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Designing the Analysis 33

of the team. Early on in the engagement, generally right after the
team has taken a stab at an initial hypothesis, the EM will deter-
mine what analyses need to be done and who will take responsi-
bility for them. She will discuss with each team member what that
person’s tasks are, where to look for the data needed to complete
them, and how the likely end product should look. Then the team
members go off in their separate directions to get the job done.
For most businesses everything needs to be done yesterday if
not sooner, and for free. Unfortunately, rigorous, fact-based analy-
sis takes time. As any executive who has hired McKinsey will tell
you, that time is expensive. The Firm, however, realizes that its
clients can pay just so much, so it has developed many techniques
to help a team move quickly from raw facts to value-added rec-
ommendations. These techniques work just as well outside
McKinsey’s walls. We can’t promise that you’ll be able to work
miracles by the time you finish this chapter, but if you apply the
lessons we present, you should be able to plot a course that will
speed up your analysis and decision making.

THE McKINSEY WAY
The following guidelines help McKinsey-ites plot their analytical
courses.
Find the key drivers. The success of most businesses depends
on a number of factors, but some are more important than oth-
ers. When your time and resources are limited, you don’t have the
luxury of being able to examine every single factor in detail.
Instead, when planning your analyses, figure out which factors
most affect the problem, and focus on those. Drill down to the core
of the problem instead of picking apart each and every piece.
Look at the big picture. When you are trying to solve a diffi-
cult, complex problem, you can easily lose sight of your goal amid