UP-or-OUT in MBB firms is a great rule, but not for lateral hires.
Up-or-Out rule makes MBB firms a vibrant, fast-paced, and high-growth place. But for lateral hires, that means a high-pressure and high-risk environment. They simply don't have enough time to develop.
UP-or-OUT in MBB firms is a great rule, but not for lateral hires.
I truly believe it's a great thing. It creates a strategic advantage for MBB firms.
It keeps the new blood flowing in. It cleans up all the levels in the pyramid. It makes MBB firms attractive to the best talent looking for fast growth.
But there's a big BUT...
For lateral hires, it’s a nightmare.
They risked everything to join MBB Consulting. They abandoned their successful careers and invested in a costly MBA to get there. Only to get eliminated in the first or second year.
Remember the Squid Game TV show?
The first challenge was ‘Red light, Green light’.
I felt bad for those who got eliminated first. They didn't even understand what was happening. They were not given a proper chance to compete.
Basically, this is what some lateral hires get in MBB firms. They get eliminated before they can even learn the right skills and build the right support system.
It’s extremely confusing and disorienting.
It’s good for MBB firms. The survival of the fittest, as they call it. But for you individually, it’s not great. What if that was your big breakthrough? What if it were your big chance to boost your career? Losing that chance would be devastating. At least, that's how I thought about it.
If this is how you feel in MBB as a lateral hire and you want to improve your chances of success, I wrote a free guide on How to Succeed in MBB as a Lateral Hire.
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The coaching program for MBB consultants.
This is a really sharp distinction. People talk about “up or out” like it’s one universal system, but it’s not experienced the same way by everyone. That’s the brutal part. A lot of laterals don’t fail because they lack horsepower. They fail because the adjustment window is too short and the success criteria are too implicit.