by Ethan Rasiel & Paul N.

Friga  

MCKINSEY
MIND
PROBLEM-SOLVING TOOLS AND
MANAGEMENT TECHNIQUES

SUBMITTED BY:
ANNE NICOLE B. VEROSIL
AR52FC1
SUBMITTED TO:
AR. ROLANDO PINANGAT
 MCKINSEY MIND
#1 SOLVE AT THE FIRST
8 STEPS TO MEETING WITH A
PROBLEM- HYPOTHESIS
Typically, the problem-solving process
SOLVING would involve defining the boundaries of the
problem and then breaking it down into its
-Solve at the first
component elements.The concept of MECE
meeting with a (pronounced “mee-see” and an acronym for
hypothesis Mutually Exclusive, Collectively Exhaustive),
is a basic tenet of the McKinsey thought
-Intuition is as process. Being MECE in the context of
problem-solving means separating your
important as facts
problem into distinct, non-overlapping
issues while making sure that no issues
-Do your research but relevant to your problem have been
don’t reinvent the overlooked. This allows to simplify the
wheel problem and plan the work because in most
cases, a complex problem can be reduced to

-Tell the story behind a group of smaller, simpler problems that

can be solved individually.
the data
#2 INTUITION IS AS
-Prewire IMPORTANT AS FACTS
Since you should form your hypothesis at
-Start with the the start of the problem-solving process, you

conclusion have to rely less on facts (you won’t have

done most of your fact gathering yet) and
more on instinct or intuition. Take what you
-Hit singles
know about the problem at hand, combine it
with your gut feelings on the issue, and think
-Respect your time about what the most likely answers are.
 MCKINSEY MIND
#2 INTUITION IS AS #4 TELL THE STORY
IMPORTANT AS FACTS BEHIND THE DATA

Executives make major strategic decisions
based as much on gut instinct as on fact-
based analysis.Intuition and data
complement each other. You need at least
some of each to have a solid basis for your
decisions. The key to striking the balance is
quality over quantity.
#3 DO YOUR RESEARCH
BUT DON’T REINVENT THE
WHEEL
When doing your research, you don’t want
to get as much information as possible, you
want to get the most important information
as quickly as possible.With a plan of action
for what to research, make sure you don’t
reinvent the wheel as you start gathering
your data. Whatever problem you’re facing,
chances are that someone somewhere has
worked on something similar. So your next
step here is to look through all possible
internal documents and then look externally.
Once you have your analysis finished, you
need to interpret it because numbers or data
don’t say anything. You have to figure out
the story behind and the message that you
want to communicate.At this stage, first
comes the process of understanding the
data: piecing together (in your own mind or
within your team) the story the data is
telling you and the steps you should take
based on that story. Second comes
assembling your findings into an externally
directed end product: a key message that
includes a course of action for your
organisation, ream or client.Your
interpretation of the data leads to a story,
that is, what you think the data means. You
select those portions of the story that you
believe your audience needs to know in
order to understand your conclusion, along
with the supporting evidence, and you put
them together into your end product as in
your presentation.
 MCKINSEY MIND
#5 PREWIRE
prewiring means taking your audience
through your findings before you give your
presentation. This allows for people to trust
you, ask questions you may not have thought
about to avoid surprises, and then during the
presentation say yes and support you among
others who may be more sceptical.
The earlier you can start the prewiring
process, the better. By identifying and
getting input from the relevant players early
on, you allow them to put their own mark on
your solution, which will make them more
comfortable with it and give them a stake in
the outcome.
#6 START WITH THE
CONCLUSION
Having your conclusions or
recommendations up front is sometimes
known as inductive reasoning.
As an additional advantage, starting with
your conclusions allows you to control how
far you go into detail in your presentation.
Finally, if you are proposing a certain
solution in which you will be involved for the
execution, make sure you don’t overpromise
because you’re bound to under-deliver.
Instead, balance the demands for the
solution with your capabilities and those of
your team. If more work is necessary, you
can always start a second project once the
first is done.
#7 HIT SINGLES
When you begin executing on the solution,
aim to hit singles.This is a metaphor from
baseball. You can’t do everything, so don’t
try. Just do what you’re supposed to do, and
get it right. It’s impossible to do everything
yourself all the time. If you do manage that
feat once, you raise unrealistic expectations
from those around you. Then, when you fail
to meet those expectations, you’ll have
difficulty regaining your credibility.Getting
on base consistently is much better than
trying to hit a home run and striking out nine
times out of ten.And when there’s a lot of
work to be done, delegate around your
limitations. Know them for what they are
and respect them.
#8 RESPECT YOUR TIME
The better you are at your job or the higher
up you go in your organization, the more
everyone wants a piece of you. There’s an
old saying, “Stress is the feeling you get
when your gut says, ‘No,’ and your mouth
says, ‘Yes, I’d be glad to.’” You have to train
your mouth to say, “No.”Once you make a
commitment — “I won’t work on weekends”
or “I’ll cook dinner three nights a week” —
stick to it, barring life-and-death
emergencies. If you seem to be having life-
and-death emergencies every week (and
you’re not dealing with matters of real life
and death, as in a trauma ward), take a hard
look at your priorities.