The McKinsey Way

“If more business books were as useful, concise, and just plain fun to read as THE MCKINSEY WAY, the business world would be a better place.” –Julie Bick, best-selling author of ALL I REALLY NEED TO KNOW IN BUSINESS I LEARNED AT MICROSOFT.

“Enlivened by witty anecdotes, THE MCKINSEY WAY contains valuable lessons on widely diverse topics such as marketing, interviewing, team-building, and brainstorming.” –Paul H. Zipkin, Vice-Dean, The Fuqua School of Business

It’s been called “a breeding ground for gurus.” McKinsey & Company is the gold-standard consulting firm whose alumni include titans such as “In Search of Excellence” author Tom Peters, Harvey Golub of American Express, and Japan’s Kenichi Ohmae.

When Fortune 100 corporations are stymied, it’s the “McKinsey-ites” whom they call for help. In THE MCKINSEY WAY, former McKinsey associate Ethan Rasiel lifts the veil to show you how the secretive McKinsey works its magic, and helps you emulate the firm’s well-honed practices in problem solving, communication, and management.

He shows you how McKinsey-ites think about business problems and how they work at solving them, explaining the way McKinsey approaches every aspect of a task:

How McKinsey recruits and molds its elite consultants;

How to “sell without selling”;

How to use facts, not fear them;

Techniques to jump-start research and make brainstorming more productive;

How to build and keep a team at the top its game;

Powerful presentation methods, including the famous waterfall chart, rarely seen outside McKinsey;

How to get ultimate “buy-in” to your findings;

Survival tips for working in high-pressure organizations.

Both a behind-the-scenes look at one of the most admired and secretive companies in the business world and a toolkit of problem-solving techniques without peer, THE MCKINSEY WAY is fascinating reading that empowers every business decision maker to become a better strategic player in any organization.

Table of Contents

PART ONE: THE McKINSEY WAY OF THINKING ABOUT BUSINESS PROBLEMS

1. Building the Solution

2.Developing an Approach

3.80/20 and Other Rules to Live By

PART TWO: THE McKINSEY WAY OF WORKING TO SOLVE BUSINESS PROBLEMS

4.Selling a Study

5.Assembling a Team

6.Managing Hierarchy

7.Doing Research

8.Conducting Interviews

9.Brainstorming

PART THREE: THE McKINSEY WAY OF SELLING SOLUTIONS

10.Making Presentations

11.Displaying Data with Charts

12.Managing Internal Communications

13.Working with Clients

PART FOUR: SURVIVING AT McKINSEY

14.Find Your Own Mentor

15.Surviving on the Road

16.Take These Three Things with You Wherever You Go

17.A Good Assistant Is a Lifeline

18.Recruiting McKinsey Style

19.If You Want a Life, Lay Down Some Rules

PART FIVE: LIFE AFTER McKINSEY

20.The Most Valuable Lesson

21.Memories of McKinsey

About the Author

Ethan M. Rasiel joined McKinsey & Co.’s New York office in 1989 and worked there until 1992. While at “the firm”, his clients included major companies in finance, telecommunications, computing, and consumer goods sectors. Before working at McKinsey, he worked as an equity fund manager at Mercury Asset Management in London. He has also worked as an investment banker. He has a bachelor’s degree from Princeton University and an MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.