In the annals of modern business history, few figures cast a shadow as long as Bruce Henderson. As the founder of The Boston Consulting Group (BCG), Henderson did not merely establish a successful company; he invented the modern management consulting industry. Before Henderson, business advice was largely synonymous with accounting and efficiency auditing. After him, it became a rigorous, intellectual discipline grounded in economics and strategy. Henderson’s journey from a unconventional salesman to the patriarch of corporate strategy is a testament to the power of ideas and the courage to challenge established orthodoxy.
In 1963, Henderson was recruited by the Boston Safe Deposit and Trust Company to establish a new consulting arm. What began with one desk and no phone grew into a global powerhouse known for its intellectual rigor and revolutionary business frameworks. The Pioneer of Business Strategy founder of bcg
He also broke the mold of industry-focused consulting. Where other firms sold deep sector knowledge, BCG sold frameworks. Henderson believed that a brilliant strategist could walk into any industry—steel, software, or soap—and find the winning move using the same mental models. That bet made BCG a powerhouse and launched the entire strategy consulting industry as we know it. In the annals of modern business history, few