Page 74 - The McKinsey Mind

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Gathering the Data 51

RESEARCH STRATEGIES AND TOOLS

As with most of the ideas in this book, we suggest taking a step
back and thinking before jumping in. Let’s face it, information
availability is not the issue these days. Quite the opposite: we have
too much of it. Our alumnus at GlaxoSmithKline, Paul Kenny,
faces this problem every day:

The data-gathering process has changed. I find loads of
information on the Web, much more than even a few years
ago. In pharmaceuticals, there is no shortage of data or
information. In fact, we’re inundated by it. There’s informa-
tion on the market, in very detailed form, along with a
tremendous amount of complex scientific data. The diffi-
culty is pinpointing the useful bits.

Rainer Siggelkow, owner and board member of US Forty and
Bordercross Marketing, reiterates the need for strategic focus: “In
our business, it is helpful to get to the one or two really important
numbers that need to be considered. There isn’t time for more.”
We concur. When doing your research, you don’t want to get as
much information as possible, you want to get the most impor-
tant information as quickly as possible.
As illustrated by the previous two alumni quotes, McKinsey’s
dedication to strategic fact-finding has a place in other organi-
zations as well. Have you ever been involved in a data search
that took forever yet yielded little? That’s what we hope to avoid.
Let’s review how McKinsey gathers data and then discuss new
lessons learned as these concepts are implemented in other
organizations.