Hell yes. I've been the Air Force engineer on a system where the MAJCOM functional manager has decided to override engineering and do something that I thought made the aircraft less safe. I did battle with him KNOWING that I was going to lose. People told me that I'm going to lose, so why waste my time? My answer was, "Yeah, I'm gonna lose, I'm riding this one in. Why? Because I'm not gonna just give the bastard a free ride. Also, I'm letting the universe know that it wasn't my idea and I tried to stop it. If something bad happens, he gets to explain it to the investigation board instead of us."
I have often thought that even if the McKinsey studies were accurate, they got the causality backwards. Very profitable companies can afford to waste money on DEI stuff. If you are in a highly competitive, low margin industry, following the latest DEI fad is a quick way to bankruptcy court.
Whatever those Navy DIE bullet points say, it's easier leading a homogenous combat team that has shared experiences and deep bonds of trust. Men fight and die for the respect of their Squadies, not for God, Mother or some HR PPT brief
The old way was better: I only see Green, not black, brown, yellow or white
Having dealt with McKinsey on numerous occasions during my career, I can tell you my first hand experience with them revealed them to be duplicitous, lazy, and lacking in any knowledge of the subject about which they were hired to give advice. They start with a premise given to them by those who hired them. That is a foundational problem. They give you a flavor of the day “study” with all of the current jargon. They also use cut and paste and find and replace liberally. Sometimes, however, they screw up and a different company’s name shows up where your company’s name should be. The last time I was forced to deal with them, the VP I reported to and I sent them packing. They hadn’t even taken the time to find out what our basic function as a unit was.
The key is "reverse causality" of the previous studies. In other words, it's not that more diverse firms yield better results, it's that more successful firms have the extra capital to pursue the "bright, shiny object." As another example, look at the proliferation of DEI staffs and administrators vice faculty at universities over the last two decades. Why? Because they can. With the government taking over student loans and then further subsidizing colleges, there's no relationship between quality or size of staff and output/Return on Investment of the college/university.
Yes. If it doesn't pass the smell test, don't go after it. As I learned at NWC: Let me set the assumptions and I will produce an impeccable study proving anything you want.
First glance at the image at the top of the post told the story. At least in WWII they did posters right...lantern jawed, blue eyed, blond hair, 2 meter tall Teutonic demi-gods in steel pots with fixed bayonets shouting "Gott mit uns" or Remember Pearl Harbor posters showing caricatures of Japanese soldiers menacing White Army nurses in the Philippines with bayonets...or some such incitement to righteous wartime genocide. Sorry, that image is not even 8th place in a poster contest. 11 androgyns with low testosterone & high melanin counts is not representative of our Navy or our country. (Yes, it goes all the way to 11.) Show the diversity of external dermal characteristics if you want but make it accurate. Which this ain't. Looks more like a gaggle of guys on the way to an Easter egg hunt or trans viz happenin'. Apologies to the Navy men in the picture. I am sure they were just following orders. I want them treated better. (PAO's....Huhn!)
Whoah! Next you're going to tell us that the studies that say cutting off the private bits of minors is okie dokie have been debunked. Oh, wait.
“You can resolve to live your life with integrity. Let your credo be this: Let the lie come into the world, let it even triumph. But not through me.”
― Alexander Solzhenitsyn
Hell yes. I've been the Air Force engineer on a system where the MAJCOM functional manager has decided to override engineering and do something that I thought made the aircraft less safe. I did battle with him KNOWING that I was going to lose. People told me that I'm going to lose, so why waste my time? My answer was, "Yeah, I'm gonna lose, I'm riding this one in. Why? Because I'm not gonna just give the bastard a free ride. Also, I'm letting the universe know that it wasn't my idea and I tried to stop it. If something bad happens, he gets to explain it to the investigation board instead of us."
The question that has never been answered is who paid for the Kinsey report? They don't do anything for free.
McKinsey, not Kinsey. I understand the confusion as they are both about screwing people.
Thanks for the correction.
That was the best line I heard all day. I wish I thought of it.
Lol
I have often thought that even if the McKinsey studies were accurate, they got the causality backwards. Very profitable companies can afford to waste money on DEI stuff. If you are in a highly competitive, low margin industry, following the latest DEI fad is a quick way to bankruptcy court.
Good point. Who knows how many entrepreneurs and good ideas ended up in the trash because of DEI.
“It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends on his not understanding it.” Upton Sinclair.
Whatever those Navy DIE bullet points say, it's easier leading a homogenous combat team that has shared experiences and deep bonds of trust. Men fight and die for the respect of their Squadies, not for God, Mother or some HR PPT brief
The old way was better: I only see Green, not black, brown, yellow or white
Yep. They’re my sailors and I want them to be successful.
High performing teams are first high in trust. This style of diversity purposely destroys trust.
Color me cynical. The truth will not set you free from DEI bureaucracy.
Having dealt with McKinsey on numerous occasions during my career, I can tell you my first hand experience with them revealed them to be duplicitous, lazy, and lacking in any knowledge of the subject about which they were hired to give advice. They start with a premise given to them by those who hired them. That is a foundational problem. They give you a flavor of the day “study” with all of the current jargon. They also use cut and paste and find and replace liberally. Sometimes, however, they screw up and a different company’s name shows up where your company’s name should be. The last time I was forced to deal with them, the VP I reported to and I sent them packing. They hadn’t even taken the time to find out what our basic function as a unit was.
I never understood how you could advise a company when you knew nothing about them even if you had a Harvard MBA.
The classic definition of a consultant is someone who borrows your watch in order to tell you the time.
There's a great Don Cheadle cable show where he plays a consultant at some McKinsey type company.
“If you don’t use Accenture or McKinsey, you’d be amazed at what you can get done.”
I'd throw Booz Allen and Deloitte in there as well. The entire consultancy industry is a carbuncle on the butt of productive humanity.
If you can’t replicate a study it means the study was science fiction not science.
Sort of like the Soviet multi year plans which always exceeded expectations.
The key is "reverse causality" of the previous studies. In other words, it's not that more diverse firms yield better results, it's that more successful firms have the extra capital to pursue the "bright, shiny object." As another example, look at the proliferation of DEI staffs and administrators vice faculty at universities over the last two decades. Why? Because they can. With the government taking over student loans and then further subsidizing colleges, there's no relationship between quality or size of staff and output/Return on Investment of the college/university.
"Consultants get paid to justify the decisions of the people who hire them".
Yes. If it doesn't pass the smell test, don't go after it. As I learned at NWC: Let me set the assumptions and I will produce an impeccable study proving anything you want.
ah, the F-35 is the best CAS Bird eveah Study
Wait, are we talking about climate "science?"
Why yes, among other things!!
Oh my, that quote from Taavi Kotka is spot on.
Remember the Marxists are persistent. The new word for ESG and DEI is “BRIDGE”.
DEI= Didn’t Earn It
Benchmarking Race, Inclusion, and Diversity in Global Engagement
Bingo
Supranational NGO subverting our constitutional republic
First glance at the image at the top of the post told the story. At least in WWII they did posters right...lantern jawed, blue eyed, blond hair, 2 meter tall Teutonic demi-gods in steel pots with fixed bayonets shouting "Gott mit uns" or Remember Pearl Harbor posters showing caricatures of Japanese soldiers menacing White Army nurses in the Philippines with bayonets...or some such incitement to righteous wartime genocide. Sorry, that image is not even 8th place in a poster contest. 11 androgyns with low testosterone & high melanin counts is not representative of our Navy or our country. (Yes, it goes all the way to 11.) Show the diversity of external dermal characteristics if you want but make it accurate. Which this ain't. Looks more like a gaggle of guys on the way to an Easter egg hunt or trans viz happenin'. Apologies to the Navy men in the picture. I am sure they were just following orders. I want them treated better. (PAO's....Huhn!)