Shu Hattori - The McKinsey Edge: Success Principles from the World’s Most Powerful Consulting Firm

CHAPTER ONE
Building the Better Self

CHAPTER TWO
Growing with Others

CHAPTER THREE
Excelling in Process Management

CHAPTER FOUR
Going the Extra Mile

CHAPTER FIVE
Become a Thinker and a Writer

I had written most of this book unknowingly over the years. Then it took another intense one year and a half (outside the Firm) to further synthesize, clean up and come up with more meaning and implications. It started with a suggestionthat I publish this. Then it became a wish. I wished something like this existed for me when I was learning: short, handy and practical. Then it became a reality. I was fortunately able to find a publisher who also liked this idea.

Aside from my own wisdom I learned at McKinsey, I sought wonderful advice from talented individuals. At the onset, I wanted the interviews to distill what I had learned and give a richer sense of what was more important. Then as the interviews grew and details ensued, I truly found that these principles were converging. I had somehow hit a plateau around 40 to 50. Every time I added beyond that, the principles werent as forthcoming and concentrated. The more I carried the discussion forward, the more I realized that the sweet number rested somewhere in between.

I am grateful for the countless number of meetings, interviews, and on-the-job coaching with the following individuals: (in alphabetical order, McKinsey people are denoted with an asterisk)

Peter Bradd, Diane Ducarme,* Tim Fountaine,* Tina Hou,* Ulrich Huber,* James Huang, Laurent Kinet,* Genki Oka,* Rajesh Parekh,* Felix Poh,* Dave Rogers,* Tak Sakamoto,* Jeongmin Seong,* Kai Shen,* Roi Shigematsu,* Jonathan Woetzel,* Hagen Wulferth,* Karen Yeoh, Forrest Zhang,* and Chanqing Zheng.* Others who gave me inspiration over the years include Wouter Aghina,* Gwen Blandin,* Kimberly Borden,* Jason Chen,* Nao Iwatani,* Davis Lin,* Robert Mathis,* Derrick Miu, Hyosoo Park,* Philipp Radtke,* and Bill Wiseman.*

I cannot express in words how much you each have given me in terms of time and intellectual wisdom. Your support and thoughts enabled me to crystallize a much more refined end product. There are a few people I want to give special thanks to: Jeongmin, for giving me invaluable advice on structuring. Also, Who else should I introduce for you? really gave me the strengths to know I had one big supporter. Diane, for brainstorming, slicing and dicing, many different principles. Also, Do you want to take this paper with you? as I almost forgot on many occasions. Tim, for spending an incredibly long morning discussing leadership in Sydney. Tim, I dont know if I can be your book mentor, but I am happy to talk about it, anytime (I am not revealing your secret idea to anyone, yet).

I also would like to thank my McGraw-Hill editor, Knox Huston, who did a superb job in guiding me in spite of all the time differences. Also, for taking me through the nuts and bolts of writing a compelling book. I wanted to be structured as much as possible, and you helped accommodate that.

I want to also thank my early readers: Yoon-Suk Choo and Derrick Miu. Yoon, without your candid and timely feedback, I would have never been able to get past the first milestone. Thank you for also helping me throughout the entire process, including the legal advice. It was indeed a fabulous journey, dont you think? I couldnt have done it without you. Derrick, thanks for your warm words of encouragement. You inspire me to do better. Thank you both for being my best and ideal friends.

Finally, I couldnt have even fathomed this project without my wife Carmen. I am forever in your debt. This has been one of my long-term aspirations, and I am so fortunate to have such a loving and thoughtful partner. To my mom and dad: thanks for letting me stay over at your sweet home in Hamamatsu while I refocused my attention. You both make me believe that I can do anything with this life. My thanks also go out to my brother, Tomo, for spiritual support (I think my long journey all started with your, Take this and just go to Taiwan back in 2004), and David Roff, his best friend and author, who, by sharing his experience on book writing, encouraged me to give it a try. I would also like to thank Christy, Tom, Fengyang, and Xiumei for cheering me on.