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52 The McKinsey Mind

THE McKINSEY WAY
Let’s briefly review McKinsey’s principles for research:
Facts are friendly. Problem solving at McKinsey relies on facts.
Facts compensate for a consultant’s lack of experience and intu-
ition relative to an executive with years of business experience.
Facts also bridge the credibility gap between consultant and client;
they allow the consultant to show she knows her stuff. Despite (or
possibly because of) the power of facts, many businesspeople fear
them, but hiding from unpleasant facts will, at best, delay the
inevitable.
Don’t accept “I have no idea.” People always have an idea if
you probe a bit. Ask a few pointed questions, and you’ll be amazed
at what people know. If you ask someone a question and the per-
son responds, “I have no idea,” treat it as a challenge. Chances are,
the response stems from a lack of time, a feeling of insecurity, or
worst of all, sheer idleness. Your challenge is to figure out the
source of resistance and adjust accordingly.
Remember, too, that just as you shouldn’t accept “I have no
idea” from others, so you shouldn’t accept it from yourself. With a
bit of thinking and searching, you’ll usually find that you do know
something, or at least can find it out.
Specific research tips. Three high-impact techniques courtesy of
McKinsey to enhance your research are (1) start with the annual
report, (2) look for outliers, and (3) look for best practices. The
annual report offers a wealth of information about a company in
one package; be sure to read the message to the shareholders or
CEO’s report. Outliers analysis (often accomplished with the help
of a computer) is a tool to isolate key opportunities for investiga-
tion within a firm. This method involves comparing ratios or cal-
culating key measures (such as sales per salesperson by region),
paying particular attention to high and low performers. Finally,
although the term best practices may be painfully familiar (as one