Going after the Original Entitled Wizards of Wonder: Blue Chip Consultants
February 14, 2023
I read “The McKinseys and the Deloittes Have No Expertise in the Areas That They’re Advising In.” I think the wildly “that they’re advising in” would make some old-school editors uncomfortable. But grammar and usage aside, the Financial Times, the odd orange newspaper, has identified what might be called “The Once Emperor-Like Are Naked So Let’s Put Them on TikTok.” Well, not TikTok, but the blue chip consultants are in the spot light for a short time.
I noted this passage in an “interview” with the author of the book The Big Con, by Mariana Mazzucato and Rosie Collington:
The Big Con of the book’s title is not a crime; it’s a confidence trick. Consultancies and outsourcers, Mazzucato argues, know less than they claim, cost more than they seem to, and — over the long term — prevent the public sector developing in-house capabilities.
The article presents as “real” financial news something that most former employees of blue chip firms know: Get smart about nanotechnology. We have a client meeting at 9 am.” The sentence is emitted from a sleek partner at 6:15 pm on a Wednesday evening. Yep, that’s why professionals at blue chip consulting firms get paid reasonable money: Get smart fast, spout sentences which seem to be spontaneously helpful, and nod at the right places. The goal: Close a job and start billing and scope change and bill some more.
I liked this statement in the article:
“These are private companies, the McKinseys and the Deloittes, that have no expertise in the areas that they’re advising in.”
Accurate? Yep. Will blue chip consulting firms change? Nope. Will those who hire blue chip consulting firms change their ways? No.
But why?
We can answer the question next week by getting our consulting firm to lead a discussion with the government staff involved in determining next steps. Those next steps require defining a project, a statement of work, a procurement or an add on to an existing contract, and billing.
In short, a validation of the superior intellect of the blue chip firms and their wizards of wonder.
Stephen E Arnold, February 14, 2023
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