What do you think?
Rate this book
Марвін Бауер, засновник McKinsey & Company
"I had the privilege of working closely with Marvin and McKinsey for many years. This book makes Marvin come to life and perpetuates him as a role model."
-Peter F. Drucker
"A wonderful book about a wonderful man. In many ways, Marvin's McKinsey framed the hypotheses in our own search for excellence-for example, passion for values, belief in people as the prime resource, and willingness to let people experiment. As well as I thought I knew Marvin, however, this remarkable book, drawing on the collective memories of those who worked most closely with him, taught me a ton about how extraordinary the man really was and what made him that way. Many have called Drucker the man who invented management; I think history will conclude that both he and Marvin Bower share that pedestal."
-Bob Waterman, coauthor of In Search of Excellence
"Marvin Bower became a legend, not just within McKinsey & Company, but within professional services and the business world more broadly. In everything he did and said, he embodied the professional approach and the importance of values. This book sheds remarkable insight on a remarkable man and on the power of constancy of purpose."
-Ian Davis, Worldwide Managing Director, McKinsey & Co.
"It is as Marvin would have wanted it-simple, honest, fact-based, wonderful stories with a long-term perspective. An insightful read about the father of management consulting."
-Lois Juliber, retired COO, Colgate-Palmolive
"This book provides fascinating insight into the early days of modern management consulting. It is an extremely enlightening look at the origin of one of America's most important professions and one of America's most innovative leaders."
-Thomas H. Lee, founder, Chairman, and President, Thomas H. Lee Partners L.P.
-Peter F. Drucker
"A wonderful book about a wonderful man. In many ways, Marvin's McKinsey framed the hypotheses in our own search for excellence-for example, passion for values, belief in people as the prime resource, and willingness to let people experiment. As well as I thought I knew Marvin, however, this remarkable book, drawing on the collective memories of those who worked most closely with him, taught me a ton about how extraordinary the man really was and what made him that way. Many have called Drucker the man who invented management; I think history will conclude that both he and Marvin Bower share that pedestal."
-Bob Waterman, coauthor of In Search of Excellence
"Marvin Bower became a legend, not just within McKinsey & Company, but within professional services and the business world more broadly. In everything he did and said, he embodied the professional approach and the importance of values. This book sheds remarkable insight on a remarkable man and on the power of constancy of purpose."
-Ian Davis, Worldwide Managing Director, McKinsey & Co.
"It is as Marvin would have wanted it-simple, honest, fact-based, wonderful stories with a long-term perspective. An insightful read about the father of management consulting."
-Lois Juliber, retired COO, Colgate-Palmolive
"This book provides fascinating insight into the early days of modern management consulting. It is an extremely enlightening look at the origin of one of America's most important professions and one of America's most innovative leaders."
-Thomas H. Lee, founder, Chairman, and President, Thomas H. Lee Partners L.P.
Unknown Binding
First published January 1, 2004
53 people are currently reading
387 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
August 14, 2019
Це дійно дивовижна книга.
Вона розділена на дві частини: перша - біографія екстраординарної людину, яка допомогла сформувати сучасне бізнес-середовище., Друга розказує про його вплив на інших.
Багато чудових історій і надихаючих прикладів.
Я вважаю, що найсильнішою частиною керівництва Марвіна Бауера були його принципи та цінності, про які детально йде мова в першій частині книги. Треба визнати, що я очікував більше деталей щодо самої компанії McKinsey & Company, таких як методи вирішення проблем, внутрішнє навчання та набір наяскравіших талантів у світі.
Чому ви повинні прочитати цю книгу? По-перше, ви отримаєте розуміння того, що таке McKinsey & Co. По-друге, ви надихнетесь справжнім провидцем. Незважаючи, яким бізнесом ви займаєтесь, ви можете навчитися від Марвіна Бауера того, як мислити довгостроково, послідовно та успішно будувати та формувати нову галузь . Дуже непоганий замінник багатьом схемам «як швидко розбагатіти» в сьогоднішню епоху інтернету.
І, як завжди, кілька улюблених уривків:
1. Якщо ви не готові піти на жертви, щоб дотримуватися своїх принципів, то мати їх безглуздо.
2. Самих ідей недостатньо. Вони не живуть довго. Їм необхідно знайти застосування.
Вона розділена на дві частини: перша - біографія екстраординарної людину, яка допомогла сформувати сучасне бізнес-середовище., Друга розказує про його вплив на інших.
Багато чудових історій і надихаючих прикладів.
Я вважаю, що найсильнішою частиною керівництва Марвіна Бауера були його принципи та цінності, про які детально йде мова в першій частині книги. Треба визнати, що я очікував більше деталей щодо самої компанії McKinsey & Company, таких як методи вирішення проблем, внутрішнє навчання та набір наяскравіших талантів у світі.
Чому ви повинні прочитати цю книгу? По-перше, ви отримаєте розуміння того, що таке McKinsey & Co. По-друге, ви надихнетесь справжнім провидцем. Незважаючи, яким бізнесом ви займаєтесь, ви можете навчитися від Марвіна Бауера того, як мислити довгостроково, послідовно та успішно будувати та формувати нову галузь . Дуже непоганий замінник багатьом схемам «як швидко розбагатіти» в сьогоднішню епоху інтернету.
І, як завжди, кілька улюблених уривків:
1. Якщо ви не готові піти на жертви, щоб дотримуватися своїх принципів, то мати їх безглуздо.
2. Самих ідей недостатньо. Вони не живуть довго. Їм необхідно знайти застосування.
April 3, 2021
A great resource for anyone who wants to become a good leader.
October 23, 2015
The book traces the story of a man who went on to make McKinsey what it is today. Although a nice book overall, it sometimes make you feel that the qualities of Bower have been over hyped, and few of them are not even unique. Slightly repetitive in the middle, but overall a good story of McKinsey.
October 13, 2015
Just love it
April 7, 2018
I firstly picked the Korean version of this book up in order to learn how the McKinsey guys work, but the outcome was a little bit different from what I initially thought. (Direct translation of the Korean version title is "All of McKinsey", which gave me the wrong idea of what this book really is.)
The author focuses more on Marvin Bower himself, and the fundamental ideas and vision he wanted to build through McKinsey. This book also covers pretty much of the history of McKinsey and earlier part of the management consulting business (which was called 'management engineering' back then). Pretty interesting cases were introduced, how he built the organization as the more value centered and innovative one, and how the alumni of Marvin's leadership school propagated the same idea to each one's organization.
What I learned through this book:
1. His basic ideas for the business was that top managements doesn't have enough information that the whole members of the company has, and that accounts for majority of reasons why companies fall. That's what he learned working for Jones, Day, Reavis & Pogue, the law firm he started career. (And probably the reason why consulting companies provide services to bigger companies rather than SMEs) At the last part of the book, Gary MacDougal's experience shows how he practiced this idea greatly within Mark Controls, an electric company with multiple branches, and Illinois' human service TF, where he rigorously discussed and communicated with the branch members and welfare recipients. For leaders of the small companies or startups, it is a great learning point and something to be taken as an action immediately, since it's affordable to have communication with all the members of the entire organization.
2. Bower emphasized strictly the identification of McKinsey as a service company, not like the general companies prioritize the profit as its primary goal. It was the reason Bower insisted to leave McKinsey as an unlimited partnership company, before it changed to the limited liability company later. He never insisted his ownership when he could and preferred to divide limited ownership to partners. McKinsey's main focus was how they can improve and provide best quality of services to its clients.
3. Challenge he made by start hiring younger people in management consulting business. It sounds reasonable to understand that the people with the abundant industrial experience can deliver more practical and accurate advice to top management. They focused on top-scored students without experiences than applicants with mediocre experiences and grades. Hiring MBAs in 1953 was a challenging decision in context that McKinsey started to focus on the top management's interests. But eventually, they proved that utilizing the fresh and creative ideas from the people fresh out from college is a fundamental asset to improve the solutions for the problems.
Strongly recommend to people who are preparing business school, MBA, entrepreneurship, or any kind of consulting jobs, since his idea provides great model to all those people, for their next journey. This may be a good starter. You'll be able to open your eyes wider to the management consulting world.
The author focuses more on Marvin Bower himself, and the fundamental ideas and vision he wanted to build through McKinsey. This book also covers pretty much of the history of McKinsey and earlier part of the management consulting business (which was called 'management engineering' back then). Pretty interesting cases were introduced, how he built the organization as the more value centered and innovative one, and how the alumni of Marvin's leadership school propagated the same idea to each one's organization.
What I learned through this book:
1. His basic ideas for the business was that top managements doesn't have enough information that the whole members of the company has, and that accounts for majority of reasons why companies fall. That's what he learned working for Jones, Day, Reavis & Pogue, the law firm he started career. (And probably the reason why consulting companies provide services to bigger companies rather than SMEs) At the last part of the book, Gary MacDougal's experience shows how he practiced this idea greatly within Mark Controls, an electric company with multiple branches, and Illinois' human service TF, where he rigorously discussed and communicated with the branch members and welfare recipients. For leaders of the small companies or startups, it is a great learning point and something to be taken as an action immediately, since it's affordable to have communication with all the members of the entire organization.
2. Bower emphasized strictly the identification of McKinsey as a service company, not like the general companies prioritize the profit as its primary goal. It was the reason Bower insisted to leave McKinsey as an unlimited partnership company, before it changed to the limited liability company later. He never insisted his ownership when he could and preferred to divide limited ownership to partners. McKinsey's main focus was how they can improve and provide best quality of services to its clients.
3. Challenge he made by start hiring younger people in management consulting business. It sounds reasonable to understand that the people with the abundant industrial experience can deliver more practical and accurate advice to top management. They focused on top-scored students without experiences than applicants with mediocre experiences and grades. Hiring MBAs in 1953 was a challenging decision in context that McKinsey started to focus on the top management's interests. But eventually, they proved that utilizing the fresh and creative ideas from the people fresh out from college is a fundamental asset to improve the solutions for the problems.
Strongly recommend to people who are preparing business school, MBA, entrepreneurship, or any kind of consulting jobs, since his idea provides great model to all those people, for their next journey. This may be a good starter. You'll be able to open your eyes wider to the management consulting world.
October 18, 2021
True story: I learned the word hagiography because I read this book and googled what I thought of it and hagiography is the first thing that came up.
Hard hitting this isn't meant to be. It's a reasonable story that helps explain a bit about the early decisions that made McKinsey veer off to be what it is. The most striking, I think, was the open copying of the model that law firms use to attract, train, and promote new hires. It's not obvious to me that consulting necessarily had to develop that way. Rather its best, early firm, happened to do it that way because Bower came from Jones Day, a law firm.
I find those sort of contingencies to be among the most interesting part of reading a book about the history of anything.
Lords of Strategy is a better survey of the industry, though in some ways it is just a hagiography of someone else (Bruce Henderson at BCG).
Hard hitting this isn't meant to be. It's a reasonable story that helps explain a bit about the early decisions that made McKinsey veer off to be what it is. The most striking, I think, was the open copying of the model that law firms use to attract, train, and promote new hires. It's not obvious to me that consulting necessarily had to develop that way. Rather its best, early firm, happened to do it that way because Bower came from Jones Day, a law firm.
I find those sort of contingencies to be among the most interesting part of reading a book about the history of anything.
Lords of Strategy is a better survey of the industry, though in some ways it is just a hagiography of someone else (Bruce Henderson at BCG).
January 31, 2025
Marvin Bower deeply shaped the profession of management consulting, where I spent the first decade of my career.
This book is part biography, part firm history, and part company philosophy. I was most interested in the company philosophy, and the reason for my three star rating is that I don't feel it was expressed as clearly as it could have been. There's quite a bit that could be summarized into a page of key insights, but it wasn't nearly summarized.
This book is part biography, part firm history, and part company philosophy. I was most interested in the company philosophy, and the reason for my three star rating is that I don't feel it was expressed as clearly as it could have been. There's quite a bit that could be summarized into a page of key insights, but it wasn't nearly summarized.
November 8, 2018
This book provides about the fundamental knowledge about consulting industry, the vision, values and hope from the man who started Mckinsey long time ago. It is so interesting to know the reason why this industry got popular and certain respected in business world, and how other people yearn for the workforce armed with solid consulting skillset.
April 4, 2025
Нудний панегірик Бауеру, написаний невдовзі після його смерті. Нашвидкоруч скомпонована книга з листів, промов Бауера та інтерв'ю з деякими його колегами та партнерами.
Це--не біографія та не історія успіху, а набір епізодів, описаних кимось із учасників (90% імен цих людей нічого не скажуть українському читачу).
Особисто мене спокусила згадка McKinsey в назві :-)
Це--не біографія та не історія успіху, а набір епізодів, описаних кимось із учасників (90% імен цих людей нічого не скажуть українському читачу).
Особисто мене спокусила згадка McKinsey в назві :-)
May 30, 2019
Talks about Marvin’s great leadership influence on McKinsey alumni. Quite an interesting read and shows a different angle about the firm.
August 13, 2020
It’s a good book about a great man.
February 10, 2023
don't like the style of exaggerating,especially on biography, skip the major part.
March 4, 2016
Finally read this book, one of the very few left over from the co library. Found it when a mgmt sitting nearby retired like 9 yrs ago, and we helped to clear his room.
A successful book for the author, considering her aim. To be authentic, and with comments from ppl influenced by Marvin.
However, for readers, it may be a bit confusing. Started with being a biography, turn out it’s more about a guide for leadership. Or a mix of both.
First few chapters are about how he insists on his thoughts, and some management lessons arguably only suitable for the founder or CEO of co. Ch. 5-6 are more readable and applicable comparatively, for the general readers. Ch.7 seems to be nth more than a “personal adoring piece”. The speech included in the appendix is a bit disappointing too, considering the influential power of his speeches often being highlighted throughout the book. The quotes at the start of each chapter are masterpiece.
Generally speaking, believe it’s a very good management book for leaders, but wonder if the general public needs to read so many of the other materials adhered.
A successful book for the author, considering her aim. To be authentic, and with comments from ppl influenced by Marvin.
However, for readers, it may be a bit confusing. Started with being a biography, turn out it’s more about a guide for leadership. Or a mix of both.
First few chapters are about how he insists on his thoughts, and some management lessons arguably only suitable for the founder or CEO of co. Ch. 5-6 are more readable and applicable comparatively, for the general readers. Ch.7 seems to be nth more than a “personal adoring piece”. The speech included in the appendix is a bit disappointing too, considering the influential power of his speeches often being highlighted throughout the book. The quotes at the start of each chapter are masterpiece.
Generally speaking, believe it’s a very good management book for leaders, but wonder if the general public needs to read so many of the other materials adhered.
July 29, 2016
Incredible read, a must-read for aspiring management consultants. The book and Marvin Bower's principles speak volumes about management consulting as a profession, as well as the principles and roots of being a consultant.
This book has taught me much which is applicable in consulting as well as leadership everywhere else.
This book has taught me much which is applicable in consulting as well as leadership everywhere else.
November 11, 2016
Great book to understand how McKinsey established it's value and culture.
July 22, 2012
A well written biography of an interesting man.
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews