Are You as Intelligent as These McKinsey Consultants?

Today we’re going to talk about how you become as intelligent as one of those amazing McKinsey, BCG, Bain people. I get the question a lot, “Are these people really that intelligent?” The underlying question, of course, is, “Am I intelligent enough?”

Here’s the shocking truth about this.

They’re not that intelligent, but they have learned how to be intelligent. What? What I’m saying is that they’re not very different from you, but they have learned a few things in life about how to tackle things. One of the key things about intelligence has to do with how people solve complex problems. How do they do this? What is the key to solving complex problems? The key is that you break them down into easier problems. That’s it, and that’s most of the McKinsey magic. You break things down until they’re manageable. In the same way, these consultants appear and they’re so confident and so crisp and to the point, and they’re analytical and they seem to know what to do. They make impressive presentations, but there’s very little in this that can’t be learned.

The whole assumption behind intelligence is that these people are super smart. Well, they’re not really, and it’s the wrong place to start. They have learned a few things. They’ve learned a few concepts, and it is true that I’m a great consultant when I serve people. But what do I do? Do I have amazing brain power? No, I have a toolkit that McKinsey taught me, and much of the McKinsey magic is a few basic concepts. It’s essentially breaking things down — called structuring a problem. It is a hypothesis-driven approach. We first think about what the answer should be, and then we verify or falsify it. In doing this, we’re really quick and insightful in our analysis because with this laser focus, we can dig out the right numbers.

We communicate in a top-down communication style. You can learn the concept of top-down communication in five minutes, and then it’s a bit of practicing. So, it’s just a couple of things coming together that make these people look very intelligent indeed, but they have learned to be intelligent just as you can learn to be intelligent. Nobody was born super intelligent. Most things are patterns and techniques, tools and mental concepts acquired over time that are helpful. But mostly they’re helpful because they make complex things so simple that they’re easily solvable.

That is why when you think about this question, “These people are so intelligent. Am I intelligent enough?”, that’s the wrong question. The right question is, “Have I learned the tools and tricks and concepts that will empower me to also do these things?” There is virtually nothing in the consulting work that requires an Einstein-like brain. Consulting is — can you guess? Common sense and basic math, and it’s moving people to action. It’s selling an idea and then it’s having a few ideas and making these things stand up to common sense and breaking things down, making things manageable, tracking the numbers, making sure we are realizing all the potentials, and making a good plan. There’s nothing in there that requires any outstanding spark of genius.

It’s more a case of learning a few tools and applying them consistently. I just asked a friend who made senior partner, “Hey, what’s the secret of your success?” He said, “I consistently deliver good work to my clients.” That’s it, that was the secret. So, don’t think about this in terms of absolute intelligence, “Am I as intelligent as them?” No. Think about it in terms of, “Have I learned the concepts, the tools and the tricks that are required for it?” In the same way, approach the preparation for the interview.

You don’t need to be more intelligent than you are. You are smart enough for this, but you might be lacking a few insights, a few tools, a few mental concepts of what is required. Maybe you only lack an understanding of, “What is requested here? What is the task?” And maybe once you’ve understood what the task in the case interview is, you’re thinking, “Hang on, that is easy. That’s just common sense and simple math. I can do that.” Don’t stop at the question, “Am I intelligent enough or do I have the intelligence that’s required?” You have it, but you need to learn the concepts that are necessary to understand this. You don’t need to be Einstein to get into consulting.

Don’t know where to get started on your path into McKinsey, BCG, Bain?

Here are the simple steps:

Step 1: SURROUND YOURSELF WITH A GROUP OF LIKEMINDED PEOPLE THAT HELP EACH OTHER ON THE WAY

Join https://www.facebook.com/groups/get.a.job.at.McKinsey.BCG.Bain/for THE place to get insider Information on how to make it into Consulting; free training, live coaching sessions, success secrets, insider knowledge and an overdose of motivation

Step 2: (if you are not yet invited to the interview) GET THE FREE TRAINING ON HOW TO WRITE A RESUME THAT GETS YOU INVITED TO THE INTERVIEW

In this free webinar you learn how to make the firms chase you, tell your story in a way that excites recruiters and how to tick all the right boxes! https://moritzgruber.net/cv

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Did you know that there is a specific way to write your CV that makes the top firms invite you to interviews? The secret is to change your CV from “a table of contents of your life” to “the best marketing document you have ever written”. I teach this here https://moritzgruber.net/impress-mbb-recruiters

Step 4: UNCOVER THE SECRETS OF SUCCESFUL CANDIDATES AND LEARN HOW TO ACT CONVINCINGLY IN THE CASE INTERVIEW

Do you want to be like so many of my students who come back successfully and tell me: “Moritz, actually it was totally easy. I just applied what you told me”. How does that work? Well, differently than 99% of other sources make you believe. You don’t need more business knowledge. You need confidence in your actions, clarity on what they they expect and the scripts that always work (no matter the question). This, I teach here: https://moritzgruber.net/mint

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