Page 99 - The McKinsey Mind

03 (049-082) chapter 3 1/29/02 4:49 PM Page 74

74 The McKinsey Mind

EXERCISES
• Develop an interview guide. First, identify your next big
interview opportunity. Then list your objectives or the criti-
cal information you would like to obtain. (Work from your
hypothesis, as discussed in Chapters 1 and 2). Now pare
the list down. Combine where possible, and eliminate irrel-
evant points. You should end up with two or three primary
objectives for the meeting. Next, structure the interview
guide around those key questions. Don’t forget to consider
the interviewee’s agenda and watch for sensitive issues.
Send your interview guide to the interviewee at least two
days in advance.
• Write a thank-you letter. Nothing complicated here, just a
discipline exercise. Write a good old-fashioned handwritten
or typed thank-you letter. If it feels good, write another
one!

KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT

Ah, knowledge management (KM). It’s one of the hottest business
buzzwords today, and one of the least understood. According to a
recent Business Week survey, more than 80 percent of 158 large
multinational corporations already have or are actively developing
formal knowledge management programs.* McKinsey has long
been recognized as a leader in the field of KM and has much to
offer other organizations as they formalize their KM efforts.
What is KM? First, we should tell you what knowledge is
not—data and information. Data are facts, observations about

*Neil Gross. “Mining a Company’s Mother Lode of Talent,” Business Week, August 28,
2000, p. 135–137.