For most of its modern history, Accenture has operated one of the most recognizable talent machines in corporate life. It recruits at enormous scale, brings in armies of ambitious graduates, teaches them a common language of frameworks and delivery methods, places them on client work, and gradually moves the strongest performers upward. Some become specialists. Some become managers. A smaller number become managing directors. A still smaller number learn how to say “enterprise-wide transformation” without visibly needing oxygen. The model has survived mainframes, personal computers, the internet, outsourcing, cloud computing, mobile technology, automation, and every corporate trend that briefly required a new practice area and an updated PowerPoint template. Each technological wave changed what Accenture sold, but the basic human architecture remained remarkably durable: large numbers of junior people performed the labor-intensive work at the bottom, experienced managers coordinated it...