Have McKinsey and its consulting rivals got too big? • Hacker News Board

Re: Have McKinsey and its consulting rivals got too big?

#61

Post by OptionOfT » Sat, Oct 19, 2024, 5:01 PM UTC

It was a really interesting place to work at a Software Engineer. It made me understand the business. It made me understand that doing the right thing isn't valued. You do the thing that has the shortest ROI.

It also made me realize that it is horrible to build software with people who expect short term deliveries like the usual McKinsey engagement. People who expect that the automation of an Excel file takes the same time as getting a BA to do it.

I am now in a full time engineering position. I don't talk to clients anymore.

What I miss the most is coming into contact with people with a huge variety of backgrounds.

Which surprisingly were the people with who I had to spent the most amount of time explaining how software works.

Maybe I'm bad at it? Who knows. But I learned a lot, and I'm happy where I'm at now, so any bitterness would be misplaced.

Not to mention they paid for my GC.

Re: Have McKinsey and its consulting rivals got too big?

#62

Post by lucianbr » Sat, Oct 19, 2024, 5:01 PM UTC

alexashka wrote: post #27

ProllyInfamous wrote: post #11

Let me propose an alternate theory: fines and enforcement have become too small, so-as to become just a cost of doing business . Many of these employees are so-incentivized by fiscal profit that they fail to see the immorality, just seeing opportunity. Maybe if our regulators weren't in bed with so many of the major funds... "If you think there's a solution, you're part of the problem." —George Carlin (Conan O'brien…

Yes, but go on taking the logical steps: why are the regulators in bed with so many of the major funds? You very quickly boil it down to morality and ethics. Americans have a broken ethics code that says the free market magically solves the need for anyone to be a good person - if someone's a selfish ass, the free market and 'competition' will magically fix it. Therefore I can be in bed with whoever I like, whenever…

You should read about the popes in medieval times. Point being, everything you wrote is about humans, not about americans. And having religion changed nothing. Who knows what those people believed inside their minds, but outward they had religion, and outward is all we can see for anyone.

> stupid societies full of stupid people should and do inevitably collapse

No society endures forever it seems (maybe I'm misinformed?), but no society is immune to stupidity, so I'm not sure your statement about stupid societies actually has meaning. Collapse is certain, the causes less so.

I take solace in the fact that either nuclear annihilation or some kind of climate disaster, seems inevitable, but also nobody's fault in particular. We could avoid it if we weren't human. But I'm not sure that I want that. The good would likely be gone with the bad.

Maybe the cokroaches will manage better, or the robots, but maybe the Fermi paradox solution is that life always evolves to be too greedy for it's own good.

Re: Have McKinsey and its consulting rivals got too big?

#63

Post by jncfhnb » Sat, Oct 19, 2024, 5:02 PM UTC

candiddevmike wrote: post #35

jncfhnb wrote: post #9

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 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.

Re: Have McKinsey and its consulting rivals got too big?

#64

Post by mtlynch » Sat, Oct 19, 2024, 5:05 PM UTC

OptionOfT wrote: post #61

It was a really interesting place to work at a Software Engineer. It made me understand the business. It made me understand that doing the right thing isn't valued. You do the thing that has the shortest ROI. It also made me realize that it is horrible to build software with people who expect short term deliveries like the usual McKinsey engagement. People who expect that the automation of an Excel file takes the sam…

>Not to mention they paid for my GC.

What does GC mean in this context?

Re: Have McKinsey and its consulting rivals got too big?

#65

Post by lukan » Sat, Oct 19, 2024, 5:08 PM UTC

mtlynch wrote: post #64

OptionOfT wrote: post #61

It was a really interesting place to work at a Software Engineer. It made me understand the business. It made me understand that doing the right thing isn't valued. You do the thing that has the shortest ROI. It also made me realize that it is horrible to build software with people who expect short term deliveries like the usual McKinsey engagement. People who expect that the automation of an Excel file takes the sam…

> Not to mention they paid for my GC. What does GC mean in this context?

[flagged]

Re: Have McKinsey and its consulting rivals got too big?

#66

Post by hammock » Sat, Oct 19, 2024, 5:08 PM UTC

mtlynch wrote: post #64

OptionOfT wrote: post #61

It was a really interesting place to work at a Software Engineer. It made me understand the business. It made me understand that doing the right thing isn't valued. You do the thing that has the shortest ROI. It also made me realize that it is horrible to build software with people who expect short term deliveries like the usual McKinsey engagement. People who expect that the automation of an Excel file takes the sam…

> Not to mention they paid for my GC. What does GC mean in this context?

Green card

Re: Have McKinsey and its consulting rivals got too big?

#67

Post by alexashka » Sat, Oct 19, 2024, 5:08 PM UTC

pphysch wrote: post #47

alexashka wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, but go on taking the logical steps: why are the regulators in bed with so many of the major funds? You very quickly boil it down to morality and ethics. Americans have a broken ethics code that says the free market magically solves the need for anyone to be a good person - if someone's a selfish ass, the free market and 'competition' will magically fix it. Therefore I can be in bed with whoever I like, whenever…

Which contemporary cultures are not "extremely stupid", in your opinion?

I've provided all the necessary information to piece it together without explicitly telling you.

That was not an accident.

Re: Have McKinsey and its consulting rivals got too big?

#68

Post by blinded » Sat, Oct 19, 2024, 5:08 PM UTC

jncfhnb wrote: post #63

candiddevmike wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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.

For sure! Just a real frustrating aspect of change in enterprise.

Re: Have McKinsey and its consulting rivals got too big?

#69

Post by ainiriand » Sat, Oct 19, 2024, 5:08 PM UTC

mtlynch wrote: post #64

OptionOfT wrote: post #61

It was a really interesting place to work at a Software Engineer. It made me understand the business. It made me understand that doing the right thing isn't valued. You do the thing that has the shortest ROI. It also made me realize that it is horrible to build software with people who expect short term deliveries like the usual McKinsey engagement. People who expect that the automation of an Excel file takes the sam…

> Not to mention they paid for my GC. What does GC mean in this context?

[flagged]

Re: Have McKinsey and its consulting rivals got too big?

#70

Post by jncfhnb » Sat, Oct 19, 2024, 5:09 PM UTC

metadat wrote: post #28

jncfhnb wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

McKinsey isn’t in the auditing business at all. And those that do play both went the other way, transitioning from auditing into consulting. There’s a ton of competition in consulting in general.

This is false, the Big 4 are all in the auditing business, in addition to high-end management consulting.

McKinsey is not a part of the Big 4. The Big 4 refers to the big four auditing firms.