Archives: February 2021

McKinsey Final Thoughts

The Financial Times asked me to write about the $600 million settlement that McKinsey accepted as recompense for its disgraceful role, via Purdue Pharma, in potentially abetting the opioid crisis.

McKinsey’s work on opioid sales represents a new low:
My former consultancy demonstrates what is wrong with business school graduates

This month McKinsey agreed to pay nearly $600m to settle claims that its advice had exacerbated the deadly US opioid crisis.

Read the full article at Financial Times

One bit from my submitted draft, which I unequivocally approved, did not make the final cut. I suggested that I fervently believe that heads in a not small number should or should have rolled. I am a U.S. Navy (and Royal Navy) veteran, and believe the Captain and those in the direct chain of command should go down with the ship. I observed that in a case close at hand during my service in Vietnam in 1966-67.

I can present no hard evidence, but from a couple of conversations with people who are well informed, it is my understanding that headrolling has been minimal. Certainly the Managing Director should have been fired, one hopes with no accompanying benefits. Though I do not know modern McKinsey, the Office Manager and all those between him or her and the coal face should have been shown the door as well.

I am not a vindictive person, but this situation is so appalling that, I believe, the punishment should match the crime.

What is more worrying from my conversations is that the centerpiece of the internal response has apparently been to revise processes.

Sure, but …

The issue is not a “process issue.” It is a culture and values and morals issue that runs to the core of the way McKinsey does business. It will in no way be solved with process change and a lecture or two. It requires deep reflection about “who we are and what we believe”—as human beings far more than “professionals.”. (In my angrier moments, of which there are many, I almost think McKinsey should consider shutting its doors and closing down.)

Such are my more pointed concerns largely not addressed in the original, far more analytic, article.

Respectfully,
Tom Peters

February Media Sightings

Check out these articles to keep up-to-date on all things Tom.

The Financial Times released Tom’s op-ed on the McKinsey-Purdue Pharma affair today, February 15th. For Tom’s thoughts on his former employers’ role in Purdue Pharma rebates read his opinion piece now, Tom Peters: McKinsey’s work on opioid sales represents a new low.

Fast Company’s February 3rd article, A Personal Branding Expert Shares What it Takes to Build a Successful Reputation by Wendy Marx, remind us of Tom’s five keys to help sharpen your image:

  • Prioritize Continued Education
  • Seek Out Diverse Reading Material
  • Strive for Exceptional Performance
  • Network Broadly
  • Take on a Humanist Approach

In this Loop North article by Howard Tullman, How To Walk Around The Office – Even If There Isn’t One, Tullman reminds us that Tom’s idea of Managing by Walking Around (MBWA) is just as important when your employees are working from home.