McKinsey's Marvin Bower

From his front-row view of 11 business tragedies, Marvin was convinced that the chief executives had been shielded from information that could have saved them. He firmly believed that had the right anecdotes and data flowed to the top and been properly analyzed, 10 of the 11 companies would still have been operating and healthy despite the Depression.

The fundamental problem, Marvin learned, was not that the presidents of the failed companies were stupid; in fact, all 11 of them were very smart men. The problem was that they lacked the information necessary for informed decisions.

He typically began his search by interviewing the chief executive of the failed company, and then followed up by talking with any other staff members who might have insight into the causes of failure and the company’s ability to recover from disaster.

It is a fair guess that Marvin’s desire to learn something useful and important from any and every experience was inspired by his father. As they would leave each plant, his father would ask, “What did you learn?”

offices should not be structured like an army, with over-privileged officers and underprivileged subordinates

When a client hires Ogilvy & Mather—or McKinsey—he expects the best.

The more centers of leadership you find in a company, the stronger it will become.

Brains? It doesn’t necessarily mean a high IQ. It means curiosity, common sense, wisdom, imagination, and literacy.

the first task of any leader is to define reality

The Ogilvy philosophy rested on four pillars: Research. Results. Creative brilliance. Professional discipline.