Surprising and disappointing experience. This past October (10/18/18) I had the privilege of interviewing with McKinsey for a Lean Expert position. I was very excited to participate in the revered McKinsey interview process. Unfortunately, I was very disappointed with the quality of the interviewer. She clearly knew very little about Lean or the requirements of the position. To begin with, she did not understand what information is included in a Value Stream Map (VSM) and didn’t believe me that a VSM would show capacity bottlenecks. As a follow-up question, she asked me what I would do to relieve a capacity bottleneck. Naturally, I began discussing OEE improvements, SMED etc. As a response, she implied I was being narrow minded for not thinking about outsourcing as part of the solution. Given that I was interviewing for a position where my knowledge of Lean methodology should have been the main concern, I didn't want to waste her time with irrelevant solutions. Ironically, at the time I was working for an outsourcing project for my employer, but was nonetheless subjected to condescension from the interviewer for only looking to increase plant throughput. I think she confused me for an undergrad applying for an analyst position. I am certain that this is not typical of McKinsey. However, I was shocked and disappointed.