The McKinsey Way

Ethan M. Rasiel

Feb 1999 · McGraw Hill Professional

About this ebook

"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.

Ratings and reviews

I just joined a consulting firm after three years working in capital markets. I think this book gave me an ideal intro of what to expect from this career change. Kudos!

An enjoyable way to develop a good overall understanding of the topics covered. There's something in it for everyone, a lesson that is likely to pay off the return on investment in this book*. *I have no vested interests.

Please fix.

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.