Eric Kutcher spent most of his life in Connecticut. The oldest of four kids, his childhood was an active one filled with various sports.

 From baseball and basketball to golf and skiing, his youth was focused on his athletic pursuits. After graduating from high school, he stayed on the East Coast, attending Cornell University to obtain a bachelor’s in material science and engineering.

He soon took a job at Intel, working on making Pentium in the process engineering department. Shortly after, he got a Master’s in Engineering, Operations Research and Financial Engineering (a combination of the business and engineering schools) from Cornell.

It’s a professional path that he did not expect.

“For most of my life, my expectation was that I was going to become a doctor,” Kutcher said. “My father was a surgeon, so I spent my entire life around doctors and surgeons. I was quite convinced I was going to be an orthopedic surgeon because of how much time I spent at the orthopod’s office.”

Kutcher’s path combined his interests, skills and education in an intriguing way.

He secured a role as director at McKinsey & Company, a firm that is considered to be the advisor and partner of world-leading institutions.

 From government to the private sector and NGOs, McKinsey helps leaders go from establishing their vision and setting a bold ambition to making it happen.

 The end goal is always to deliver the kind of impact that improves the world.

One question that is a common occurrence in Kutcher’s world is “Why not?” He uses it as an unofficial exercise to “open the aperture,” challenging to people to see what happens when they go outside of their comfort zone.

 

“It causes them to open their mind to say, ‘Is there a reason we can’t do that or not?’ There were also times when I’ve been asked why not. It forces me to open the aperture. I love this notion. I love it as an opening question, at least from a problem-solving perspective.”

Since joining the company, Kucher has received an invaluable amount of on-the-job training.

Given that his director role was similar to that of a consultant, it allowed him to gain exposure to many different sides of the finance world.

Additionally, McKinsey’s company culture allowed him to tap into a deep network of mentors.

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