Episode 7: The Fad Factory; Management Consultants' Real Work

This episode takes a critical look at the multi-billion dollar management consulting industry's history of creating and capitalising on management fads, starting from the rise of firms like McKinsey and BCG after the 1933 Glass-Steagall Act. We highlight their development of oversimplified frameworks and pseudo-research to secure lucrative contracts. It then focuses on the frankly disgraceful hype consultants generated about the Metaverse, with the big consultancies making ridiculous claims and driving clients to make significant investments in "virtual land" that are now almost completely worthless. Finally, the piece notes the rapid shift of these consultancies towards the burgeoning field of Artificial Intelligence, suggesting a recurring pattern of profiting from hyping the latest fads. Excerpts from ⁠Magnetic Nonsense⁠⁠: ⁠⁠A Short History of Bullshit at Work and How to Make it Go Away⁠Note: podcast generated by Google LM Notebook from the original book text.