The strong feedback culture has significantly accelerated my growth—personally and professionally.
Learning and creating impact at scale
What attracted me to McKinsey was the learning opportunity provided by the sheer breadth of work we do across various industries and functions. In Indonesia, McKinsey’s strong presence in both the public and private sector, has given me the opportunity to learn across a broad range of industries and the platform to generate impact at scale. Another driving factor was the opportunity to learn from incredibly talented people both within the firm and from our clients.
Working closely with clients
Since joining the firm, my most rewarding experience has been helping clients push their own boundaries and achieve results beyond what they had imagined. During one engagement, we were tasked to significantly reduce the maintenance lead time of a major piece of equipment. Despite skepticism from senior management, we worked closely together with the client and was able to successfully reduce maintenance lead time to less than half of the previous achievements. This instilled a sense of pride both for my McKinsey colleagues as well as the client. The opportunity to create this impact was only made possible through the hard work and strong collaboration from both sides.
Continuously pushing the boundaries
What has surprised me most about being in McKinsey is our strong feedback culture, which helps us develop and strengthen our own professional skills. Prior to joining McKinsey, I saw ‘feedback’ as a negative experience to be avoided as these sessions only occurred when there were serious concerns. At McKinsey, my colleagues genuinely want me to continuously learn and grow through feedback, and it is an essential part of developing ones skills within the firm. Colleagues are mindful of identifying both strengths and development needs during feedback, and feedback is always a two-way conversation. What I have found extremely helpful is that feedback is discussed with colleagues from a range of individuals and roles—from partners to business analysts—which provides valuable holistic perspectives on my progress thus far.
The strong feedback culture has significantly accelerated my growth—both personally and professionally—as it has increased self-awareness of both my strengths and development needs, forcing me to continuously push the boundaries and go outside my comfort zone.
Education
Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
MSc, environmental science and engineering
Gadjah Mada University, Indonesia
BEng, chemical engineering