The McKinsey Way

Building Solution

Rigidly structured MECE

Hypothesis-driven

Fact-based

Facts compensate for lack of gut instinct

Facts bridge the credibility gap

Collectively exhaustive

Mutually exclusive

Generating the initial hypothesis

Defining the initial hypothesis

Testing the initial hypothesis

Developing an approach

The problem is not always the problem

Don’t reinvent the Wheel

Every client is unique

Don’t make the facts fit your solution

Make sure your solution fits your claim

Rules to live by

Sometimes you have to let the solution come to you when people are opposing in the client organization

Some problems you just cannot solve but you have to solve them anyway

80/20 rule is one of the greatest truths of management consulting and of course the business

Don’t boil the ocean

Find the key drivers

Keep the Elevator speech ready

Pluck low hanging fruit

Make a chart everyday

Hit singles

Look at the big picture

Just say I don’t know

Don’t accept “I have no idea”

Selling the study

Assembling a team

Getting the mix right

A little Team bonding goes a long way

Always know about your team members

Let your team know about your thought process

Managing hierarchy

Doing research

Don’t reinvent the wheel

Specific research tips

Look for best practices

Look for outliers

Managing Internal communication

Keep the information flowing

Three keys to an effective message

Keep your message concise

Make sure your message contains everything your audience needs to know

To be readily understood the message must follow a structure

Always look over your shoulder

Working with clients

Keep client team on your side

Deal with liability team members

Engage the client in the process

If your solution is to have a lasting impact on your claim, you have to get support for it from all levels of organization

Be rigorous about implementation