Basics Flashcards
The Consultant’s Motto:
“Often Right, Never Without
___”
The Consultant’s Motto:
“Often Right, Never Without
Data-Driven Justification”
“It’s Not About Being Right,
It’s About Being Right In A
___”
HOW You’re Right Matters… A LOT
“It’s Not About Being Right,
It’s About Being Right In A
CLIENT FRIENDLY Way”
HOW You’re Right Matters… A LOT
Things That Are NOT “Client Friendly”
- Making conclusions without _
- Scatter _
- Can’t be explained _
- Can’t be justified with _
- Logically correct, but _
Things That Are NOT “Client Friendly”
- Making conclusions without showing your work
- Scatter brained
- Can’t be explained visually
- Can’t be justified with facts and data
- Logically correct, but not practical
Interviewer’s Mindset
1. __ excellence (repeatable)
2.Logical, __ analysis
3. __(The Big Picture) & Presentation
of __
Interviewer’s Mindset
1.Process excellence (repeatable)
2.Logical, data-driven analysis
3. Synthesis (The Big Picture) & Presentation
of conclusions
A) How to Open A Case
4 steps
Opening
- Stall & Verify OBJECTIVES
- specs (facts, time)
-
Overview
- First, ORGANIZE my thoughts and STRUCTURE my analysis
- “Do you mind if I take a second to organize my thoughts?”
- After, explore branches of analysis to find the root cause of the problem
- Following that, explore potential solutions
- First, ORGANIZE my thoughts and STRUCTURE my analysis
- State HYPOTHESIS
- Given the limited information we have to start, I’m going to state an arbitrary hypothesis that the root cause of the client problem is related X.
- This arbitrary hypothesis will help me organize my analysis, and I will likely revise my hypothesis as I discover more information.
-
Decide, Draw, and Communicate Your Case Structure
- Think about what must be true if the hypothesis is right
- Explain rationale to involve interviewer!
- To test this hypothesis and find the root cause of the client’s problem, I would like to explore A,B,C, and D
How to Structure a Case
How to Structure a Case
Write objective
Describe KEY COMPONENTS of framework
- In order to find the root cause of your problem, I would like to explore A,B,&C
DRAW the framework on a piece of paper
- (this is client friendly)
State hypothesis
- unless you have any data pinpointing to the problem, my first hypothesis is that the root cause is under branch X
B) How to Analyze A Case
Analyze =
- __for any info on where to start
- State a __
- __a __of framework to start
- Identify __ within __
- Ask __ to gather initial data
- Example: Let’s start by looking at revenues.
- Example: ”Have Revenues Gone Up, Down or Stayed The Same”
6.Go __ down the branch if data suggests to do so, or go _a level and
work a different branch
7.__hypothesis as you discover more
insights
B) How to Analyze A Case
Analyze =To Break Things Down Into Its
COMPONENT PARTS
1.ASK for any info on where to start
2.State a HYPOTHESIS
3.PICK a BRANCH of framework to start
4.Identify KEY ISSUES within BRANCH
5.Ask STANDARD QUESTIONS to gather
initial data
- Example: Let’s start by looking at revenues.
- Example: ”Have Revenues Gone Up, Down or Stayed The Same”
6.Go DEEPER down the branch if data
suggests to do so, or go UP a level and
work a different branch
7.REFINE hypothesis as you discover more
insights
Example of going deeper w/ Revenue decrease
Example of going deeper w/ Revenue decrease
“I see revenues have decreased. Now we need to look at the
components of revenues and see what is CAUSING the revenue
decrease”
THEN DRAW NEXT LEVEL BRANCH
Example of coming back UP a level and work a different branch:
Profit down 20%!
Revenues up 20%!
- REVENUES have actually INCREASED by 20% yet PROFITS have 20% DECREASED.
- Hmm… that’s interesting.
- Well, then it looks like revenue is NOT the source of the problem.
- “This must mean that costs have gone up quite
significantly” - I am revising my hypothesis to that It must be a cost problem.
- to understand what is driving the cost increase, we must look at the COMPONENTS of cost.
Hypothesis
Gather _to test _
Modify hypothesis and _
Ask for more _ to test revised hypothesis
Hypothesis
Gather data to test validity
Modify hypothesis and say so you are doing so
Ask for more data to test revised hypothesis
C) How to Close A Case
Synthesis= To combine separate elements to form a coherent whole
Checklist of a Good Close:
- 1.Figure out what’s _ about what you’ve discovered (“Insight”)
- 2.Provide a “Big Picture” _ or _with recommended _
- 3._your point of view with _
C) How to Close A Case
Synthesis= To combine separate elements to form a coherent whole
Checklist of a Good Close:
- 1.Figure out what’s IMPORTANT about what you’ve discovered (“Insight”)
- 2.Provide a “Big Picture” POINT OF VIEW or CONCLUSION with recommended ACTION
- 3.SUPPORT your point of view with DATA
How to structure close
How to structure close
- conclusion with reccomendated action
- 3 Supporting reasons + data
- Restate recommended action
How to segment revenues
How to segment revenues
- product, distribution channel, customer type, region
- total revenues, revenues per unit
How to segment costs
How to segment costs
- Fixed vs variable, costs within each segment of value chain
- total costs, cost per unit
How to segment customers
How to segment customers
- Demographics
- Needs
- Purchasing patterns
- price point
- other
