As we near the end of the Libro 52 Challenge, this book scored the highest among the 2013 offering: 9.50
Buy this book with your gift cards….
No – this isn’t the John Grisham thriller that was made into a movie with Gene Hackman and the pre-couch-jumping Tom Cruise.
This is a page-turner too, but this is better.
The Firm: The Story of McKinsey and Its Secret Influence on American Business is a full-blown history of McKinsey & Co., the premier business consultant on Earth – and maybe “the most influential private organization in America,” according to McDonald.
That’s tough to argue with as McKinsey advises nearly 70% of the Fortune 1000.
(Yeah. 70%.)
Reading about the development of the McKinsey culture was fascinating – starting with the vision to solely work with Executives at the highest level within Client companies. Business gurus helping CEO’s maintain their jobs and reputations…
And why wouldn’t a CEO select McKinsey if he’s in the market for a consultant? McKinsey alums include Lou Gerstner of IBM, James McNerney of Boeing, Tom Peters and Chelsea Clinton.
In fact, McKinsey has produced more CEO’s than any other company in history. But for all its success, McKinsey has some fantastic flameouts.
Jeffrey Skilling, former CEO of Enron, was a McKinsey genius. The Firm was paid millions annually as a permanent fixture inside Enron, yet they slipped out the backdoor unscathed as Arthur Anderson was decimated when the Enron house of cards came tumbling down.
McKinsey & Co. was hired by Dwight Eisenhower to help him reorganize the White House.
And yet… McKinsey’s former #1, Rajat Gupta, was nailed for insider trading as he was passing along Goldman Sachs secrets during the economic train wreck of 2008.
The most resonant story characterizes the familiar knock against consultants: If you can’t do, then consult.
An early McKinsey Client, Marshall Field & Co., thought so much of founder James O. McKinsey’s advice (including the prescription for massive layoffs) they asked him to formally head the company and implement them.
James O. McKinsey left his namesake firm.
He would not only advise, he would do.
It did not go well.
McKinsey himself acknowledged the considerable chasm between advising others on what they should do… and actually doing it himself.
Bottom Line: Fantastic read. If you want to learn how to develop the Perception of Value, this is as good a place to start as any. McDonald succeeds in making the history of McKinsey read like a Grisham thriller. Buy this now.
Bradley Hartmann is El Presidente at Red Angle (www.redanglespanish.com). His Libro 52 writing has fallen off recently, not his reading. He’ll share his thoughts on his final books in the next 3 days….
1. Kennedy/Nixon by Chris Matthews
NA. Buy-In by John Kotter and Lorne Whitehead
4. Education of an Accidental CEO by David Novak
5. Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller
6. Blood, Brains and Beer by David Ogilvy
7. Lyndon Johnson :: Master of the Senate by Robert Caro
9. To Sell Is Human by Dan Pink
NA. Profiles In Courage by JFK*
10. Write It When I’m Gone by Tom DeFrank
12. The Cluetrain Manifesto by Locke, Searls, Weinberger + Levine
13. One Click by Richard Brandt
14. Persuasive Presentations by Nancy Duarte
NA. James K. Polk by Walter Borneman
15. The Greatest Generation by Tom Brokaw
16. The Illustrious Dead by Stephan Talty
17. The Thank You Economy by Gary Vaynerchuk
18. Adventures of Johnny Bunko by Dan Pink
19. Thunderstruck by Erik Larson
20. In Cold Blood by Truman Capote
21. Ctrl Alt Delete by Mitch Joel
22. Down & Dirty Pictures by Peter Biskind
24. Tales from Q School by John Feinstein
25. The Business of Belief by Tom Asacker
26. 18 Minutes by Peter Bregman
29. Contagious by Jonah Berger
31. Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman
32. A Very Short Tour of the Mind by Michael Corballis
33. The No Asshole Rule by Robert Sutton
34. Choose Yourself by James Altucher
35. The Halo Effect by Phil Rosenzweig
36. Inside The Box by Drew Boyd and Jacob Goldenberg
37. The Power of Less by Leo Babauta
39. Big Data by Viktor Mayer-Schonberger and Kenneth Cukier
40. The Authentic Swing by Steven Pressfield
41. Trust Me, I’m Lying by Ryan Holiday
42. Black Irish by Stephan Talty
43. The Firm by Duff McDonald
Categories: Libro 52 Challenge
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