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

CHAPTER ONE

Building the Better Self

There’s a difference between knowing the path and walking the path.^*

—MORPHEUS, FROM THE MATRIX

This chapter, focuses on fundamental self-improvement. Contrary to the typical approach to improvement—fixating on just your faults and weaknesses and remedying them as you go along—the principles here focus on a more proactive approach. This way you can maximize your strengths. Until I reached a certain level of maturity, I used to think of growth as a random journey. It may fortunately work for some but not for others. But later I realized it’s a lot better if you can create your own structure and rigor for self-improvement.

For me, that rigor is in three areas, which I call get ahead, hang tight, and multiple ...