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Framing the Problem 21

table, but as long as we have other values to offer the Big 3,
the better off we are going to be.

The increased effectiveness of hypothesis-based decision mak-
ing stems from the lesson that “the problem is not always the prob-
lem.” That’s what Dominic Falkowski found out when he moved
to Egon Zehnder’s Warsaw office:

My client was looking for a CFO because the current man-
ager was not coping well enough with reporting and invest-
ment analysis, and he was having problems with his team.
We weren’t so sure this was the case. After an analysis of the
situation, including an assessment of the CFO, we realized
that it was the CEO who was not structured, changed opin-
ions and processes too often, and did not communicate
changes throughout the organization. The CFO was partly
to blame, however, as he had poor interpersonal skills and
did not cope well with any form of feedback.
We suggested some internal reengineering to be con-
ducted by a strategic consultancy, and we ourselves coached
the CFO and CEO. The result: solved problem, happy client
and CFO, and a prospering organization. Further, we proved
that an external search would not have brought the value the
client wanted.

IMPLEMENTATION GUIDANCE
Forming an initial hypothesis will make your problem solving
more efficient and more effective, but to reap these benefits, you
need to be able to generate and test robust hypotheses. Since you
should form your hypothesis at the start of the problem-solving
process, you have to rely less on facts (you won’t have done most