# The Origins of McKinsey - Commoncog Case Library **URL:** \ **Category:** Blog Comments\ **Created:** [July 13, 2026, 10:21am UTC](https://forum.commoncog.com/t/the-origins-of-mckinsey-commoncog-case-library/3565 "2026-07-13T10:21:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![cedric](https://forum.commoncog.com/user_avatar/forum.commoncog.com/cedric/32/3_2.png) [@cedric](https://forum.commoncog.com/u/cedric)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2026, 10:21am UTC](https://forum.commoncog.com/t/the-origins-of-mckinsey-commoncog-case-library/3565/1 "2026-07-13T10:21:26Z")
Most people know McKinsey — the storied global consulting firm. Fewer people know that James Oscar McKinsey, the firm's founder, was a mathematical prodigy born and raised in a small farmhouse. So how did a farmer’s son end up starting one of the most influential, most powerful consulting firms in the world? * * * This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at [https://commoncog.com/c/cases/mckinsey-origins/](https://commoncog.com/c/cases/mckinsey-origins/) ---
**Author:** ![cedric](https://forum.commoncog.com/user_avatar/forum.commoncog.com/cedric/32/3_2.png) [@cedric](https://forum.commoncog.com/u/cedric)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2026, 3:12am UTC](https://forum.commoncog.com/t/the-origins-of-mckinsey-commoncog-case-library/3565/2 "2026-07-18T03:12:21Z")
I made this for a social post for this case, and I wanted to inflict this on you: > The board adopted the strategy and requested James McKinsey to implement the cuts himself. He agreed. McKinsey became the chairman of Marshall Field & Company and proceeded to implement his own advice. He fired 1,200 employees in one fell swoop — a move that came to be known as McKinsey’s Purge. The work left him physically run down. He told a colleague: _“Never in my whole life before did I know how much more difficult it is to make business decisions myself than merely advising others what to do”._ The Marshall Field engagement had damaged his reputation and the stress led to the pneumonia that caused his death. James McKinsey died in November 1937 at age 48. I found this somewhat ironic, given the reputation McKinsey would have over layoffs in the subsequent decades. So … ![got_meme](https://d383xwx6qr1y7x.cloudfront.net/original/2X/c/c8237c4b2ee31c2b99d27da9f824e212772e0a33.jpeg) On a more serious note … I think the next case on scaling McKinsey is more interesting, but what I found truly remarkable with this one is that McKinsey invented budgeting. He took bookkeeping — this very unsexy, backwards-looking exercise — and transformed it into a forward-looking management tool, a control system mechanism that is still used today. (Though of course we now know this leads to all sorts of problems, hence the Lean Manufacturing stuff). ---
**Author:** ![cedric](https://forum.commoncog.com/user_avatar/forum.commoncog.com/cedric/32/3_2.png) [@cedric](https://forum.commoncog.com/u/cedric)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2026, 3:12am UTC](https://forum.commoncog.com/t/the-origins-of-mckinsey-commoncog-case-library/3565/3 "2026-07-18T03:12:21Z")