problem solving techniques mckinsey

McKinsey Problem Solving: Six steps to solve any problem and tell a persuasive story

The McKinsey problem solving process is a series of mindset shifts and structured approaches to thinking about and solving challenging problems. It is a useful approach for anyone working in the knowledge and information economy and needs to communicate ideas to other people.

Over the past several years of creating StrategyU, advising an undergraduates consulting group and running workshops for clients, I have found over and over again that the principles taught on this site and in this guide are a powerful way to improve the type of work and communication you do in a business setting.

When I first set out to teach these skills to the undergraduate consulting group at my alma mater, I was still working at BCG. I was spending my day building compelling presentations, yet was at a loss for how to teach these principles to the students I would talk with at night.

Through many rounds of iteration, I was able to land on a structured process and way of framing some of these principles such that people could immediately apply them to their work.

While the “official” McKinsey problem solving process is seven steps, I have outline my own spin on things – from experience at McKinsey and Boston Consulting Group. Here are six steps that will help you solve problems like a McKinsey Consultant:

Step #1: School is over, stop worrying about “what” to make and worry about the process, or the “how”

When I reflect back on my first role at McKinsey, I realize that my biggest challenge was unlearning everything I had learned over the previous 23 years. Throughout school you are asked to do specific things. For example, you are asked to write a 5 page paper on Benjamin Franklin — double spaced, 12 font and answering two or three specific questions.

In school, to be successful you follow these rules as close as you can. However, in consulting there are no rules on the “what.” Typically the problem you are asked to solve is ambiguous and complex — exactly why they hire you. In consulting, you are taught the rules around the “how” and have to then fill in the what.

The “how” can be taught and this entire site is founded on that belief. Here are some principles to get started:

Step #2: Thinking like a consultant requires a mindset shift

There are two pre-requisites to thinking like a consultant. Without these two traits you will struggle:

A healthy obsession looking for a “better way” to do things
Being open minded to shifting ideas and other approaches

In business school, I was sitting in one class when I noticed that all my classmates were doing the same thing — everyone was coming up with reasons why something should should not be done.

As I’ve spent more time working, I’ve realized this is a common phenomenon. The more you learn, the easier it becomes to come up with reasons to support the current state of affairs — likely driven by the status quo bias — an emotional state that favors not changing things. Even the best consultants will experience this emotion, but they are good at identifying it and pushing forward.

Key point : Creating an effective and persuasive consulting like presentation requires a comfort with uncertainty combined with a slightly delusional belief that you can figure anything out.

Step #3: Define the problem and make sure you are not solving a symptom

Before doing the work, time should be spent on defining the actual problem. Too often, people are solutions focused when they think about fixing something. Let’s say a company is struggling with profitability. Someone might define the problem as “we do not have enough growth.” This is jumping ahead to solutions — the goal may be to drive more growth, but this is not the actual issue. It is a symptom of a deeper problem.

Consider the following information:

Costs have remained relatively constant and are actually below industry average so revenue must be the issue
Revenue has been increasing, but at a slowing rate
This company sells widgets and have had no slowdown on the number of units it has sold over the last five years
However, the price per widget is actually below where it was five years ago
There have been new entrants in the market in the last three years that have been backed by Venture Capital money and are aggressively pricing their products below costs

In a real-life project there will definitely be much more information and a team may take a full week coming up with a problem statement . Given the information above, we may come up with the following problem statement:

Problem Statement : The company is struggling to increase profitability due to decreasing prices driven by new entrants in the market. The company does not have a clear strategy to respond to the price pressure from competitors and lacks an overall product strategy to compete in this market.

Step 4: Dive in, make hypotheses and try to figure out how to “solve” the problem

Now the fun starts!

There are generally two approaches to thinking about information in a structured way and going back and forth between the two modes is what the consulting process is founded on.

First is top-down . This is what you should start with, especially for a newer “consultant.” This involves taking the problem statement and structuring an approach. This means developing multiple hypotheses — key questions you can either prove or disprove.

Given our problem statement, you may develop the following three hypotheses:

Company X has room to improve its pricing strategy to increase profitability
Company X can explore new market opportunities unlocked by new entrants
Company X can explore new business models or operating models due to advances in technology

As you can see, these three statements identify different areas you can research and either prove or disprove. In a consulting team, you may have a “workstream leader” for each statement.

Once you establish the structure you you may shift to the second type of analysis: a bottom-up approach . This involves doing deep research around your problem statement, testing your hypotheses, running different analysis and continuing to ask more questions. As you do the analysis, you will begin to see different patterns that may unlock new questions, change your thinking or even confirm your existing hypotheses. You may need to tweak your hypotheses and structure as you learn new information.

A project vacillates many times between these two approaches. Here is a hypothetical timeline of a project:

Step 5: Make a slides like a consultant

The next step is taking the structure and research and turning it into a slide. When people see slides from McKinsey and BCG, they see something that is compelling and unique, but don’t really understand all the work that goes into those slides. Both companies have a healthy obsession (maybe not to some people!) with how things look, how things are structured and how they are presented.

They also don’t understand how much work is spent on telling a compelling “story.” The biggest mistake people make in the business world is mistaking showing a lot of information versus telling a compelling story. This is an easy mistake to make — especially if you are the one that did hours of analysis. It may seem important, but when it comes down to making a slide and a presentation, you end up deleting more information rather than adding. You really need to remember the following:

Data matters, but stories change hearts and minds

Here are four quick ways to improve your presentations:

Tip #1 — Format, format, format

Both McKinsey and BCG had style templates that were obsessively followed. Some key rules I like to follow:

Make sure all text within your slide body is the same font size (harder than you would think)
Do not go outside of the margins into the white space on the side
All titles throughout the presentation should be 2 lines or less and stay the same font size
Each slide should typically only make one strong point

Tip #2 — Titles are the takeaway

The title of the slide should be the key insight or takeaway and the slide area should prove the point. The below slide is an oversimplification of this:

Even in consulting, I found that people struggled with simplifying a message to one key theme per slide. If something is going to be presented live, the simpler the better. In reality, you are often giving someone presentations that they will read in depth and more information may make sense.

To go deeper, check out these 20 presentation and powerpoint tips .

Tip #3 — Have “MECE” Ideas for max persuasion

“MECE” means mutually exclusive, collectively exhaustive — meaning all points listed cover the entire range of ideas while also being unique and differentiated from each other.

An extreme example would be this:

Slide title: There are seven continents
Slide content: The seven continents are North America, South America, Europe, Africa Asia, Antarctica, Australia

The list of continents provides seven distinct points that when taken together are mutually exclusive and collectively exhaustive . The MECE principle is not perfect — it is more of an ideal to push your logic in the right direction. Use it to continually improve and refine your story.

Applying this to a profitability problem at the highest level would look like this:

Goal: Increase profitability

2nd level: We can increase revenue or decrease costs

3rd level: We can increase revenue by selling more or increasing prices

Each level is MECE. It is almost impossible to argue against any of this (unless you are willing to commit accounting fraud!).

Tip #4 — Leveraging the Pyramid Principle

The pyramid principle is an approach popularized by Barbara Minto and essential to the structured problem solving approach I learned at McKinsey. Learning this approach has changed the way I look at any presentation since.

Here is a rough outline of how you can think about the pyramid principle as a way to structure a presentation:

As you build a presentation, you may have three sections for each hypothesis. As you think about the overall story, the three hypothesis (and the supporting evidence) will build on each other as a “story” to answer the defined problem. There are two ways to think about doing this — using inductive or deductive reasoning:

deductive versus inductive reasoning in powerpoint arguments

If we go back to our profitability example from above, you would say that increasing profitability was the core issue we developed. Lets assume that through research we found that our three hypotheses were true. Given this, you may start to build a high level presentation around the following three points:

example of hypotheses confirmed as part of consulting problem solving

These three ideas not only are distinct but they also build on each other. Combined, they tell a story of what the company should do and how they should react. Each of these three “points” may be a separate section in the presentation followed by several pages of detailed analysis. There may also be a shorter executive summary version of 5–10 pages that gives the high level story without as much data and analysis.

Step 6: The only way to improve is to get feedback and continue to practice

Ultimately, this process is not something you will master overnight. I’ve been consulting, either working for a firm or on my own for more than 10 years and am still looking for ways to make better presentations, become more persuasive and get feedback on individual slides.

The process never ends.

The best way to improve fast is to be working on a great team . Look for people around you that do this well and ask them for feedback. The more feedback, the more iterations and more presentations you make, the better you will become. Good luck!

If you enjoyed this post, you’ll get a kick out of all the free lessons I’ve shared that go a bit deeper. Check them out here .

Do you have a toolkit for business problem solving? I created Think Like a Strategy Consultant as an online course to make the tools of strategy consultants accessible to driven professionals, executives, and consultants. This course teaches you how to synthesize information into compelling insights, structure your information in ways that help you solve problems, and develop presentations that resonate at the C-Level. Click here to learn more or if you are interested in getting started now, enroll in the self-paced version ($497) or hands-on coaching version ($997). Both versions include lifetime access and all future updates.

PROBLEM SOLVING SKILLS

“We can not solve our problems with the same level of thinking that created them”

– Albert Einstein

The problem solving skills toolkit is the foundation of the success of every top-tier strategy consulting firm. While they hire the best and brightest, they all have extensive training regiments on core problem solving, which can be used in just about every project on just about every type of problem businesses face. Below represents the McKinsey problem solving toolkit which I learned from my 5+ years as a McKinsey consultant .

Problem solving skills cover the ability to break down problems, intimately understand them, and develop highly effective and efficient solutions to them. Sounds simple enough, yet the fundamentals necessitate a high degree of conceptual, quantitative, and analytical thinking. In this section, I’ll focus on the fundamental concepts and tools that are important to the conceptual aspect of problem solving, and then in the next section, I’ll go over the quantitative and analytical tools.

Much of this content may seem a bit esoteric. I like to compare it to learning philosophy, where much of the material may be esoteric, but the concepts and tools are incredibly powerful and essential to learning the fundamentals of logic. Many “first principle” tools and concepts are critical to the strong logic necessary for problem solving. So, while you may think, “Ah this doesn’t seem important” or “That is so simple,” I urge you to be patient with the content and reflect on your problem solving skills and how these tools and concepts can help your strategic thinking and decision making .

In this section, I’ll cover the top problem solving skills, tools and concepts, including:

1. Prioritization Prioritization is one of the core foundational skills in strategy, leadership , and life. It seems like such a simple concept, but the challenge is always figuring out the dimensions you are prioritizing against and then understanding the relative value of options against those dimensions.

2. Problem Statement The first step to all good problem solving is defining the problem clearly and elegantly. The better the problem statement , the better the problem solving.

3. Hypotheses There is a reason why McKinsey problem solving is all about creating hypotheses and then proving or disproving those hypotheses. Learning to be hypothesis-driven is a skill that will serve you well throughout your career.

4. Disaggregation If you want to be a master problem solver, master disaggregating problems into their discrete, mutually exclusive , and collectively exhaustive components. The best problem solvers can disaggregate and frame problems quickly and elegantly.

5. Hypothesis Trees McKinsey teams spend a considerable amount of time as a team on building out hypothesis trees, which helps organize and prioritize the hypotheses they will spend most of the project proving or disproving.

6. Deductive and Inductive Logic Understanding when and how to use deductive versus inductive logic will elevate your problem solving. Most people use induction way too much in problem solving, and when they build up their deductive logic skill set, they dramatically improve their problem solving.

7. The Power of Questions We all can and should ask many more questions than we do. The right questions can cut through problems like a sharp knife through butter. Learn to ask the right questions at the right time to elevate your problem-solving skills.

8. Active Listening We all can and should become better listeners. Truly focusing on processing what someone is saying and building on their insights is how strong problem-solving progresses to elegant solutions.

9. Root Cause Analysis We often develop and execute sub-optimal solutions because we solve the symptoms of a problem rather than the root. Getting to the root cause of a problem usually takes that extra effort. Improving your root cause analysis will pay off in the many years of problem-solving ahead of you.

10. Brainstorming Collaborating with strong minds and perspectives is how you push ideas to improve. Strong brainstorming is both an art and a science. Learn how to facilitate the conversational momentum needed for solid problem solving and ideation.

11. Voice of the Customer There is no more powerful voice than the internal or external customer. They will often tell you the answer to seemingly complex problems. You just need to ask the right questions of them.

Just like all of the sections on this site, you can pick and choose a topic, or if you want a nice overview of a section read the topics in order.

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Mckinsey approach to problem solving, a guide to the 7-step mckinsey problem solving process.

McKinsey and Company is recognized for its rigorous approach to problem solving. They train their consultants on their seven-step process that anyone can learn.

This resource guides you through that process, largely informed by the McKinsey Staff Paper 66. It also includes a PowerPoint Toolkit with slide templates of each step of the process that you can download and customize for your own use.

In this guide you'll learn:

Overview of the mckinsey approach to problem solving, problem solving process.

Problem Definition & Problem Statement Worksheet

Stakeholder Analysis Worksheet

Hypothesis trees, issue trees, analyses and workplan, synthesize findings, craft recommendations, distinctiveness practices, harness the power of collaboration, sources and additional reading, request the mckinsey approach to problem solving.

Problem solving — finding the optimal solution to a given business opportunity or challenge — is the very heart of how consultants create client impact, and considered the most important skill for success at McKinsey.

The characteristic “McKinsey method” of problem solving is a structured, inductive approach that can be used to solve any problem. Using this standardized process saves us from reinventing the problem-solving wheel, and allows for greater focus on distinctiveness in the solution. Every new McKinsey associate must learn this method on his or her first day with the firm.

There are four fundamental disciplines of the McKinsey method:

1. Problem definition

A thorough understanding and crisp definition of the problem.

2. The problem-solving process

Structuring the problem, prioritizing the issues, planning analyses, conducting analyses, synthesizing findings, and developing recommendations.

3. Distinctiveness practices

Constructing alternative perspectives; identifying relationships; distilling the essence of an issue, analysis, or recommendation; and staying ahead of others in the problem-solving process.

4. Collaboratio n

Actively seeking out client, customer, and supplier perspectives, as well as internal and external expert insight and knowledge.

Once the problem has been defined, the problem-solving process proceeds with a series of steps:

Structure the problem
Prioritize the issues
Plan analyses
Conduct analyses
Synthesize findings
Develop recommendations

Not all problems require strict adherence to the process. Some steps may be truncated, such as when specific knowledge or analogies from other industries make it possible to construct hypotheses and associated workplans earlier than their formal place in the process. Nonetheless, it remains important to be capable of executing every step in the basic process.

When confronted with a new and complex problem, this process establishes a path to defining and disaggregating the problem in a way that will allow the team to move to a solution. The process also ensures nothing is missed and concentrates efforts on the highest-impact areas. Adhering to the process gives the client clear steps to follow, building confidence, credibility, and long-term capability.

Problem Definition & Problem Statement Worksheet

The most important step in your entire project is to first carefully define the problem. The problem definition will serve the guide all of the team’s work, so it is critical to ensure that all key stakeholders agree that it is the right problem to be solving.

Problem Statement Worksheet

This is a helpful tool to use to clearly define the problem. There are often dozens of issues that a team could focus on, and it is often not obvious how to define the problem. In any real-life situation, there are many possible problem statements. Your choice of problem statement will serve to constrain the range of possible solutions.

Use a question . The problem statement should be phrased as a question, such that the answer will be the solution. Make the question SMART: specific, measurable, action-oriented, relevant, and time-bound. Example: “How can XYZ Bank close the $100 million profitability gap in two years?”
Context . What are the internal and external situations and complications facing the client, such as industry trends, relative position within the industry, capability gaps, financial flexibility, and so on?
Success criteria . Understand how the client and the team define success and failure. In addition to any quantitative measures identified in the basic question, identify other important quantitative or qualitative measures of success, including timing of impact, visibility of improvement, client capability building required, necessary mindset shifts, and so on.
Scope and constraints . Scope most commonly covers the markets or segments of interest, whereas constraints govern restrictions on the nature of solutions within those markets or segments.
Stakeholders . Explore who really makes the decisions — who decides, who can help, and who can block.
Key sources of insight . What best-practice expertise, knowledge, and engagement approaches already exist? What knowledge from the client, suppliers, and customers needs to be accessed? Be as specific as possible: who, what, when, how, and why.

The problem definition should not be vague, without clear measures of success. Rather, it should be a SMART definition:

Action-oriented

Example situation – A family on Friday evening

Scenario: A mother, a father, and their two teenage children have all arrived home on a Friday at 6 p.m. The family has not prepared dinner for Friday evening. The daughter has lacrosse practice on Saturday and an essay to write for English class due on Monday. The son has theatre rehearsal on both Saturday and Sunday and will need one parent to drive him to the high school both days, though he can get a ride home with a friend. The family dog, a poodle, must be taken to the groomer on Saturday morning. The mother will need to spend time this weekend working on assignments for her finance class she is taking as part of her Executive MBA. The father plans to go on a 100-mile bike ride, which he can do either Saturday or Sunday. The family has two cars, but one is at the body shop. They are trying to save money to pay for an addition to their house.

What is the problem definition?

A statement of facts does not focus the problem solving:

It is 6 p.m. The family has not made plans for dinner, and they are hungry.

A question guides the team towards a solution:

1. What should the family do for dinner on Friday night?

2. Should the family cook dinner or order delivery?

3. What should the family cook for dinner?

4. What should the family cook for dinner that will not require spending more than $40 on groceries?

5. To cook dinner, what do they need to pick up from the supermarket?

6. How can the family prepare dinner within the next hour using ingredients they already have in the house?

Checklist- Characteristics of a useful problem definition

In completing the Problem Statement Worksheet, you are prompted to define the key stakeholders.

As you become involved in the problem-solving process, you should expand the question of key stakeholders to include what the team wants from them and what they want from the team, their values and motivations (helpful and unhelpful), and the communications mechanisms that will be most effective for each of them.

Using the Stakeholder Analysis Worksheet allows you to comprehensively identify:

Stakeholders
What you need from them
Where they are
What they need from you

The two most helpful techniques for rigorously structuring any problem are hypothesis trees and issue trees. Each of these techniques disaggregates the primary question into a cascade of issues or hypotheses that, when addressed, will together answer the primary question.

A hypothesis tree might break down the same question into two or more hypotheses.

Example: Alpha Manufacturing, Inc.

Problem Statement: How can Alpha increase EBITDA by $13M (to $50M) by 2025?

The hypotheses might be:

Alpha can add $125M revenues by expanding to new customers, adding $8M of EBITDA
Alpha can reduce costs to improve EBITDA by $5M

These hypotheses will be further disaggregated into subsidiary hypotheses at the next level of the tree.

The aim at this stage is to structure the problem into discrete, mutually exclusive pieces that are small enough to yield to analysis and that, taken together, are collectively exhaustive.

Articulating the problem as hypotheses, rather than issues, is the preferred approach because it leads to a more focused analysis of the problem. Questions to ask include:

Is it testable – can you prove or disprove it?
It is open to debate? If it cannot be wrong, it is simply a statement of fact and unlikely to produce keen insight.
If you reversed your hypothesis – literally, hypothesized that the exact opposite were true – would you care about the difference it would make to your overall logic?
If you shared your hypothesis with the CEO, would it sound naive or obvious?
Does it point directly to an action or actions that the client might take?

Quickly developing a powerful hypothesis tree enables us to develop solutions more rapidly that will have real impact. This can sometimes seem premature to clients, who might find the “solution” reached too quickly and want to see the analysis behind it.

Take care to explain the approach (most important, that a hypothesis is not an answer) and its benefits (that a good hypothesis is the basis of a proven means of successful problem solving and avoids “boiling the ocean”).

Often, the team has insufficient knowledge to build a complete hypothesis tree at the start of an engagement. In these cases, it is best to begin by structuring the problem using an issue tree.

An issue tree is best set out as a series of open questions in sentence form. For example, “How can the client minimize its tax burden?” is more useful than “Tax.” Open questions – those that begin with what, how, or why– produce deeper insights than closed ones. In some cases, an issue tree can be sharpened by toggling between issue and hypothesis – working forward from an issue to identify the hypothesis, and back from the hypothesis to sharpen the relevant open question.

Once the problem has been structured, the next step is to prioritize the issues or hypotheses on which the team will focus its work. When prioritizing, it is common to use a two-by-two matrix – e.g., a matrix featuring “impact” and “ease of impact” as the two axes.

Applying some of these prioritization criteria will knock out portions of the issue tree altogether. Consider testing the issues against them all, albeit quickly, to help drive the prioritization process.

Once the criteria are defined, prioritizing should be straightforward: Simply map the issues to the framework and focus on those that score highest against the criteria.

As the team conducts analysis and learns more about the problem and the potential solution, make sure to revisit the prioritization matrix so as to remain focused on the highest-priority issues.

The issues might be:

How can Alpha increase revenue?
How can Alpha reduce cost?

Each of these issues is then further broken down into deeper insights to solutions.

If the prioritization has been carried out effectively, the team will have clarified the key issues or hypotheses that must be subjected to analysis. The aim of these analyses is to prove the hypotheses true or false, or to develop useful perspectives on each key issue. Now the task is to design an effective and efficient workplan for conducting the analyses.

Transforming the prioritized problem structure into a workplan involves two main tasks:

Define the blocks of work that need to be undertaken. Articulate as clearly as possible the desired end products and the analysis necessary to produce them, and estimate the resources and time required.
Sequence the work blocks in a way that matches the available resources to the need to deliver against key engagement milestones (e.g., important meetings, progress reviews), as well as to the overall pacing of the engagement (i.e., weekly or twice-weekly meetings, and so on).

A good workplan will detail the following for each issue or hypothesis: analyses, end products, sources, and timing and responsibility. Developing the workplan takes time; doing it well requires working through the definition of each element of the workplan in a rigorous and methodical fashion.

This is the most difficult element of the problem-solving process. After a period of being immersed in the details, it is crucial to step back and distinguish the important from the merely interesting. Distinctive problem solvers seek the essence of the story that will underpin a crisp recommendation for action.

Although synthesis appears, formally speaking, as the penultimate step in the process, it should happen throughout. Ideally, after you have made almost any analytical progress, you should attempt to articulate the “Day 1” or “Week 1” answer. Continue to synthesize as you go along. This will remind the team of the question you are trying to answer, assist prioritization, highlight the logical links of the emerging solution, and ensure that you have a story ready to articulate at all times during the study.

McKinsey’s primary tool for synthesizing is the pyramid principle. Essentially, this principle asserts that every synthesis should explain a single concept, per the “governing thought.” The supporting ideas in the synthesis form a thought hierarchy proceeding in a logical structure from the most detailed facts to the governing thought, ruthlessly excluding the interesting but irrelevant.

While this hierarchy can be laid out as a tree (like with issue and hypothesis trees), the best problem solvers capture it by creating dot-dash storylines — the Pyramid Structure for Grouping Arguments.

Pyramid Structure for Grouping Arguments

Focus on action. Articulate the thoughts at each level of the pyramid as declarative sentences, not as topics. For example, “expansion” is a topic; “We need to expand into the European market” is a declarative sentence.
Use storylines. PowerPoint is poor at highlighting logical connections, therefore is not a good tool for synthesis. A storyline will clarify elements that may be ambiguous in the PowerPoint presentation.
Keep the emerging storyline visible. Many teams find that posting the storyline or story- board on the team-room wall helps keep the thinking focused. It also helps in bringing the client along.
Use the situation-complication-resolution structure. The situation is the reason there is action to be taken. The com- plication is why the situation needs thinking through – typically an industry or client challenge. The resolution is the answer.
Down the pyramid: does each governing thought pose a single question that is answered completely by the group of boxes below it?
Across: is each level within the pyramid MECE?
Up: does each group of boxes, taken together, provide one answer – one “so what?” – that is essentially the governing thought above it?
Test the solution. What would it mean if your hypotheses all came true?

Three Horizons of Engagement Planning

It’s useful to match the workplan to three horizons:

What is expected at the end of the engagement
What is expected at key progress reviews
What is due at daily and/or weekly team meetings

The detail in the workplan will typically be greater for the near term (the next week) than for the long term (the study horizon), especially early in a new engagement when considerable ambiguity about the end state remains.

It is at this point that we address the client’s questions: “What do I do, and how do I do it?” This means not offering actionable recommendations, along with a plan and client commitment for implementation.

The essence of this step is to translate the overall solution into the actions required to deliver sustained impact. A pragmatic action plan should include:

Relevant initiatives, along with a clear sequence, timing, and mapping of activities required
Clear owners for each initiative
Key success factors and the challenges involved in delivering on the initiatives

Crucial questions to ask as you build recommendations for organizational change are:

Does each person who needs to change (from the CEO to the front line) understand what he or she needs to change and why, and is he or she committed to it?
Are key leaders and role models throughout the organization personally committed to behaving differently?
Has the client set in place the necessary formal mechanisms to reinforce the desired change?
Does the client have the skills and confidence to behave in the desired new way?

Great problem solvers identify unique disruptions and discontinuities, novel insights, and step-out opportunities that lead to truly distinctive impact. This is done by applying a number of practices throughout the problem-solving process to help develop these insights.

Expand: Construct multiple perspectives

Identifying alternative ways of looking at the problem expands the range of possibilities, opens you up to innovative ideas, and allows you to formulate more powerful hypotheses. Questions that help here include:

What changes if I think from the perspective of a customer, or a supplier, or a frontline employee, or a competitor?
How have other industries viewed and addressed this same problem?
What would it mean if the client sought to run the company like a low-cost airline or a cosmetics manufacturer?

Link: Identify relationships

Strong problem solvers discern connections and recognize patterns in two different ways:

They seek out the ways in which different problem elements – issues, hypotheses, analyses, work elements, findings, answers, and recommendations – relate to one another.
They use these relationships throughout the basic problem-solving process to identify efficient problem-solving approaches, novel solutions, and more powerful syntheses.

Distill: Find the essence

Cutting through complexity to identify the heart of the problem and its solution is a critical skill.

Identify the critical problem elements. Are there some issues, approaches, or options that can be eliminated completely because they won’t make a significant difference to the solution?
Consider how complex the different elements are and how long it will take to complete them. Wherever possible, quickly advance simpler parts of the problem that can inform more complex or time-consuming elements.

Lead: Stay ahead/step back

Without getting ahead of the client, you cannot be distinctive. Paradoxically, to get ahead – and stay ahead – it is often necessary to step back from the problem to validate or revalidate the approach and the solution.

Spend time thinking one or more steps ahead of the client and team.
Constantly check and challenge the rigor of the underlying data and analysis.
Stress-test the whole emerging recommendation
Challenge the solution against a set of hurdles. Does it satisfy the criteria for success as set out on the Problem Statement Worksheet?

No matter how skilled, knowledgeable, or experienced you are, you will never create the most distinctive solution on your own. The best problem solvers know how to leverage the power of their team, clients, the Firm, and outside parties. Seeking the right expertise at the right time, and leveraging it in the right way, are ultimately how we bring distinctiveness to our work, how we maximize efficiency, and how we learn.

When solving a problem, it is important to ask, “Have I accessed all the sources of insight that are available?” Here are the sources you should consider:

Your core team
The client’s suppliers and customers
Internal experts and knowledge
External sources of knowledge
Communications specialists

The key here is to think open, not closed. Opening up to varied sources of data and perspectives furthers our mission to develop truly innovative and distinctive solutions for our clients.

McKinsey Staff Paper 66 — not published by McKinsey but possibly found through an internet search
The McKinsey Way , 1999, by Ethan M. Rasiel

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McKinsey PST: Question Types, Study Plan & Mock Tests

The McKinsey Problem Solving Test (McKinsey PST) is a very crucial part of the McKinsey recruitment process. It is where most of the applicant pool is eliminated, and yet there are so few resources to help you prepare for it. Fortunately, you’ve found the ultimate guide to nail the test with an unbelievable level of detail!

Table of Contents

McKinsey PST overview

What is the mckinsey pst.

The McKinsey Problem Solving Test (or PST) is a paper-based test used at McKinsey & Company to select candidates for the case interviews. The PST is conducted after resume screening; it has 6 types of question, testing the candidate on 3 crucial problem-solving skills – data interpretation, mental calculations and logical reasoning.

McKinsey PST passing score / Acceptance rate

McKinsey has never officially stated the passing score or acceptance rate for the PST. However, these numbers can be estimated using reports from test-takers, with passing score being around 70%, and acceptance rate at roughly 30-35% (1 in every 3 candidates will pass).

Does McKinsey still use the PST?

Currently, the McKinsey PST is being replaced by the new Problem-Solving Game. However, the transition is not complete globally. In addition, the new Problem-Solving Game still retains the core principles from the old test, so preparing for the PST is still relevant.

Why do they need PST?

It’s very similar to what we have here! McKinsey believes that the gap between CV screening and in-person case interviews is too big. The firm may miss many good candidates with bad resumes or may interview too many candidates who don’t live up to their resumes.

At the end of the day, in-person interviews are expensive, and the Problem Solving Test provides a cost-effective solution.

Who has to take the McKinsey PST?

Every candidate who passes the resume screening round has to take the McKinsey PST – if they apply for the management consulting track. Some report indicates that MBA applicants might be waived from the test – however, this is rare and you should confirm with the target office HR.

What does PST look like?

26 questions, 1 hour, paper-based, and no calculator! The test has 26 multiple choice questions set within the context of 3 business cases. A candidate has exactly 60 minutes to finish the test. He will be provided with a watch, pencils, scratch paper, and the test is in a paper-based format. No calculator is allowed. No personal assistant is allowed. Just you and the test!

As the business landscape is changing, candidate recruitment has become increasingly complex. This requires another way of presenting PST content for McKinsey. They have changed the format into gamification and planned to implement this method to all McKinsey offices within 2020. Visit the mock game designed exclusively for MConsultingPrep followers!

PST vs. GMAT vs. SAT?

If you are new to PST, you may hear the myth that PST is similar to the Math section in GMAT or SAT. In fact, being excellent in SAT Math does help with quantitative calculation in PST, however, the context is different. The SAT Math section includes only simple calculations in simple context; meanwhile, logic in business problems is highly emphasized in PST.

Why is this test so challenging?

You will not have enough time to properly think through each question.

If you are going to read every single word in the case background and do every calculation “asked”, you will not be able to finish the test. You will need to know how to work through stress and pressure, how to give out “high-probability” answers instead of “exactly-right” ones, and how to painlessly skip questions.

You will be judged by a machine (or if by a person, they will try to be like a machine).

I myself feel much more comfortable in an in-person case interview, where I will be fine as long as I have the right tactics. The interviewers generally allow candidates to make a few mistakes here and there, to slow down the process if needed, and to ask for help when necessary. In the PST, the result is all that matters. There will be no mercy granted. If you don’t get enough correct answers, you are out.

On top of those, the questions themselves are hard!

A huge amount of logical and analytical reasoning is required. You will need to really grasp the logical fundamentals of how management consultants solve problems, e.g: the difference between a conclusion vs a hypothesis; etc.

How to prepare for the McKinsey PST?

Step 1 : Seek confirmation from the target office if you must take the PST

Step 2: Get familiar with official sample tests from McKinsey

Step 3 : Learn the logic of each question type, common mistakes, and how to answer correctly

Step 4: Practice mental math to improve calculation speed and accuracy

Step 5 : Practice speed reading and data selection

Step 6 : Practice answering individual question type under time pressure

Step 7 : Do one mock test with simulated test conditions

Step 8 : Review the test and your performance

Step 9 : Return to step 3, 4, 5, 6 to for further practice on weakness

Step 10 : Do mock test again, repeat until you can confidently hit 90% or more

McKinsey PST question types

Some emailed me and asked what they should do if there were 3 days left until the PST. I would still suggest you follow our spirit of learning. When you have little time, choose which question you want to prioritize, tackle it carefully and decide how deep you will go into it. If I were in your shoes, I would use this prioritization table

In addition to the above, I would suggest you practice your math in these last days. The learning curve at the beginning is usually high for anything, including Mental Math . Doing better math can significantly improve your test score. It reduces simple mistakes (which can still cost you points) and allows you to have more time for other questions.

McKinsey PST study plan

These are the same steps I took to pass the PST years ago, and the basis for my product – the PST Comprehensive Package which has helped countless candidates pass this notoriously difficult consulting test.

Step 1. Answer the questions correctly

You are recommended to first answer all the test questions correctly without time pressure. Before, you need to break down all the questions into 6 question types as below. Besides, it is necessary to understand how these questions are constructed, what are their logical foundation, and even how the wrong choices are made.

Step 2. Answer the questions quickly

There will be no turning point that indicates you it is about time to move to the second step, but you should gradually try to answer the questions both correctly and quickly. Once getting all the correct answers without clocking, you should put yourself under time constraint. If you don’t know how to increase your speed, you have better to start with 3 tips below:

#1. Increase your reading speed.

The PST contains 3 business cases with various number and case context, which requires you to read as fast as possible (of course correctly). Many candidates cannot finish their PST because of being overwhelmed in text. The Princeton intensive program is helpfulto increase your speed by 2 times faster without difficulties.

#2. Increase your calculator speed.

Half of the test involves math, which have no way to improve but practice rigorously. The more you practice, the better you gain. If you haven’t found any efficient tips, try our method to score well with Mental Math!

#3. Embrace test-hacking tips.

After years of coaching students to MBB, I have collected wonderful tips and tricks to nail your test with less effort! Find out some of those tricks as below or check out the McKinsey PST Comprehensive for more detail!

Reading facts

Reading-facts is the most common question type in the McKinsey PST (38%) and the BCG Potential Test (up to 100%). These questions test your ability to understand the facts/data itself. There will be no inferring, logic, hypothesizing, or creativity needed. Instead, proficiency in chart reading and calculations will be handy here. See the picture below for an illustration.

QUESTION FORMAT

The following are a few examples of typical question formats:

Which of the following values is the best estimate of…?
Which of the following statements is valid based on the data…?
Which of the following can be concluded from Exhibit…?

Sometimes even though the word “conclude” is used, questions don’t require any logical reasoning, just your ability to read facts and perform basic calculations. In these cases, I still classify these questions into the reading-facts category.

SAMPLE QUESTION

This question is written based on an official McKinsey practice PST.

Which of the following statements is valid based on the data in Table 1?

A) Soccer revenue was more than $325 thousand five years ago

B) Tennis revenue grew by no less than 1.2% in each of the last five years

C) The total revenue of Saigon League did not grow at all in the last five years

D) If the growth rate in the last 5 years is maintained, Soccer revenue will be more than $420K 5 years from now.

You will see that no tricky logical reasoning is needed here. All you need in order to answer these questions is the ability to read the table and perform calculations correctly.

COMMON MISTAKES

A good way to determine the correct option is to investigate if the other three are wrong. Now there are two ways you can be wrong in this type of PST question: (1) Incorrect calculation and (2) Misread the facts/ data

Type #2 is harder to understand, so I will dive deeper into that here. Let’s look at the sample question above. Hope you got D, the correct choice.

Example 1: How you can misread the data – Why A is wrong

If you overlook the phrase “Average annual” on column 3′s title, then Soccer revenue 5 years ago would be: $342.8 k / (100% + 4.5%) = $328 k, which is more than $325 thousand. Revenue grew at an average rate of 4.5% in EACH of the last 5 years. It is NOT 4.5% over the whole period of 5 years.

Example 2: How you can misread the data – Why B is wrong

If you overlook the phrase “Average” in column 3′s title, then it seems like the growth rate for each of the last 5 years is exactly 1.2%, no more, no less. B, therefore, seems correct. However, as indicated in the table, 1.2% is just an average figure, which means there are years with a lower or higher growth rate.

Example 3: How you can misread the data – Why C is wrong

If you overlook the second column of the table (Revenue this year column), then it seems like the average overall growth rate for Saigon League is 0% (4.5% + 3.3% + 1.2% – 9% = 0%), which makes C correct. However, different lines have different sizes. Even though Golf had negative growth of 9%, it is a relatively small line so its impact on the overall rate is small as well.

Hope that you will not make this mistake in your real PST. Again, PST is a simple test… when you have enough time!

PREPARATION GUIDE

Skill #1: Calculation

We have a detailed article on Consulting Math and how to strengthen your quantitative proficiency.

Skill #2: Chart/exhibit/table reading

Always take a moment to read and understand every single chart or graph you encounter in your everyday life.After all, practice makes perfect.

You can also improve your reading speed through an amazing speed reading program by Princeton University .

Skill #3: Attention to details

The devil is in the details. It’s the little things that can make or break a project, and no true consultants would let themselves be caught unaware.

Develop a habit in daily life. Have the mindset that I am not going to miss any stupid details.

For every practice question you get in this type, make sure you understand not only why an answer is right, but also why an answer is wrong, exactly like what I did above.

PRACTICE QUESTIONS

Which of the following statements is valid based on the data provided on Graph 3 above?

A) The Service-to-Agriculture ratio increased by more than 3 times between 1995 and 2007

B) Service GDP in 1995 is more than Industry GDP in 2007

C) Agriculture is where GDP value dropped the most between 1995 and 2007

D) In 2007, Service GDP is no less than 6 times Agriculture GDP

Correct answer: D

If you want to practice more, check out my PST Comprehensive Package for questions and answers!

Fact-based conclusion

Once you get into consulting, you will probably hear the term “fact-based” a million times a day. Consulting is the business of making conclusions based on facts. Consultants face tons of different problems throughout the course of any project: from the top to the granular level, from function to function, from industry to industry, etc. Fact-based conclusion is such a fundamental aspect of consulting that it weighs in heavily on the PST.

Fact-based conclusion questions test your ability to draw and recognize sound and logical conclusions based on a set of data/facts provided. See the picture below for an illustration.

Which of the following statements is a valid conclusion based on …?
Which of the following statements can be concluded from …?

The McKinsey team has an interview with the Chief Operating Officer of the New Bingham Mine, Salt Lake City. During the interview, the following facts have been gathered:

The factory must have at least one safety inspector 24 hours a day, seven days a week, in accordance with Federal and State labor regulations.
To maximize operational efficiency, there must be exactly 10 line workers operating the mine.
The mine operates from 8 am until 5 pm, Monday to Sunday.
The mine employs 4 safety inspectors and 16 line workers to make 20 workers in total.
The total weekly labor cost for the Bingham Mine is $16,000.

Which of the following statements is a valid conclusion?

A. One-fifth of the total labor cost for the mine is for safety inspectors.

B. At least one safety inspector must work more than 40 hours per week.

C. Line workers do not work more than 40 hours per week.

D. The majority of the mine’s labor cost is for line workers.

A – Fit-well but not fact-based

There are 4 inspectors out of 20 employees so it seems like the cost of the inspectors can very well be 1/5 of total labor cost. But a missing piece of data to conclude that is: does each person get a similar total income?

C – Fit well but not fact-based

The mine opens for 9 hours per day, 7 days per week, and there must be 10 line workers at a time, so it is 630 man-hours per week at the line positions. There are 16 line workers, so on average each of them only needs to work 39 hours per week. This seems to fit very well with the proposed conclusion: line workers do not work more than 40 hours per week. However, a missing piece of data to conclude is: does every line worker work the same amount of time (if not, there can be some who work over 40 hours while others work less)?

D – Fit well but not fact-based

Similar to A, there are more line workers, so it seems like the total cost for line workers is more than the total cost for safety inspectors. But a missing piece of data needed to conclude is: does each worker get paid the same amount?

=> Only B is proven true by the provided facts

There are 24 * 7 = 168 inspector hours needed in a week, equaling 42 hours per week per inspector. So there must be one who works more than 40 hours.

Identifying proven true conclusions is an important foundation to master all conclusion-related questions. However, most conclusion-related questions in the McKinsey Problem Solving Test will be given in other formats. In this section, we will learn about the two types of twists: (1) False conclusions and (2) Conclusions reversed . Let’s start with the first one.

TWIST TYPE 1: FALSE CONCLUSION

Any proposed conclusion must fall into one of the following three groups: Proven True, Proven False, and Unproven. This twist is when a question asks you to identify the False Conclusion instead of the True Conclusion.

Which of the following statements is FALSE based on …?
Which of the following statements is FALSE based on … ?

METHODOLOGY

A proposed conclusion is proven false when you can point out at least one instance where the conclusion is wrong. Similarly, with true conclusion questions, unproven conclusions should also not be selected.

Notice that proven FALSE conclusions are NOT conclusions not proven TRUE. A conclusion will stay unproven until it is proved to be TRUE or FALSE.

Which of the following statements is FALSE based on Table 1?

A. A, Inc. had lower average economic growth in the last five years than D, LTD.

B. A, Inc. had higher average economic growth in the last five years than D, LTD.

C. Investment risk rating is based on the difference between maximum and minimum revenue growth in the past five years.

D. Potential rating is based on the maximum recent revenue.

Of A and B, A seems to be false and B seems to be true. However, both of them are unproven. The maximum and minimum figures are not enough to conclude the average.

We don’t know if C is right or not, but we know that it is not proven false. In the provided data, there is no instance where the larger difference between maximum and minimum recent revenue growth indicates smaller risk (and vice versa).

With D, we know for sure that it is proven false because we can point out an instance where the assertion conflicts with the data (B Corp. vs. D, LTD.).

TWIST TYPE 2: CONCLUSIONS REVERSED

Very often, conclusion questions in the McKinsey Problem Solving Test are given in a reversed format. You will be given the conclusion first and asked to pick what facts/ data would be enough to come up with that conclusion.

The key to answering this type of question is to recognize which proposed fact makes the stated conclusion proven or unproven.

This question is written based on an official McKinsey practice PST:

FOCUS Travel is a premium Russian tourism company, offering tours to South East Asian countries. Facing the economic downturn, FOCUS revenue has been hurt badly. While the CFO (Chief Finance Officer) proposed an overall price cut to stay competitive, the CMO (Chief Marketing Officer) is concerned that a price reduction would negatively impact the premium perception of the brand, which drives a lot of sales.

Which of the following statements, if TRUE, would best support the CMO’s assertion?

A. In a recent survey, FOCUS’s customers quoted “price” as the most important indicator in choosing travel agencies in a list of ten factors.

B. In a recent survey, FOCUS’s customers quoted “price” as the most important indicator of quality in a list of ten factors.

C. In a recent survey, there were customers who said they would not buy FOCUS’s services if there was a 10% price increase.

D. In a recent survey, there were customers who said they would not buy FOCUS’s services if there was a 10% price decrease.

In this question, the “conclusion” has been given to us: Price reduction will negatively impact the premium perception, which will in turn negatively impact sales.

Of the four proposed answers, which facts are enough to prove the provided “conclusion” above?

A: This fact is only enough to conclude that price will impact sales. Not enough to prove that price reduction will negatively impact sales.

C: This fact is irrelevant.

D: This fact is not enough to conclude that price reduction will negatively impact sales because not all customers say so. The word “there were” can be understood as either a minority or a majority. It is only enough to conclude the proposed conclusions when “there were” is replaced with “the majority of” or “all“ .

With B, we can logically infer that price reduction will negatively impact the quality perception, which in turn will hurt to sales.

3.3. Root-cause reason

This question gives you a particular set of facts/data and asks you to identify what could be the cause for them. When doing a real consulting project, we consultants have to find out the root-cause reason. There may be various reasons that can cause the current situation, but the root-cause reason will help us tackle and solve it more efficiently. You can see the picture below for an illustration.

The following are a few examples of typical root-cause reason question format:

Which of the following reasons, if TRUE, will help explain the Facts …?
Which of the following does NOT explain the Facts …?
Which of the following points is NOT a valid reason for the Facts …?

Only B is proven true by the provided facts

Facts provided: Visits to the website MConsultingPrep were relatively low last month.

Root-cause Reason Question: What reasons, if TRUE, would help explain the low traffic to MConsultingPrep last month?

The correct answers can be any of the following:

1. The quality of contents has been bad

2. Because of technical issues, some visitors could not access the website

3. Last month was December when the overall demand for job prep materials is lowest in the year

4. Other new consulting prep blogs opened recently

Fact-based Conclusion Question: What can be concluded from the data provided?

All of the statements above can be the reason for the stated fact, but NONE of them can be concluded from it.

An example of a statement that can be concluded: Because the conversion rate stayed constant over the years, revenue last month was relatively low.

What makes a statement NOT a potential reason for a particular fact?

There are two ways a statement cannot be the potential reason: (1) Wrong Subject and (2) Wrong Trend.

A statement is (1) Wrong on Subject when the subject is irrelevant, which means the statement has zero effect on the phenomenon mentioned in the stated fact.
A statement is (2) Wrong on Trend when the direction is reversed, which usually means the statement has a reversed effect on the phenomenon mentioned in the stated fact

Illustrative example Let’s continue with the simple example above. The Stated Fact: Visits to the MConsultingPrep blog were relatively low last month. (1) Example of a “Wrong Subject” statement: “Some new Investment Banking Prep blogs opened recently” Here the subject “Investment Banking Prep blogs” is irrelevant to the stated fact. The statement (1) will have zero effect on the stated fact. (2) Example of a “Wrong Trend” statement: “Some other existing Consulting Prep blogs closed recently” Here, even though the subject “Consulting Prep blogs” is relevant, the trend is reversed. The exit of Consulting Blogs will increase visits to MConsultingPrep. Therefore, statement (2) will have an opposite effect on the stated fact.

PRACTICE QUESTION

Fletcher is a major Steel producer in the Pacific continent. It has markets in New Zealand, Australia and other South East Asia countries. Of many types of steels, re-bar (reinforced bar) is typically used in high-rises and big construction projects.

There are three main groups of steel consumers in New Zealand:

Homeowners purchase steel at retail sizes for purposes of self-constructing and self-renovating their homes
Scaled private construction companies, who often contracts large construction projects and steel orders
State-owned Enterprises (SOE), who build government’s projects such as roads, bridges, schools, hospitals, etc. (SOEs usually have bargaining power since steel providers need governments’ permissions in order to be legally used in particular countries.)

Table 1 below shows the size of re-bar steel market (in billions of $US)

Which of the following statements, if TRUE, best explains why future trends for South East Asia sales differ from sales in the other two markets?

A) South East Asia population is expected to grow strongest, which lead to high steel demand from individual homeowners.

B) South East Asia economy will be heavily based on SOE, so will the construction market.

C) South East Asia economy will shift toward privatization, so will the construction market.

D) Developed markets of New Zealand and Australia will have the most advanced steel production technology and facilities.

Correct answer: C

Word Problem

Word Problem is a quantitative question where the answer cannot be calculated directly from the data provided. Usually, we have to set up one or more equations in order to solve this kind of question. Word Problem questions in the McKinsey PST and Case Interviews are just the word problems we usually see in schools, GMAT… but put into business contexts. The method to solve them, therefore, is the same.

Table 1: Data on the Washing Room of Jean Valjean Restaurant

Suppose the restaurant opens 350 days a year. There are 3 meal shifts per day, 1 shift lasts 3 hours, 1 customer uses an average of 5 dishes per visit, and currently the restaurant hosts 530 customers on average daily.

What percentage of increase in the number of daily visits would be required in order to make purchasing the machines financially beneficial?

Step 1 . Convert data/facts into manageable and standardized format and units (only needed for complex questions).

Step 2 . Set up an equation with one (or more) unknown variables, i.e. X, Y, Z, etc.

Tips: Don’t worry about having to make the variable as the question asked. Just set up the equation in a way that makes the most sense to you as long as the variables can be easily converted to the asked variable. It will save much more time and helps you avoid silly mistakes.

Step 3 . Solve the equation and get the answer.

METHODOLOGY ILLUSTRATION

Let’s solve the sample question above together.

Step 1: This is a very complex question with many non-standardized and not ready-to-use data. If I am going to tackle this question on my PST, I would convert the provided figures and write them out on a table as follows.

Notice that I have converted all the necessary data points into the same unit of “Franc per day”.

The only data point not fully converted is the Labor cost in Manual Process (measured by the “per dish” variable), yet I want to make sure that I go as far as I can.

See how simple the problem is now!

Step 2: Now that we have very manageable data, let’s go ahead and set up an equation that will help us find the answer. The asked variable here is: what percent increase in current daily visits does Jean Valjean need?

As mentioned above, it is NOT necessary to put the variable question is looking for in the equation. In this case, doing so will result in a very awkward and complicated equation.

Instead, I set up the equation that makes the most sense to me (do note that there is more than one way to set up equations). Let Y be the “break-even size” (measured by people). I can easily calculate the percentage asked for after getting the break-even size.

Cost per day of Manual Process = Cost per day of Machine Process

Washing cost + Set up cost = Washing cost + Set up cost + other cost

Y x 5 dishes x 0.1 Franc + 30 Franc = 270 Franc + 90 Franc + 200 Franc

After executing step 1 and step 2, the problem becomes a lot easier. Now we have:

0.5 Y = 530

Y = 2 x 530

Once we have Y (the new “break-even” visit volume) of 2 * 530, we can quickly convert Y into the asked variable: What percent increase of 530 customers/day does Jean Valjean need?

The final answer is C.

Client Interpretation

In every consulting project, communication with the clients’ top-level (usually the Chairman or CEO) is always important. During my time with McKinsey, we usually hear an update every one or two weeks from our Project Director (usually a partner) on his meeting with the clients’ top level. Messages from those meetings are important on-going steers for the project. No surprise it makes up an entire question category in the Problem Solving Test.

Client Interpretation questions test your ability to read, understand, and interpret the messages the client is trying to convey in the case question or description. To some extent, this is very similar to GMAT verbal questions.

Which of the following best summarizes the CEO’s concerns?
Which of the following statements best describes the thoughts of the CEO regarding…?
Based on the opinion of the head of the Department, which of the following statements is valid?
Which of the following statements best describes the CEO’s aims for the McKinsey research?

Case context:

Mommy said she saw some dirty clothes on the dining table. She is also quite shocked to see Kevin’s toys in every room throughout the house. She even complains about how much time it takes her every night to clean up Kevin’s mess. “I will have to have a very straightforward conversation with Kevin tonight!”, said mom

Which of the following statements best describes the Mom’s concern?

A. Mom is not happy about too many of Kevin’s toys sitting on the dining table

B. Mom does not expect to see that many of Kevin’s toys in the house

C. Mom does not like to be responsible for anyone’s mess

D. Mom is too busy these days

E. Mom wants to talk to Kevin

F. Mom wants Kevin to be tidier

In this example, we continuously get small data points, all leading to one bottom-line, not explicitly mentioned but can be reasonably interpreted:

Kevin is too messy and mom doesn’t like that!

Notice that, the bottom-line here is not explicitly stated but it IS the bottom-line. All 4 sentences in the case context are small pieces of data leading to that final “so-what”. Having this “so-what” in mind, you can just skim through the answer and quickly pick F without concern about other choices.

In case you are curious about how other choices are “wrong-choice” …

Choices B and E are in fact right according to the case context, but not the bottom-line.

Choices A is simple wrong according to the case context (Tip #2)

Choices C and D are neither right or wrong according to the case context. There are not enough “evidence” to be reasonably interpreted using common sense.

TIPS AND TRICKS

Tip #1: Read the case description before going to multiple choices!

Normally the strategy of scanning through the answers first before going back to the case description works when you have a very long case description and don’t know where to look for the right information. Scanning through the answers helps you get a more focused read on the case description. However, the client’s assertion is typically found in a very short and specific part of the case description. So once you realize it’s a Client Interpretation question, go back to the case description and find that very specific part of the client’s assertion. Make sure you understand it very well. Then the rest of the work is just determining which of the four choices has the same meaning as the original assertion.

Tip #2: Cross out some obviously wrong choices …

… by recognizing a few words or short phrases that make a choice incorrectly reflect the client’s assertion. Sometimes, you can do this very quickly and effectively. If not, please see tips #3.

Tip #3: Catch the bottom-line, the “so-what” of client’s assertion

Client’s expression as quoted in the case context is always a bit blur and confusing. That is very realistic of what you may encounter in the real consulting work. It also makes these question types challenging. But in almost every situation, there is always one “so-what”, stated explicitly or implicitly. The trick here is to catch that so-what, ignore the noise, and go straight for the answer choice. Most of the time, the wrong choices DO contain a part of the client’s assertion, but either not the whole idea or the main, the bottom-line, the most important one!

Using this method, you can fly and land straight to the correct choice, not having to care too much about how wrong choices are made of. But if you are curious, some of the most common wrong-choice types:

Choice that is simply wrong according to the client’s assertion (Tip #2 above).
Choice that is in fact right, but is a minor point, NOT the bottom-line of the client’s assertion.
Choice that seems to be right, but cannot be reasonably interpreted by common sense (not by scientifically supporting logic like in other question types).

Gangnam Market is a convenience-stores chain mainly in the Gangnam district, Seoul, Korea. Though it has been losing money almost every year since 2000, Gangnam Market secures a good deal of strategic locations in the highly populated Gangnam district. Recently, Gangnam Market was acquired by Lotte Mart in its aspiration to expand to the mini-market market. Lotte right away sets up a transformation project to get Gangnam Market back on track. The CEO of Gangnam Market states that aggressive transformation targets are fine for newly acquired stores with a similar operation model with Lotte’s big stores, but he hopes that the parent company is realistic about the convenience-stores model Gangnam has been operating with.

Which of the following statements best reflect the concerns of Gangnam Market’s CEO?

A) He is concerned that Gangnam Market will never be able to transform itself into Lotte system because Gangnam Market only presents in a specific geographic location

B) He is concerned that Lotte Mart sets transformation milestones that are too aggressive and not realistic for newly acquired companies like Gangnam Market

C) He is concerned that Lotte Mart’s transformation milestones are not realistic for companies with different operational model from Lotte Mart like Gangnam Market

D) He is concerned that Lotte Mart’s transformation targets are too high for Gangnam Market because it has been losing money for a while

Formulae questions are generally like word problems in PST where you don’t have to provide the actual numerical results, just the formulae containing letters representing input variables. Normally, the question will provide input variables in letter format and you will be asked to provide the right formulae in letter format (e.g. it takes the process center T hours to process each file. If the speed is doubled, it takes T/2 hours to process each file). This is one of the easiest PST question types on the McKinsey PST. Let’s make sure you don’t lose points on any question of this type in your exam!

Table 3.6.1: Labor Cost and Processing Data – Holcim Missouri plant

Which of the following formulae accurately calculates the annual cement output per worker?

A. (c x p) / (b + w)

B. (c x p) / [(b + w) x 12]

C. 144 x (c x p) / (b + w)

D. 12 x (c x p) / (b + w)

FORMULAE FOR SUCCESS IN FORMULAE QUESTIONS

Formula 1: Calculate first before looking at the given option

A popular technique for multiple-choice questions is to read the answers first before coming back to the facts. However, that technique would not help you with Formulae Questions. The reason for this is that, often, the end-result formula has already been simplified (e.g. canceling out the same variable on both numerator and denominator) as much as possible. It gives you neither the path to get there nor any hints on how to solve the problem. For instance, when you look at the four options in the example above, does any of them give you a sense of what it represents or how to get there? What does (c x p) represent? What do you get by multiplying Cement output by Monthly labor income?

Formula 2: Divide the problem into smaller pieces (take one step at a time)

This is the universal tip for everybody in the consulting industry, and it also works great here! Often, the result cannot be directly calculated from the provided variables. However, if you take an extra step in-between, the problem becomes a lot easier. Let’s solve the sample question above together to illustrate this point. I broke the problem into smaller steps as below:

Step 1: Annual cement output per worker = Total annual cement output / Total number of workers
Step 2: Since we already have Total annual cement output of (c), the next step is to calculate the total number of workers. Total number of workers = Total labor cost / Salary of 1 worker Both Total labor cost and salary are provided. Bingo!
Step 3: Simplify the final formulae

Formula 3: Get the reading-facts tools right

In some aspects, the formulae question is also a tweaked version of reading-facts questions. You still need to read some facts and perform some calculations (with letters instead of real numbers). Therefore, it is important to master those reading-facts tools and apply them here.

Illustration of a usual mistake: Now come back to Step 2 above and explicitly solve it.

Step 2: Total number of workers = Total labor cost / Salary of 1 worker = (b + w) / p

Step 3: Annual cement output per worker = c / [(b + w) / p] = (c x p) / (b + w)]

Chosen choice: A

Unfortunately, A is NOT the correct answer, because the above calculation doesn’t take into account the difference in units – the salary is on a monthly basis whereas the total labor cost is on an annual basis. If you convert the unit, the final choice should be D.

No matter how beautifully you have tackled the problem, you will not get any credit if small mistakes like this slip through the crack. Make sure you don’t get blindsided by this kind of pitfall!

VICEM is a leading cement company in South East Asia. The following data regarding its business and production has been gathered.

Table 3.6.2: VICEM Business and Production data

Clinker factor is defined as the amount of clinker needed to produce 100 units of cement.

Which of the following formulas calculates the amount of clinker (in tons) needed to purchase in a year?

A) [(s x f) / 100] – c

B) [(p – s) / 100] – c

C) (p x f) – c

D) [(p x f) / 100] – c

ANSWER KEY

McKinsey PST sample test

Download McKinsey PST practice test (PDF): TOYO case .

More free materials like this can be found in our Prospective Candidate Starter Pack – a collection of beginner’s materials to consulting resume, screening tests and case interviews.

This article will give a detailed explanation of failing the test and practical advice to minimize the chance of poor performance in the McKinsey game.

The McKinsey Solve (other names: PSG, Problem Solving Game, Digital Assessment, Imbellus) is a two-piece gamified test designed by Imbellus for McKinsey.

There are 2 techniques to boost your reading speed. Learn how to practice them effectively & overcome 3 common loopholes that limit your reading performance.

McKinsey Solve Simulation (All-in-One)

The one and only existing platform to practice three mini-games of McKinsey Solve in a simulated setting

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The McKinsey Mind: Understanding and Implementing the Problem-Solving Tools and Management Techniques of the World's Top Strategic Consulting Firm Audio CD – Audiobook, November 7, 2016

The groundbreaking follow-up to the international bestsellera hands-on guide to putting McKinsey techniques to work in your organization

McKinsey & Company is the most respected and most secretive consulting firm in the world, and business readers just can't seem to get enough of all things McKinsey. Now, hot on the heels of his acclaimed international bestseller The McKinsey Way , Ethan Rasiel brings readers a powerful guide to putting McKinsey concepts and skills into action The McKinsey Mind . While the first book used case studies and anecdotes from former and current McKinseyites to describe how "the firm" solves the thorniest business problems of their A-list clients, The McKinsey Mind goes a giant step further. It explains, step-by-step, how to use McKinsey tools, techniques and strategies to solve an array of core business problems and to make any business venture more successful.

Designed to work as a stand-alone guide or together with The McKinsey Way , The McKinsey Mind follows the same critically acclaimed style and format as its predecessor. In this book authors Rasiel and Friga expand upon the lessons found in The McKinsey Way with real-world examples, parables, and easy-to-do exercises designed to get readers up and running.

Language English
Publisher McGraw-Hill Education on Brilliance Audio
Publication date November 7, 2016
Dimensions 6.5 x 0.75 x 5.5 inches
ISBN-10 1536623830
ISBN-13 978-1536623833
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Publisher ‏ : ‎ McGraw-Hill Education on Brilliance Audio; Unabridged edition (November 7, 2016)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1536623830
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1536623833
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 5.6 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.5 x 0.75 x 5.5 inches

About the author

Ethan m. rasiel.

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The McKinsey Crossword: Author Talks | No. 179

Play the interactive version, or if you like putting pen(cil) to paper, download and print when you're ready to engage. Check back each Tuesday for a new puzzle or, better yet, sign up to get an alert each week when the next challenge is ready.

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The importance of problem-solving skills

Posted: May 10, 2024 | Last updated: May 10, 2024

Playing video games may just help teach your child valuable problem-solving skills. "Positively America" host Ernie Anastos talks about the importance of problem-solving skills on PIX11 Morning News.

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IMAGES

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Problem-Solving Strategies: Definition and 5 Techniques to Try
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COMMENTS

The McKinsey guide to problem solving
The McKinsey guide to problem solving. Become a better problem solver with insights and advice from leaders around the world on topics including developing a problem-solving mindset, solving problems in uncertain times, problem solving with AI, and much more.
McKinsey Problem Solving: Six Steps To Think Like A ...
The McKinsey problem solving process is a series of mindset shifts and structured approaches to thinking about and solving challenging problems. It is a useful approach for anyone working in the knowledge and information economy and needs to communicate ideas to other people. ... When I first set out to teach these skills to the undergraduate ...
Five routes to more innovative problem solving
Putting flexons to work. We routinely use these five problem-solving lenses in workshops with executive teams and colleagues to analyze particularly ambiguous and complex challenges. Participants need only a basic familiarity with the different approaches to reframe problems and generate more innovative solutions.
Mastering Problem Solving: A McKinsey Perspective
2. Problem Statement. The first step to all good problem solving is defining the problem clearly and elegantly. The better the problem statement, the better the problem solving. 3. Hypotheses. There is a reason why McKinsey problem solving is all about creating hypotheses and then proving or disproving those hypotheses.
‎The McKinsey Podcast: How to master the seven-step problem-solving
How to master the seven-step problem-solving process. The McKinsey Podcast. Management. Structured problem solving can help address complex business challenges. Episode Website. More Episodes. 2024 McKinsey & Company. Structured problem solving can help address complex business challenges.
McKinsey Approach to Problem Solving
The characteristic "McKinsey method" of problem solving is a structured, inductive approach that can be used to solve any problem. Using this standardized process saves us from reinventing the problem-solving wheel, and allows for greater focus on distinctiveness in the solution. ... Each of these techniques disaggregates the primary ...
Distilling the Essence of the McKinsey Way: The Problem-Solving Cycle
The McKinsey way: Using the techniques of the world's top strategic consultants to help you and your business. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill. ... Rasiel E. M., Friga P. N. (2001). The McKinsey mind: Understanding and implementing the problem-solving tools and management techniques of the world's top strategic consulting firm. New York, NY ...
The McKinsey Mind: Understanding and Implementing the Problem-Solving
The First Step-by-Step Manual for Achieving McKinsey-Style Solutions--and Success. International bestseller The McKinsey Way provided a through-the-keyhole look at McKinsey & Co., history's most prestigious consulting firm. Now, the follow-up implementation manual, The McKinsey Mind, reveals the hands-on secrets behind the powerhouse firm's success--and discusses how executives from any field ...
The McKinsey's way of Problem Solving
Techniques for prioritization problem : a. Pareto rule (80/20) — It is a tool to identify the important issues that can be solved that would provide the most impact in the problem statement ...
The McKinsey Mind: Understanding and Implementing the Problem-Solving
It explains, step-by-step, how to use McKinsey tools, techniques and strategies to solve an array of core business problems and to make any business venture more successful. Designed to work as a stand-alone guide or together with The McKinsey Way , The McKinsey Mind follows the same critically acclaimed style and format as its predecessor ...
8-Step Framework to Problem-Solving from McKinsey
8 Steps to Problem-Solving from McKinsey. Solve at the first meeting with a hypothesis. Intuition is as important as facts. Do your research but don't reinvent the wheel. Tell the story behind ...
Unraveling McKinsey's Approach: A Guide to Problem-Solving ...
Here is the mind map for the article "McKinsey's Problem-Solving Process for Product Managers": As a product manager, embracing McKinsey's problem-solving process can transform the way you ...
"The McKinsey Way: A Comprehensive Guide to Structured Problem-Solving
"The McKinsey Way" is a book by Ethan M. Rasiel that provides an insider's perspective on the consulting firm McKinsey & Company and its problem-solving methodology. The book outlines the ...
The McKinsey mind : understanding and implementing the problem-solving
The McKinsey mind : understanding and implementing the problem-solving tools and management techniques of the world's top strategic consulting firm ... understanding and implementing the problem-solving tools and management techniques of the world's top strategic consulting firm by Rasiel, Ethan M; Friga, Paul N.
"The McKinsey Way" Book: A Comprehensive Summary
The McKinsey problem-solving process can be summarized in the 5 steps: define the problems, find the root cause, use "hypothesis-driven" process, analyze with "issue tree" and propose solutions. 1. Define the problem: Every consulting project revolves around a "problem". But the "problem" is NOT always the problem!
McKinsey PST: Question Types, Study Plan & Mock Tests
The McKinsey Problem Solving Test (or PST) is a paper-based test used at McKinsey & Company to select candidates for the case interviews. The PST is conducted after resume screening; it has 6 types of question, testing the candidate on 3 crucial problem-solving skills - data interpretation, mental calculations and logical reasoning.
The McKinsey Mind: Understanding and Implementing the Problem-Solving
It explains, step-by-step, how to use McKinsey tools, techniques and strategies to solve an array of core business problems and to make any business venture more successful. Designed to work as a stand-alone guide or together with The McKinsey Way , The McKinsey Mind follows the same critically acclaimed style and format as its predecessor.
The McKinsey Crossword: Author Talks
Sharpen your problem-solving skills the McKinsey way, with our weekly crossword. Each puzzle is created with the McKinsey audience in mind, and includes a subtle (and sometimes not-so-subtle) business theme for you to find. Answers that are directionally correct may not cut it if you're looking for a quick win.
The importance of problem-solving skills
Playing video games may just help teach your child valuable problem-solving skills. "Positively America" host Ernie Anastos talks about the importance of problem-solving skills on PIX11 Morning News.