Our objective was, as always, to bill them at a maximum rate, so we tried to figure out ways to stay around as long as possible, rather than helping the clients get on their feet. And then in the manner typical of many consulting projects, it became less functional, maybe a little dysfunctional.

In the first few months, we probably did some good. We worked very hard to look at problems as objectively as we could. Companies should be developing their own people.Īs an example of this, Stewart shared his own story of helping a bank in Mexico with risk management: That's ultimately very problematic and not helpful in the long term. The core of the consulting business is going in and essentially making yourself indispensible by eating the brain of the organization, meaning that the consultants go in and assume key functions in the organization. While Stewart still believes that bringing in outsiders to check on performance is a good idea, at least in theory, he says that consulting is often highly dysfunctional: Much of The Management Myth recounts, in often hilarious and cringe-worthy detail, his consulting experiences.

Stewart spent 10 years in the consulting industry, and unlike many of his MBA credentialed co-workers, had a doctorate in philosophy from Oxford University. This week, we'll turn our attention to an area of business where many MBA graduates end up, consulting. While management consulting – like most fields – has both genuine experts and brazen charlatans, anyone considering hiring a consultant, becoming one or implementing the latest, greatest business idea should read this first.Last week, I talked to The Management Mythauthor Matthew Stewart about the aspects of MBA education he finds both useful and troubling. Stewart emphasizes the negative over the positive, and has a lot of fun weaving in his own hilarious and sometimes tragic years as a strategy consultant. From Frederick Winslow Taylor’s stopwatches and measuring tapes to Tom Peters’s “eight fundamental principles” for excellence, Stewart exposes the flawed research and outright deceptive traits of popular management gurus and consulting firms. Former consultant Matthew Stewart takes a different view: He demolishes the notion of management as science. In many, the authors – often, “business gurus” or consultants – sell their advice with a level of certainty approaching fact. GetAbstract Summary: Get the key points from this book in 10 minutes.Įach year, a thousand or so new business books join the tens of thousands already published.

The Management Myth by Matthew Stewart