Does Working in High-Powered Jobs Make You Dumb?

McKinsey & Company1 comments "I feel I am getting dumber and dumber, no critical thinking at all for months at length (as opposed to what we are told to believe) has got my brain rusted." - Fishbowl Consulting, October 2024

That's just one of the many responses to the post asking if working in the prestigious field of consulting makes you stupid. Most agree that it does. Some report that same brain rust in other sectors too. In junior positions in law firms you can get iced out for posing too many provocative questions. 

This is ironic. We got to those good jobs primarily because we invested years in higher education being trained and rewarded for the deep probing of ideas. The Master's thesis, even in the humanities, was to break open a fresh approach to a problem. The Ph.D. dissertation probably got published.

Then those provocative thinkers join the labor market and from the get-go it's all about looping into the "how they do things there." That ranges from the thought processes to the language to the format for slide decks. Some consulting organizations have been accused of providing generic solutions. No disruptive thinking involved. 

That's exactly why white-collars determined to use their brains opt for opening their own business. As a vendor - that is an outlier - the game is about bringing what organizations can't get inside. 

When I left the Fortune 50 for launching my own boutique I knew in marketing my services to Big Business that I had to take on some of the protective coloring of their cultures. But then it was all about zeroing in on what was unique about what I could accomplish for them that internal staff couldn't.

Admittedly there also are many who are not conflicted about the hardening process of group-think. They tend to rise into the top layers of the organization and even seem to revere the institution. They prize "the way we do things here." Incidentally that is a major argument for a five-days-a-week RTO - that is, to fully participate in that grand culture.

Life is hard. Business is even more difficult these days. Get answers – and relief. Jane Genova is a results-driven intuitive coach, tarot reader and content-creator related to careers. Complimentary consultation (please text/phone 203-468-8579 or email janegenova374@gmail.com)


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