The McKinsey Way [Hardcover]

Ethan Rasiel (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 1, 1999

"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.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

The McKinsey Way, by former McKinsey & Company associate Ethan M. Rasiel, provides a through-the-keyhole perspective on the way this worldwide consulting institution approaches--and solves--the myriad professional problems encountered by its high-powered clientele. His goal, Rasiel writes, is simple: to communicate "new and useful skills to everyone who wants to be more useful in their business." He then does so by explaining the highly structured, fact-based proprietary methodology that McKinseyites are taught to employ with their Fortune 100 clients, complete with details on the entire process from first considering the basic situation at hand through finally selling a solution to the appropriate powers that be.

All of the critical steps (assembling a team, managing a hierarchy, doing research, conducting interviews, brainstorming) are broken down into specific actions and fleshed out with applicable examples that Rasiel has gathered through interviews with dozens of other former McKinsey employees. The concluding sections on surviving the mythically grueling pace at the organization, known simply to insiders as "the Firm," are designed to help readers successfully tackle the similar challenges and obstacles they regularly face in their own work environments. --Howard Rothman

From the Back Cover

Penetrate the McKinsey mystique and learn the secrets of the world's most sought after consulting firm.

Praise for 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 brain-storming."­­Paul H. Zipkin, Vice-Dean, The Fuqua School of Business, Duke University

"Apt to become the reference book on business management. With the help of The McKinsey Way, managers can approach issues they face as if they had a McKinsey expert beside them. It will certainly help those of use who cannot afford McKinsey!"­­Mord Weisler, Chairman, PRI Automation, Inc

"The closest thing to getting three years of consulting experience in three hours."­­John Alsop, President, Progress Software

"The McKinsey Way describes a course of analysis that is very powerful, well-written, and effective."­­Peter A. Brooke, Chairman, Advent International

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 187 pages
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill; 1 edition (February 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0070534489
• ISBN-13: 978-0070534483
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (110 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #101,472 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

34 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not bad - could be better, December 13, 1999

By 

Tri Suseno (Perth, Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The McKinsey Way (Hardcover)

Being a management consultant myself - I found the book to be relevant but not too detailed. For instance, there should be more examples of the first 3 principles : fact based, structure of problem solving and hypothesis driven. Albeit this, it is an easy-to-read book and it does outline the pains and gains of a consultant's life with particular spotlight on the McKinsey and Co, which is undoubtedly an impressive firm. It is a great book for the uninitiated who wants to catch a glimpse at McKinsey - but it may not be as useful to insight-searching-people who have been in the industry for some time (or managers in that sense).

49 of 54 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars The 80-20 Bit May Not Be New, But It's True, May 28, 2001

By 

Kanaschwiiz (Zurich, Switzerland) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The McKinsey Way (Hardcover)

I read this book this afternoon (big print, wide spacing).

The author describes the 80-20 pattern often found in work & life (a phenomenon already familiar to most by which 80% of your business comes from 20% of your clients, 80% of your time is spent on 20% of your to-do list, etc.)

The author demonstrates this chestnut with a book that is 20% useful and fresh and 80% no-brainer advice and shameless McKinsey advertising (we are CONSTANTLY reminded of how smart and ethical all those McKinsey consultants are; all consulting anecdotes have happy endings - unless the client screwed up; real quotes: "As any good McKinsey associate would, this young man applied himself tirelessly and diligently to his task", or "Hank knew his area of the bank inside and out and was probably as smart as any member of the McKinsey team"... high praise indeed.) McKinsey's approving editors have all the subtly of China's Xinhua propaganda agency. Trouble is: many of us know people at McKinsey...

Still, the 'waterfall' chart is among the 20% that make this book worth perusing (but not buying).

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Budget Deliverables at a McKinsey Price, July 3, 2000

By A Customer

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The McKinsey Way (Hardcover)

This effort was a great disappointment. I picked it up hoping to find a succinct, high-value description of the Firm's proprietary approach to share with colleagues; instead I found an overwrought, verbose set of cliches, factoids, and frameworks that, at best, only superfically discuss the McKinsey way. (How important is it to know that one McKinseyite considered it vitally important to carry Coca-Cola with him on every engagement?) Rasiel packs no more than three pages of the actual "McKinsey way" into 187 pages. Light on substance and heavy on trite, generic general advice, it is difficult to believe that someone who actually worked for the Firm could deliver such a dubious effort. (Perhaps this book gives insight into why the author lasted the minimum two years at McKinsey.) To be fair, the book does offer some insight into the way the Firm works (e.g., the Rule of Threes, engagement work planning, interviewing, etc.). If you are looking for a comprehensive, informed treatment in this area, I recommend "Client-Centered Consulting."