McKinsey - Drive vs Entrepreneurial Drive

Hi, good question!

The label changed more than the substance. “Drive” still tests the same core things: ownership, resilience, and your ability to push through obstacles and make things happen. It’s just a bit less narrowly tied to purely “entrepreneurial” situations.

Your example works well. You don’t need to have identified the opportunity yourself — what matters is how you took ownership, went beyond what was expected, handled setbacks, and kept pushing until you got results.

In general, strong answers are less about how the situation started, and more about how you drove it forward.

Happy to share more thoughts if helpful.

Hi! The core criteria—initiative, ownership, resilience, and the ability to push through challenges—remain the same. 

“Drive” is not limited to situations where you independently identify an opportunity; it also applies to cases where you are given responsibility and actively take charge to move things forward. 

Your example can fit with what McKinsey is looking for, as long as you clearly highlight your proactive actions and meaningful impact. 

Happy to chat further and good luck!

The renaming is a real change. Drive is broader than Entrepreneurial Drive. You no longer need a story where you spotted an opportunity yourself. McKinsey just wants to see that you pushed hard toward a goal, hit real obstacles, and kept going.

So your story works. Being assigned a project is fine. What matters is what you did with it. Did you take real ownership? Did you face genuine setbacks and find ways through them? Did you do more than what was asked? If yes, the story is strong.

Just make sure the setbacks are real and your actions are specific. Interviewers push hard on this one. 

Hi there,

Please be careful. You have grossly oversimplified this and will fail if you proceed with the above view!

Yes, McK looks for these 3 dimensions. However, there are a vast array of questions they can ask.

You need to be prepared for questions regarding leadership, teamwork, taking initiative, challenge, persuasion, conflict, initial failure, proudest moment, biggest achievement, etc. etc. (the list goes on).

Create dynamic stories that can be adjusted based on the question asked.

For story structure and delivery: Ace the Behavioral Interview

And for the broader PEI mindset, search The Consulting Offer Blueprint on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.

hey there :)

thats righ! With the shift from “Entrepreneurial Drive” to “Drive” McK does more of a reframing than a real change in what they test!! they’ve broadened it slightly, so it’s not just about spotting opportunities yourself, but more about how you push things forward despite obstacles.

your example actually fits very well. you don’t need to have “found” the opportunity. what matters is that you showed ownership, persistence, and real energy when things got tough, especially how you handled setbacks and kept momentum.

if you can clearly show initiative within the situation, strong problem solving, and resilience, that’s exactly what they’re looking for.

happy to help you sharpen that story if you want!

best,
Alessa :)

Drive focuses on how you deal with different situations while moving a project forward, whether it is entrepreneurial or not. It is true that entrepreneurial stories can also make the approach easier. But if you think about a simple situation in your day-to-day work — how you plan yourself, how you move to achieve your goals, and what you do when something does not go as expected — that is the way I would think about how to approach the question. And that is what I would expect to hear as a former interviewer.

Hi there,

Good question — and you’re thinking about it the right way.

The shift from “Entrepreneurial Drive” to “Drive” at McKinsey & Company is more about broadening the definition, not fundamentally changing what they assess. They still care about energy, ownership, and resilience — but it’s now less narrowly tied to “founding something” or spotting opportunities yourself.

So yes, your type of story can absolutely work. You don’t need to have originated the idea. What matters is:

• How much ownership you took
• How you pushed things forward despite obstacles
• How you handled setbacks and stayed persistent
• The level of energy and commitment you showed

In fact, many strong PEI answers come from situations where the candidate was given a problem but then went well beyond expectations in driving it.

The only thing to watch out for is framing. Make sure it doesn’t sound like you were just “executing a task,” but rather that you:

• Took initiative within the situation
• Made decisions and drove progress
• Actively shaped the outcome

So overall, you don’t need a classic entrepreneurial story — you need a story that shows ownership, resilience, and intensity.

Happy to help you pressure-test your example if useful

Best
Evelina

That's a really sharp observation about the PEI dimension change, and a very common question. You're right to dig into the nuance there.

The shift from "Entrepreneurial Drive" to simply "Drive" was largely about broadening the scope and making it more inclusive for candidates whose experiences might not fit a traditional startup mold. "Entrepreneurial Drive" sometimes led people to believe they needed a specific "founding a company" or "creating something from scratch" story, which isn't always relevant or available to everyone.

The core assessment criteria around grit, ownership, proactivity, and resilience hasn't fundamentally changed; it's just the context in which you can demonstrate it that has expanded. Your situation—being assigned a project and then taking incredible ownership, navigating setbacks, developing solutions, and showing passion—is exactly what they're looking for. The key isn't whether you discovered the opportunity, but how you drove it with impact and persistence.

Focus on the specific actions you took to move that project forward beyond what was expected, how you anticipated and overcame obstacles, and the measurable results of your efforts. That's the essence of "Drive."

Hope it helps!

That's right. 

They changed last summer and have since been rolled out across most geographies. 

The focus of the questions has changed slightly but not by much. In fact, they made it slightly easier now because typically they ask the question that's on the website. 

What makes a great story has stayed the same. 

I developed a PEI guide that is specifically targeted at that, so you if need any help you might want to check it out:

• • Video Course: Master the McKinsey PEI

Best,
Cristian

Hi there,

What they test for is still the same.