Page 25 - The McKinsey Mind

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Framing the Problem 3

THE McKINSEY WAY
Let’s start by summarizing the ways McKinsey consultants apply
structure to their business problems.
Feel free to be MECE. Structure is vital to McKinsey’s fact-
based problem-solving process. For McKinsey-ites, structure is less
a tool and more a way of life. One Firm alumnus summed up his
McKinsey experience as “Structure, structure, structure. MECE,
MECE, MECE.” The concept of MECE (pronounced “mee-see”
and an acronym for Mutually Exclusive, Collectively Exhaustive),
is a basic tenet of the McKinsey thought process. Being MECE in
the context of problem solving means separating your problem
into distinct, nonoverlapping issues while making sure that no
issues relevant to your problem have been overlooked.
Don’t reinvent the wheel. McKinsey has leveraged its experi-
ence with structured problem solving through numerous frame-
works that help its consultants rapidly visualize the outlines of
many common business situations. Your organization may have its
own frameworks, and you should take advantage of them if pos-
sible. Otherwise, develop your own problem-solving tool kit based
on your experience.
Every client is unique. Frameworks are not magic bullets.
McKinsey-ites know that every client is unique. Simply trying to
squeeze every organization’s problems through the appropriate
frameworks will only get you so far. If anything, this lesson is dou-
bly true for McKinsey-ites once they leave the Firm.

LESSONS LEARNED AND IMPLEMENTATION
ILLUSTRATIONS
How does McKinsey’s structured problem-solving approach fare
beyond the specific conditions of the Firm? Extremely well. Our