INTRODUCTION

ABOUT THIS BOOK

February 1999 saw the publication of The McKinsey Way by

Ethan M. Rasiel, a former associate of management-consulting

powerhouse McKinsey & Company. That book combined the—

occasionally humorous—anecdotes of McKinsey alumni with the

personal recollections of the author to describe the techniques that

McKinsey consultants use to help their clients become more efficient

and effective. The McKinsey Way also painted a vivid picture

of life behind the walls of the publicity-shy organization that

its employees refer to as “the Firm.”

The McKinsey Mind picks up where The McKinsey Way left

off. Most of that book was taken up with a description of consulting

McKinsey-style in the context of a typical project—“engagement”

in Firm jargon. It started with the sale of the engagement

and moved step by step through the implementation of McKinsey’s

solution. It also briefly discussed the thought process that McKinsey

consultants use to tackle tough business problems.

By necessity, The McKinsey Way was more descriptive than

prescriptive. With The McKinsey Mind, we take the opposite tack.

Whereas The McKinsey Way dealt with what McKinsey does, The

McKinsey Mind shows you how to apply McKinsey techniques in

your career and organization. To accomplish this, we build on the

knowledge base of The McKinsey Way but offer a different perspective,

as we shall explain later in this Introduction. At this

point, however, we want to assure you that if you haven’t read The

McKinsey Way, you need not read it in order to understand or

profit from The McKinsey Mind.* In fact, we even provide summaries

of the relevant lessons from The McKinsey Way at the start

of each section of this book, as well as a list of where to find them

in Appendix B.

Anyone can use the problem-solving and management techniques

described in The McKinsey Way (and The McKinsey Mind);

you don’t have to be in (or even from) the Firm. We also recognize

that McKinsey is a unique organization. Its consultants can

call on resources not usually available to executives in other companies.

Its flat hierarchy allows junior consultants to make decisions

and express their ideas in ways that would be impossible in

more-stratified workplaces. And when working with clients, the

Firm’s consultants generally have a freedom of access and action

unavailable to most executives. With these thoughts in mind, we

realized that to take The McKinsey Way to the next level, we had

to adapt it to organizations that don’t enjoy McKinsey’s peculiar

advantages.

Fortunately, we did not have to look far for inspiration in this

regard. In researching this book, we relied on interviews with and

questionnaires from more than 75 McKinsey alumni who have successfully implemented the Firm’s techniques and strategies in

their post-McKinsey organizations. Since leaving the Firm, they

have become CEOs, entrepreneurs, and senior decision makers in

businesses and governments around the world. If anyone could

show us what works outside McKinsey and what doesn’t, they

could—and did.

In this book, therefore, you will discover a problem-solving

and decision-making process based on McKinsey’s own, highly

successful methods but adapted to the “real world” based on—

and, we believe, strengthened by—the experiences of McKinsey

alumni in their post-McKinsey careers. You will also learn the

management techniques you will need to implement that process in

your own career and the presentation strategies that will allow you

to communicate your ideas throughout your organization.

ABOUT THIS BOOK

February 1999 saw the publication of The McKinsey Way by

Ethan M. Rasiel, a former associate of management-consulting

powerhouse McKinsey & Company. That book combined the—

occasionally humorous—anecdotes of McKinsey alumni with the

personal recollections of the author to describe the techniques that

McKinsey consultants use to help their clients become more efficient

and effective. The McKinsey Way also painted a vivid picture

of life behind the walls of the publicity-shy organization that

its employees refer to as “the Firm.”

The McKinsey Mind picks up where The McKinsey Way left

off. Most of that book was taken up with a description of consulting

McKinsey-style in the context of a typical project—“engagement”

in Firm jargon. It started with the sale of the engagement

and moved step by step through the implementation of McKinsey’s

solution. It also briefly discussed the thought process that McKinsey

consultants use to tackle tough business problems.

By necessity, The McKinsey Way was more descriptive than

prescriptive. With The McKinsey Mind, we take the opposite tack.

Whereas The McKinsey Way dealt with what McKinsey does, The

McKinsey Mind shows you how to apply McKinsey techniques in

your career and organization. To accomplish this, we build on the

knowledge base of The McKinsey Way but offer a different perspective,

as we shall explain later in this Introduction. At this

point, however, we want to assure you that if you haven’t read The

McKinsey Way, you need not read it in order to understand or

profit from The McKinsey Mind.* In fact, we even provide summaries

of the relevant lessons from The McKinsey Way at the start

of each section of this book, as well as a list of where to find them

in Appendix B.

Anyone can use the problem-solving and management techniques

described in The McKinsey Way (and The McKinsey Mind);

you don’t have to be in (or even from) the Firm. We also recognize

that McKinsey is a unique organization. Its consultants can

call on resources not usually available to executives in other companies.

Its flat hierarchy allows junior consultants to make decisions

and express their ideas in ways that would be impossible in

more-stratified workplaces. And when working with clients, the

Firm’s consultants generally have a freedom of access and action

unavailable to most executives. With these thoughts in mind, we

realized that to take The McKinsey Way to the next level, we had

to adapt it to organizations that don’t enjoy McKinsey’s peculiar

advantages.

Fortunately, we did not have to look far for inspiration in this

regard. In researching this book, we relied on interviews with and

questionnaires from more than 75 McKinsey alumni who have successfully implemented the Firm’s techniques and strategies in

their post-McKinsey organizations. Since leaving the Firm, they

have become CEOs, entrepreneurs, and senior decision makers in

businesses and governments around the world. If anyone could

show us what works outside McKinsey and what doesn’t, they

could—and did.

In this book, therefore, you will discover a problem-solving

and decision-making process based on McKinsey’s own, highly

successful methods but adapted to the “real world” based on—

and, we believe, strengthened by—the experiences of McKinsey

alumni in their post-McKinsey careers. You will also learn the

management techniques you will need to implement that process in

your own career and the presentation strategies that will allow you

to communicate your ideas throughout your organization.