of In Search of Excellence, and less happily today, Jeffrey Skilling, former CEO of Enron.

McKinsey & Co. relies on a well-defined, fact-based method of problem solving and management. All new consultants go through a rigorous training program to learn the firm’s techniques. When a McKinsey team enters into an assignment, known internally as an engagement, it looks for the key drivers affecting the problem.

The process is based on a six-step model, which includes these elements, which you can apply in your own company:

  1. Identifying the Need. Isolate the core problem facing the client. Generally, business problems are based on competitive, organizational, financial or operational...

About the Authors

Ethan M. Rasiel  was a consultant in McKinsey & Co.’s New York office. Among his clients were major companies in finance, telecommunications, computing and consumer goods. Paul N. Friga worked for McKinsey in the Pittsburgh office. His projects related to international expansion, acquisition and strategic planning, education, water, and other industries. He is Acting Director at the North Carolina Knowledge Management Center at the University of North Carolina.

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