Duff McDonald – författare

From the New York Times–bestselling author of The Firm: "A massively detailed history of Harvard Business School . . . and a searing critique." —Kirkus ReviewsWith The Firm, financial journalist Duff McDonald pulled back the curtain on consulting giant McKinsey & Company. In The Golden Passport, he reveals the inner workings of a singular nexus of power, ambition, and influence: Harvard Business School.Harvard University still occupies a unique place in the public''s imagination, but the Harvard Business School eclipsed its parent in terms of influence on modern society long ago. A Harvard degree guarantees respect. But a Harvard MBA near-guarantees entrance into Western capitalism''s most powerful realm—the corner office. And because the School shapes the way its powerful graduates think, its influence extends well beyond their own lives. It affects the organizations they command, and the economy they dominate.In addition to teasing out the essence of this exclusive, if not necessarily "secret" club, McDonald explores two important questions: Has the school failed at reaching the goal it set for itself in 1908—"the multiplication of men who will handle their current business problems in socially constructive ways"? Is HBS complicit in the moral failings of Western capitalism?At a time of soaring economic inequality and growing political unrest, this hard-hitting yet fair portrait offers a much-needed look at a profoundly influential institution."Exploring how Harvard Business School became a ticket to the highest echelons of money, power, and influence, McDonald chronicles the school''s history in an irreverent, cynical, and frequently funny exposé of its pretensions."—Publishers Weekly"Impressively researched . . . I suspect McDonald won''t be invited to campus anytime soon, but perhaps he should be: Agree with him or not, he deserves credit for raising questions that every business school needs to be asking." —The New York Times

A bestselling journalist sets out to explore our addiction to the quantification of everything and ends up confronting his own addiction to certainty.In 2020, nothing went according to plan. Duff McDonald had intended to write a book about society''s obsession with measurements, data, and predictions, showing how it blunts individual happiness and decision-making while fueling corporate capitalism. But in the quiet of quarantine, McDonald found himself reexamining the assumptions beneath his own life choices . . .Drawing inspiration from an impressive range of sources—from Borges to the Buddha to Bob (Dylan) to Harry Potter—McDonald documents how he let go of his attachment to precision in favor of delving deeper into what it means to be present—in his work, his relationships, and what he calls the "science of experience." He asks, "What should I have been doing? I should have been focusing on things that I love, not the things that anger or annoy me. I should have been focusing on things that tickle me."Part self-help, part memoir, Tickled is a story of how to bring joy and love into your life right now. McDonald acknowledges that "tickle" is a funny, awkward word. In one context, it''s as innocent as can be. But it also runs deeper. When something tickles you, you are in the moment, experiencing reality itself—at the vortex of truth, consciousness, and bliss. As he lays out his own personal transformation, McDonald invites readers to begin their own journeys to find out what "tickles" them, too.This exploration of joy and presence—experiences that tickle—lies at the heart of McDonald''s unusual, moving, and profound book.

In the midst of the most disastrous economic climate of Wall Street’s history, one executive has weathered the storm more deftly than any other: Jamie Dimon, chairman and CEO of JPMorgan Chase. In 2008, while Dimon’s competitors watched their companies crumble, JPMorgan not only survived, it made an astonishing $5 billion profit. Dimon’s continued triumph in the face of an industry-wide meltdown has made him a paragon of finance. In Last Man Standing, award-winning journalist Duff McDonald provides an unprecedented and deeply personal look at the extraordinary figure behind JPMorgan’s success. Using countless hours of interviews with Dimon and his full circle of friends, family, and colleagues, this definitive biography is by far the most comprehensive portrait of the man known as the Savior of Wall Street. Now, in an updated prologue, McDonald offers insight into the future of Wall Street and how Dimon will overcome the challenge of aggressive new regulation from Washington—and how he plans to continue to thrive as the world’s preeminent banker.

The story of McKinsey & Co., America’s most influential and controversial business consulting firm, “an up-to-date, full-blown history, told with wit and clarity” (The Wall Street Journal).If you want to be taken seriously, you hire McKinsey & Company. Founded in 1926, McKinsey can lay claim to the following partial list of accomplishments: its consultants have ushered in waves of structural, financial, and technological change to the nation’s best organizations; they remapped the power structure within the White House; they even revo­lutionized business schools. In The New York Times bestseller The Firm, star financial journalist Duff McDonald shows just how, in becoming an indispensable part of decision making at the highest levels, McKinsey has done nothing less than set the course of American capitalism. But he also answers the question that’s on the mind of anyone who has ever heard the word McKinsey: Are they worth it? After all, just as McKinsey can be shown to have helped invent most of the tools of modern management, the company was also involved with a number of striking failures. Its consultants were on the scene when General Motors drove itself into the ground, and they were K-Mart’s advisers when the retailer tumbled into disarray. They played a critical role in building the bomb known as Enron. McDonald is one of the few journalists to have not only parsed the record but also penetrated the culture of McKinsey itself. His access puts him in a unique position to demonstrate when it is worth hiring these gurus—and when they’re full of smoke.

You''re the boss....Now make an executive decision.You are the CEO of Fleece Industries. So far, you''ve made all the right choices. The result: Your life''s work -- building a company from an idea scrawled on a bar napkin into a clothing empire -- has reached a major milestone. Fleece is going to have an initial public offering and become a publicly traded company on the New York Stock Exchange. The instant the opening bell rings, you''ll be worth tens, if not hundreds, of millions. It''s a dream come true. Unfortunately that''s when things get complicated. Now come the really hard choices. What would you do if You discovered that a rogue employee had been cooking the books? Your mistress threatened to expose your affair to your wife? You found yourself at the center of an insider-trading scandal? Your daughter turned up in a sex tape on the Internet? You found yourself considering the worst choice of all: MURDER?Step up to the plate. What would you do if you were The CEO?

They helped invent the bar code. They revolutionized business schools and created the corporate practices that now rule our world. They reinvented the idea of American capitalism and aggressively exported it across the globe. McKinsey employees are trusted and distrusted, loved and despised. They are doing behind-the-scenes work for the most powerful people in the world, and their ranks of alumni include the chairman of HSBC and William Hague.Renowned financial journalist Duff McDonald uncovers how these high-priced business savants have ushered in waves of structural, financial, and technological shifts but also become mired in controversy across the years. Discover how the firm both endorsed and celebrated Enron’s disastrous corporate structure and how they’ve been instrumental in the Coalition’s controversial NHS reforms. Are they worth their astronomical fees? And what do firms and governments actually get for their money? Based on exclusive interviews with key McKinsey players and written in gripping prose, this is a revealing window onto one of the most secretive and powerful companies in the world.