David

Knowledge Specialist

Tell us a bit about yourself.

My main hobbies would be photography—I’m trying to complete a distance learning course—singing in choirs, and going to the cinema. But I spend most of my time outside work with friends. I’m an only child and live alone, but I really enjoy being with people, so I usually have friends over to my place for dinner, or meet up for drinks and a natter! In the rare moments when I have some time to myself, I like to read. When I was younger I used to watch way too much television, so when I first got my own flat, I decided not to have a TV. It was the best decision I’ve ever made! But you do have to make a concerted effort to keep abreast of current affairs! My commute isn’t long enough to read a paper, so I rely on the radio, the Internet, and occasional copies of the Economist.

Tell us a bit about your career before McKinsey. What made you decide to go into medicine?

Before joining McKinsey I was a practicing doctor for nearly five years, four of which were spent in Accident and Emergency here in London. You see a lot of interesting things in that job, and you get a different perspective on life. But it’s also painfully obvious when the system doesn’t work as well as it should. I’m the kind of person that naturally wants to fix things that are broken, and from my point of view the healthcare system has many problems. One day I decided that if I couldn’t find a way of tackling the problems from within the system, then I’d have to come at it from the outside.

How did you come to apply to McKinsey?

The path to McKinsey from that point was obvious. They’re doing incredibly impactful work in the U.K. health service. It was the natural place for me to aim, and in the end, I didn’t apply to anywhere else. I met with some people, including other ex-doctors, who worked there, and I really liked them and the things they had to say.

What made McKinsey seem like a good fit for you?

I’d say that the fit is twofold. On the one hand, McKinsey does the work that I want to be involved in. Our healthcare work is growing all the time. I bring shop-floor experience and perspective to the teams I work on, which helps nonmedics understand the idiosyncrasies of the healthcare system. On the other hand, this firm selects a type of person, and type of mind, and so you find you get on with pretty much everyone you work with. There’s always stimulating conversation and interesting perspectives. We all love having a bit of an intellectual duel, even if it’s only discussing whether cricket is an inherently boring game to watch!

Describe your McKinsey colleagues and the McKinsey culture.

The people at McKinsey are what I like best about the firm. They’re fun, interesting and caring. My favourite time is lunchtime in the canteen! You can go and sit next to anyone, and within minutes you’ll be in an interesting conversation, usually about something you know nothing about! Everyone has fantastic stories to tell.

The culture in the firm, generally, is one of care and support. There are high expectations, but everyone is focused on helping each other meet those expectations. When we say we work in teams, it really is the case!

What have been your biggest learnings at McKinsey?

My biggest learning would be 'Have an opinion, and state it.' No one ever thinks worse of you, even if you’re completely wrong. But the problem solving gets richer with the more points of view involved, and you might be the only one in the room with the right answer in your head. If you don’t speak up, the team won’t benefit! This was a big realization for me. Initially, I didn’t feel as though my point of view was as valid as those of people in the room who knew more about the subject. But over time I’ve started noticing how often the most refreshing and value-added moments are when someone who isn’t familiar with a topic sees through a problem in a totally new way, exactly because they’re not used to looking at it the way the industry experts always do!

How have you 'made your own McKinsey'?

I’m currently getting involved in quite a lot of work that involves developing brand-new thinking on topics that we as a firm haven’t tackled yet. This is really cutting-edge stuff, which can be scary, because it’s unfamiliar and complex. But it’s also exciting because you’re not just applying well-tested tools to problems that people have seen and solved before. I’m also really getting in to recruiting. I’m a people person, so I love meeting new people, having a good chat, and answering all their questions. It’s interesting to see what the external image of the firm is!