Why private equity's greatest strength is also its biggest risk

• The industry's unspoken reality: Value destruction remains PE's biggest taboo, yet understanding the tension between creation and destruction separates top performers from underperformers • The operational revolution: McKinsey data shows operational improvements now drive ~50% of value creation versus just 23% from multiple expansion, marking a fundamental shift from financial engineering to operational excellence • The strategic imperative: Top PE firms institutionalise "fault-finding" processes to identify potential failures before implementation, combining optimism about change with...