In this episode, McKinsey & Co. CEO, Sheel Mohnot, joins me to talk about what it means to work at McKinsey, why they should be fired, and why you should care about the American worker.
00:00:04.000It serves 80 of the Fortune 100 companies.
00:00:07.000The McKinsey & Company's client list is full of bad actors, domestic, authoritarian, foreign regimes, communist state-owned enterprises.
00:00:15.000But given the firm you represent has played a not-so-insignificant role in things like the opioid crisis... They operate at the expense of someone you know.
00:00:24.000What would your advice be to the 2,000 workers that are supposed to be terminated?
00:00:30.000Some of the cost-cutting initiatives even quite literally led to death.
00:00:33.000As it entered a tunnel, the train derailed.
00:00:36.000And they must be exposed at every opportunity.
00:00:38.000$10 billion in annual profit, control over 80 of the Fortune 100 companies, and unparalleled influence over the world's most powerful governments.
00:00:53.000If I ask you to name the most powerful companies in the world, some names would probably spring to mind.
00:00:58.000Pfizer, BlackRock, Berkshire Hathaway, even the Umbrella Corporation.
00:01:51.000The fact that most of us have to ask that question means that we are behind the eight ball in a big way in understanding the incredibly destructive impact that McKinsey & Company, remember that name McKinsey & Company, has inflicted upon the American people.
00:02:09.000So, to grasp this, let's start with the front, okay?
00:02:54.000Now to a meeting room for a meeting to close the day out.
00:02:58.000Now these videos are meant to romanticize the consulting, I'll keep doing this, consulting industry and attract applicants from the nation's top business schools.
00:03:07.000They want you to think that their consulting world is a lot like this.
00:03:12.000When in reality, the consulting world is more like this.
00:03:49.000Really, at the end of the day, consulting firms are at best professionally useless, and at worst, and most likely, actively destroying America, or the country you live in.
00:04:00.000According to a former management consultant who spoke exclusively with our team here, the way it works is upper management will have a pet project they're afraid to back, so they hire a consulting firm to push said pet project.
00:04:11.000Consulting firms are then hired to give the client what they want at the end of the day.
00:04:15.00090% of what consultants provide is information the business already knows.
00:04:19.000Consultants spend 50% of their time justifying their existence to clients, which means they aren't really doing anything 50% of the time.
00:04:33.000So I would ask you, do these professional broads strike you as useless?
00:04:36.000So our workforce is only becoming more diverse.
00:04:39.000Inclusion is only going to matter more.
00:04:42.000And so we really need our people, leaders, to lean into this.
00:04:47.000It feels like hard work sometimes, and moving cultures is hard work.
00:04:53.000A lot of times though, moving sort of, what I think of as like micro-cultures, right?
00:04:57.000The culture on your team, the culture on a project.
00:05:01.000That can move a lot faster than people often think or than people sort of give it credit for.
00:05:06.000So showing up with a different set of behaviors and encouraging it in others can pretty quickly move the needle for any individual's experience.
00:06:36.000McKinsey, Advise consulted Purdue on how to increase the sales of the OxyContin pill right in the middle of that epidemic.
00:06:44.000It was McKinsey who advised the company how to sell high-dose pills even after Purdue.
00:06:50.000Pleaded guilty to misleading regulators and doctors.
00:06:54.000Now between 1999 and 2021, deaths involving opioid prescriptions, and this is important because I understand that the opioid epidemic, a lot of it, most of it has to do with street drugs.
00:07:05.000But opioid prescription deaths, rose from less than $5,000 a year to more than $16,000 per year.
00:07:14.000Which is why in 2021, McKinsey settled to pay nearly $600 million for their role in the epidemic.
00:07:57.000And the part that really grinds my gears, or would, if I was an early 19th century version of what we imagined a robot to be, is that McKinsey advises authoritarian foreign regimes and communist state-owned enterprises.
00:08:13.000An example, in 2016, McKinsey helped the Saudi government intimidate, arrest, and jail dissidents.
00:08:22.000McKinsey had prepared a nine-page report measuring the public perception of certain Saudi economic policies and cited three individuals who were driving much of the largely negative coverage on Twitter.
00:08:31.000A Saudi Arabia-based writer named Khalid al-Alqami, a dissident living in Canada, named Omar Abdulaziz, and an anonymous writer.
00:08:41.000After the report was created, Al-Elkami, say that three times fast, was arrested and Abdulaziz's brothers living in Saudi Arabia were put in prison.
00:08:49.000The anonymous Twitter channel was shut down.
00:08:52.000Abdulaziz also says that his brothers, friends, associates in Saudi Arabia have been arrested and tortured, including electrocution, waterboarding, and his younger brother may have even had his teeth pulled out.
00:09:05.000Now if that doesn't do it, McKinsey has also worked with Chinese state-owned companies.
00:09:09.000Now when I say that, what I mean to say is the Communist Chinese Party.
00:09:13.000They were working for a company called China Communications Construction Company.
00:09:17.000And this is the company that did a lot of work building the islands in the South China Sea, these artificial islands that China is militarizing and is making the South China Sea into basically what could become a Chinese lake.
00:09:32.000This is, you know, very much a problem for U.S.
00:09:44.000McKinsey's consulting contracts with the federal government give it an insider's view of U.S.
00:09:49.000military planning, intelligence, and high-tech weapons programs.
00:09:52.000But the firm also advises Chinese state-run enterprises that have supported Beijing's naval buildup in the Pacific and played a key role in China's efforts to extend its influence around the world, according to an NBC News investigation.
00:10:05.000Some official Chinese representatives weighed in on the report.
00:11:03.000Now, to be clear, I'm pro-business, okay?
00:11:05.000There's nothing wrong with doing good business or making a profit.
00:11:09.000The difference is that starting in the 1970s, McKinsey & Company focused exclusively on shareholder profits with conflicts of interest, advised companies to hyper-concentrate management functions among elite executives.
00:11:28.000And production workers were also stripped of basic managerial functions.
00:11:32.000Downsizing happens, but this wasn't the result of market forces, business conditions, or even necessity, but a new managerial worldview from the top down.
00:11:44.000McKinsey partner John Newman wrote about the new business strategy in his memoir, saying, The process, though swift, is not painless.
00:11:53.000Since overhead expenses are typically 70 to 85 percent people-related, and most savings come from workforce reductions, cutting overhead does demand some wrenching decisions.
00:12:05.000Now, when IBM took their consulting into account and decided to remove lifetime employment, the officials there asked gun store owners near the headquarters to close their shops while, quote, employees absorbed the shock.
00:12:18.000So a lot of jobs gone forever that never come back, right?
00:12:22.000And that hurts upward mobility, class mobility, pay discrepancy.
00:13:34.000Over nearly a century of work, McKinsey, they argue, has been instrumental in shaping parts of American society, from offshoring to securitized debt to CEO compensation.
00:13:45.000One issue that is really troubling in this country, I think everyone would agree, is inequality.
00:13:52.000And McKinsey has contributed mightily to that.
00:13:55.000Going back, for instance, to 1950, when one of their consultants decided to look at how much executives were making versus how much the workers were making.
00:14:04.000And he concluded that, well, the workers are catching up, so maybe the corporations ought to figure out ways to pay the leaders more.
00:14:13.000Every year they built on that, more and more and more.
00:14:16.000And executives, the gap between what the leaders were making of corporations and the workers kept growing and growing and growing over the years.
00:14:24.000Some of the cost-cutting initiatives that have come from McKinsey & Company have even quite literally led to deaths.
00:14:32.000In 1997, McKinsey advised Disneyland California to undertake a series of revisions in its maintenance department, including Cut the budget by a quarter.
00:14:42.000Cut the number of supervisors by half.
00:14:44.000Cut the number of managers by a quarter.
00:14:46.000Move the majority of maintenance to the graveyard shift.
00:14:50.000You can still be pro-free enterprise and understand needing to streamline a business while recognizing the devastating effect on the American middle class that has been inflicted by companies who are setting out nebulous arbitrary rules.
00:15:08.000Cut the number of supervisors by half.
00:15:10.000Even though they don't understand the business model and may never have set foot on the grounds of said business, but are collecting money from all different directions, none of whom share the same values.
00:16:07.000Here's another example, September 2003.
00:16:09.000Disneyland's big Thunder Mountain malfunctioned, injuring ten people and, unfortunately, killing one.
00:16:17.000When a ride mechanic failed to tighten two bolts on the wheel of a popular ride at Disneyland, and a manager failed to check the work was done before signing it off, it would set off a chain of events that would lead to disaster, with multiple injuries and one rider even losing his life.
00:16:33.000Now OSHA blamed poor safety protocols and poor training for the ride's malfunction.
00:16:39.000The same protocols Which were a direct result of McKenzie's consultations, this company who probably has no business running a theme park.
00:16:47.000There's a former mechanic at the park.
00:16:48.000He described an interaction that he saw between one of their supervisors and a McKenzie representative.
00:16:57.000When the consultant asked why the mechanics bothered checking the lap bars on Big Thunder Daily when records showed that they had never failed, the supervisor reacted with disbelief.
00:17:06.000The reason they don't fail, he said, is because we check them every night.
00:17:11.000Let's contrast the McKinsey & Company representative versus a business owner.
00:17:15.000The business owner might ask his employee, if it is his own business, hey, why don't we do it this way?
00:17:47.000And the biggest issue with firms like McKinsey is the elites in their ranks, they're so far removed from the consequences of their consulting that they don't really have sympathy for real-world outcomes.
00:18:13.000By the way, quick note, McKinsey & Company obviously has their claws, probably, right here if you're watching on YouTube, I'd recommend going to Rumble, but leave a comment or share this, hit like, it helps with the algorithm.
00:18:24.000Okay, uphill battle no matter where you go.
00:18:26.000Now that we're all caught up on what a piece of s*** company, I use that word loosely, McKinsey, is, let's rewind a little, a little bit.
00:18:36.000So our workforce is only becoming more diverse.
00:18:40.000Inclusion is only going to matter more.
00:18:42.000And so we really need our people leaders to lean into this.
00:18:45.000Now these two handsome individuals are Diana Ellsworth and Monet, spelled with two N's, Williams.
00:18:53.000Both self-proclaimed members of the LGBTQ plus rated community.
00:19:11.000Directs initiatives focused on establishing inclusive, productive workplace cultures that support greater collaboration and innovation from a diverse workforce.
00:19:23.000Remember earlier with that quote I said seemed benign?
00:19:26.000Who determines what's considered a positive impact?
00:20:09.000Equality means equality of opportunity.
00:20:12.000Equity means ensuring outcomes based on race, based on sex, based on gender, friction, whatever we're considering today.
00:20:21.000But she does sound, granted, like a lot of fun at parties.
00:20:24.000Now her colleague, Monet, spelled with two Ns, and I'm getting very near the end of this now, is no less progressive.
00:20:31.000She is also at the Atlanta office, where she is, quote, helping clients drive mindset and behavior change and build capabilities at scale.
00:20:41.000Among her highlights, Monet, spelled with two N's, hosted a webinar for the company called Equity, there's that word again, and a Path Forward for Black Employees.
00:20:53.000Interesting point of topic, given the fact that the average McKinsey and company partner, like Monet, spelled with two N's, earns on average $560,000.
00:21:02.000Also, a path forward for black employees, call me traditional or racist here, should be the same As for any employee, show up on time, do your job well, make the company better, and help your teammates slash fellow employees.
00:21:18.000I don't know why melanin should be the determining factor, but McKinsey & Company does believe that's the case, and they want to ensure that every company follows lockstep because, hey, that's a positive change.
00:21:29.000Isn't that Monet spelled with two N's?
00:21:32.000So when it comes to advancing the rights of the world's Most downtrodden, which changes on any given day.
00:21:45.000But how would they handle, you know, actual questions?
00:21:48.000Kind of like a consultant handling an actual ride at an amusement park.
00:21:54.000Start with the McKinsey spokeswomen are both notably openly lesbian and that is an accomplishment for which they should be proud and no one can ever take it away from you.
00:22:04.000Let's see how they do when asked about doing business with countries that kill lesbians!
00:22:11.000How much overlap do you have with McKinsey's ethics or values, given that it partners with, like, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, it's highly illegal to be a member of the LGBTQ community there, and if you chose to engage in supporting that community, would you face backlash with your company?
00:22:36.000So I think it's a fair question, and I think a lot of us have to figure out the degree to which we feel like we fully align with the place that we work.
00:22:44.000I think, you know, for me, I believe our firm is really committed to a lot of things that I am also really committed to.
00:22:51.000I think on the, you know, you conveniently or coincidentally have two members of the LGBTQ plus community as your speakers today.
00:22:58.000I'll say very candidly, when I actually joined our Atlanta office, There was nobody out in the office.
00:23:05.000There were no out consultants in our office at the time.
00:23:07.000There were actually no out consultants at the time in what we called our Southern Office.
00:23:11.000So it was Atlanta, Charlotte, Houston, Dallas, and Miami.
00:23:14.000And it almost was the reason I didn't join the firm.
00:23:18.000Because it seemed kind of concerning to me.
00:23:49.000We have set up a system where we have different levels of membership and different sort of degrees of outness.
00:23:53.000But it is a it's a global community that's sort of consistently growing.
00:23:57.000We have a number of offices that I've been at the firm 14 years now.
00:24:01.000We're in a dramatically different place today than they were when I joined, in terms of the number of out colleagues and how folks engage.
00:24:11.000But the firm is supportive of the community, full stop, in all of our global locations and all of our offices, regardless of the broader political context in which those offices exist.
00:24:29.000She admitted that she has been with the company for 14 years.
00:24:32.000Saudi Arabia imprisoned people on McKinsey and Company's advice only five years ago.
00:24:37.000If 14 years ago, her and her friends laid foot in Saudi Arabia, it would be raining butch men for a week.
00:24:43.000Now, let's see how these geniuses handle, but Lesbians for which they should be certainly proud and no one can take that away from them.
00:24:52.000See how they handle addressing the sins that their company has committed in the name of turning around a quick profit.
00:24:59.000I think a lot of the things you said today sound great, and I think we can all agree that eliminating burnout is probably good for most workers.
00:25:05.000But not to be too hyper-critical, but given the firm you represent has played a not-so-insignificant role in things like the opioid crisis, addiction for teens with vaping and tobacco, as well as the hollowing out of America's middle class, and work with totalitarian regimes in China, Saudi Arabia, places like that.
00:25:24.000Why should we actually believe that two representatives from McKinsey care about the well-being of the American worker?
00:25:35.000I think you'll have to decide for yourself whether or not you want to take what we've shared today as helpful or not.
00:25:56.000I know there's been a lot of press recently.
00:25:58.000I think we're not in a position to be sort of the experts to comment on everything that's there.
00:26:06.000Our firm has created an incredible number of jobs through the work that we do.
00:26:10.000We actually do more growth-oriented work than we do the opposite.
00:26:17.000And so, on the whole, I firmly believe that we're in a better place because of the work that we do.
00:26:25.000We called it a bulls**t. Well, it may be comforting to know that they care just as little about their own employees as they do about you.
00:26:37.000Talking about burnout and maintaining a healthy life-work balance, what would your advice be to the 2,000 workers that are supposed to be terminated by your company as a part of Project Magnolia?
00:26:51.000What would you give to them as advice?
00:28:07.000I just, it's hard to hear them preach these things and come and talk down to people when they don't care, like their company.
00:28:16.000But those people aren't really hurt, are they?
00:28:18.000Yeah, you asked the question in a respectful way. People need to hear.
00:28:20.000I'm not trying to be a provocateur. I'm just trying to get a real answer.
00:28:24.000Because they never give a real answer.
00:28:25.000No, you're not. And I don't think people understand the scope of what McKinsey has
00:28:28.000done to people over the past decades. So anyway, thanks for saying it.
00:28:33.000But those people aren't really hurt, are they?
00:28:38.000Those people aren't interesting to McKinsey and company.
00:28:40.000As a matter of fact, the respondents, by the way, who are lesbian and should be proud, and that can never be taken away from them, their approach to handling even the most basic questions is kind of the perfect encapsulation of not only the consultant class, but specifically the elites at McKinsey & Company.
00:28:58.000They're unbelievably well-versed at screaming platitudes, virtue signaling, but they have no interest in benefiting anyone, anything, but their checkbooks.
00:29:10.000And to be clear, there's nothing wrong with shareholders.
00:29:13.000Equities have made probably more millionaires than any other device in the history of mankind.
00:29:18.000The problem is when you create a company that isn't really a company, but exists solely to perform for shareholders at the expense of the consumer, as well as the company that is designed to serve the consumer.
00:29:33.000If a CEO who wasn't there for the founding of a company answers to McKinsey & Company to find themselves getting a big fat bonus while their employees are being laid off, that is not free enterprise.
00:29:44.000If McKinsey & Company decides that it's more profitable for their shareholders, for them to play ball with communist China, than to serve the United States citizenry, that is not free enterprise.
00:29:53.000This is not about being anti-business.
00:29:59.000This is about saving American ingenuity, and not just the American worker.
00:30:03.000The American business owner from the hawks, like McKinsey & Company, who very often create no products themselves, create no businesses themselves, they come in to destroy a body and pick at the carcass for a select few, while the rest of you, the American public largely, but obviously citizens of other countries, I'm sure that the Citizens under the rule of Communist China or the gays in Saudi Arabia aren't big fans of it either.