THE FIRM

What Hacker News says

1. mindcrimeApr 2014
   BTW, two fun books for consultants, and would-be consultants, to read are House of Lies[1] and The Firm[2].

   Both are more about "management consulting" (aka, McKinsey, Deloitte, etc.) than what most of us probably have in mind, but they are both entertaining reads in their own respective right.

   House of Lies is a sort of retrospective "tell all" from a former management consultant, and inspired a TV program of the same name. At times it's hard to tell how serious he is, and the TV show is clearly not meant to be a completely accurate documentary (although it may be more truthful than you'd think) but it's a fun read.

   The Firm is basically the history of McKinsey, and while that might sound pretty dry and boring, it turns out to be fairly fascinating. Lots of interesting characters involved, and some fun drama and what-not. And it's interesting to see how McKinsey grew from basically nothing, to being the behemoth it is today.

   [1]: http://www.amazon.com/House-Lies-Management-Consultants-Stea...

   [2]: http://www.amazon.com/Firm-McKinsey-Influence-American-Busin...

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2. hhsFeb 2019
   Hi domod, this is a good reference to bring up. It's a book used by many consulting folks. Some love the pyramid principle while others are put off by it.

   Please note that there has been criticism raised in recent years about the pyramid principle. Some argue that it turns people's writing in "McKinsey" style, which could be even more confusing to the audience. For instance, Duff McDonald writes in his book, "The Firm", the details on Barbara Minto's text, "The Pyramid Principle". He offers a useful critique of writing things in that style.

   Minto's book is useful to read, but just be aware of the criticism raised. This will help when you're thinking about your audience and hoping to explain things to them.

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3. sah2edMay 2018
   The article provides a great illustration of how some large businesses derive value from hiring management consultants: to give legitimacy to an unpopular decision.

   In some cases, of course, management consultants are hired to give cover to unpopular decisions or even to send a message to one’s workforce. In The Firm, Duff McDonald argues McKinsey in particular “might be the single greatest legitimizer of mass layoffs in history.”

   “If you were a CEO and felt you needed to cut 10% of costs but didn’t feel you were getting buy-in from your employees,” he wrote, “the hiring of McKinsey generally got the point across quite clearly.”

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