I just came across ‘Stopping and starting with success’ – a Harvard Business Review podcast with Dan McGinn and Jerry Seinfeld. You’ll find the download and full transcripts here. It’s worth listening to in full, but one excerpt made me laugh so hard I had to share it with my storytelling colleagues.
DAN MCGINN: Why didn’t you try to come up with a more efficient, more sustainable way to make the show? What would McKinsey have said if they came in and said, you know, there’s really a better way to do this, guys?
JERRY SEINFELD: Who’s McKinsey?
DAN MCGINN: McKinsey’s a big consulting firm.
JERRY SEINFELD: Are they funny?
DAN MCGINN: They are not funny. They help people–
JERRY SEINFELD: OK, then I don’t need them.
DAN MCGINN: No interest in efficiency or–
JERRY SEINFELD: No. No. In fact, if you’re efficient, you’re doing it the wrong way. The right way is the hard way. The efficient way is the wrong way. In my field. I can’t speak to any other field.
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In our field too Mr. Seinfeld. And although I suspect you know who’s McKinsey, thanks for phrasing the truth so simply.
P.S. HBR’s personal categorizing this podcast under “product development” is so beside the point, it’s hilarious.