Have McKinsey and its consulting rivals got too big?

Current McKinsey here. I don’t think anyone expects the current difficulties to last indefinitely. Its fairly well established that consulting struggles during times of economic uncertainty (but does fine when things are outright bad or good).

> Its fairly well established that consulting struggles during times of economic uncertainty

Only the bullshit kind of consulting McKinsey is known for, IMO. The value of someone coming in and repeating what the smart folks on the team are saying is no longer there. Plenty of boutique consulting shops are eating just fine right now. Delivering real results/solutions and being a SME is always in demand.

I don’t do that kind of thing but for what it’s worth The value of coming in and listening to what smart people are saying and then telling the C Suite to actually do it is hugely valuable when the organization is otherwise paralyzed by bureaucracy.