Smoke and Mirrors

“Something to Digest over the Weekend”

During my recent visit to Europe I caught up with two of my former students, who are employed by two of the largest global Consultancy Firms.

It seems that both of these big ticket firms adopt a similar high-margin ‘Business Model’. They hire young graduates and throw them in the deep end, working on projects they have never been trained for and with little more than a simple brief and a ‘fake it till you make it approach’.

These two youngsters are very bright and capable. They are self starters and I can vouch for the fact that they are smarter than most others of their age and stage. What surprised me is that both are working on mega projects completely outside of their university education specialisation and subsequent area of experience.

“How responsible and appropriate is it to hand over a project involving a few billion Euro to someone in their mid-twenties with no relevant training or experience and with minimal supervision”.

Looking at these developments through the historic lens of ‘The Collapse of Barings Bank’, I wonder if it is the bosses who should go to prison when the Sh#t Hits the Fan – rather than the youngsters who are doing their best and gaining experience, albeit at the cost and risk of their firm’s clients?

I also wonder if the clients of these big consultancy firms are aware that such great responsibility is often handed over to young people and charged out at massive amounts.

It seems that some of these big firms think that ‘Brand protects them from everything’ and they bear no responsibility to train and develop their young people.

I was left wondering how comfortable the partners in these firms would feel if they were undergoing a triple bypass operation from someone who was doing heart surgery for the first time (having previously trained and worked as a general practitioner).

Food for thought…

“Founded in 1762, Barings Bank was Britain’s oldest merchant bank and Queen Elizabeth’s personal bank. Once a behemoth in the banking industry, Barings was brought to its knees by a trader in its Singapore office. The collapse occurred when Nick Leeson (a 28 year old trader) left a $1.4 billion hole in Barings’ balance sheet due to his unauthorised derivatives speculation, causing the 233-year-old bank’s demise.”
~ SMOKE & MIRRORS