Page 106 - The McKinsey Mind

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Gathering the Data 81

Knowledge transfer through discussion is another key part of
KM at McKinsey. The Firm provides incentives for knowledge
sharing. For example, performance evaluations include an assess-
ment of how well a consultant supports and develops others. The
Firm holds regular “Practice Olympics,”* where ad hoc teams of
consultants at all levels work together to summarize learnings on
a particular business topic, normally an area in which they recently
completed work. The Firm invests quite a bit of money into mak-
ing this a special event, with prizes, newsletters, time off for com-
petition, and fully funded trips to exotic locations for the
competitions. Teams compete at a local level and earn their way up
to such places as Australia or Hawaii, based on the merit of their
ideas and their contribution to the Firm’s knowledge.
When establishing your KM culture, the entire organization
must participate; partial efforts just don’t cut it. This means that
there must be support from the top and constant reinforcement.
This may be easier for smaller companies but is just as important
for such companies as Accenture (formerly Andersen Consulting),
as described by Jeff Sakaguchi, a partner:

I’ve always been impressed with the responsiveness of the
partnership here. I find folks responding even more quickly
than at McKinsey. The key is that the responsiveness must
come across the board and at a consistently high rate. It is
analogous to the FedEx situation in that 90 percent on time
isn’t worth it, but 98 percent is a positive breakthrough.

This level of responsiveness might be a tough goal to achieve,
but it generates results that are worth the effort.

*“Practice” at the Firm refers to the various industry and functional groups in which con-
sultants can participate. Industry groups include Banking, Energy, and Media; functional
groups include Information Systems, Logistics, and Corporate Finance, among others.