How Has Management Consulting Shaped My Thinking?
Thinking like a consultant, there are three key ways how my thinking has been shaped…
Management consulting praises structure and logic. Top firms like McKinsey train associates right out of college to think in very systematic, organized ways to promote optimal decision making. They do this by repeatedly pounding into these young professionals’ minds various frameworks, or tools, to think about problems through (read more in legendary consulting book, The McKinsey Way, written by a former McKinsey consultant). Even before being hired, thousands of college students looking join top-tier consulting firms like McKinsey and learn their intellectual secrets study for case interviews given during consulting interviews by reading books like the famous consulting prep bible, Case in Point, to mold their minds to be more consulting-like.
Studying to be a consultant and being one at a social impact consulting firm, I’ve surprisingly benefited from the “consulting mindset” outside of work. Here are the top three consulting-like mental habits that I have grown into and take with me throughout whatever everyday scenarios I face:
Buckets
In consulting, when faced with any business problem, I’ve learned to approach problems by first thinking in terms of buckets,
or a list of major issue areas, or drivers, that are worth exploring and most important in addressing when solving for a problem.
Usually, two to five buckets is the typical range with three being the most ideal because, well, people resonate most with lists of threes. The reason why approaching problems like this is so effective is because it helps you think of problems as being determined by key drivers, which can be listed out. Furthermore, they can help with identifying and organizing more detailed thoughts and questions that you have about the problem.
For example, below I asked myself whether I should move to a different state and I thought of three major drivers, or areas of consideration(boxed in red), that would help me to think this question: current constraints (what’s keeping me from moving out?), costs and risks (what would I give up and what am I risking if I were to move out?), and the potential upside (how could I benefit from moving out?). As you can see, the buckets ultimately culminate in a list that’s easy to follow and helps “bucket” (organize) more detailed factors that influence my decision.
MECE
MECE is short for mutually exclusive and collectively exhausted.
It essentially means that when you approach problems, think comprehensively and non-redundantly about them. So, for example, when you are first approaching a problem and thinking through the list of major issue areas pertaining to it, add unique areas to the list and ensure you list all the relevant and important areas.
So, after I thought about the major drivers that would decide whether I should move out or not, I reflected on the list I had made and added another bucket, “Other,” to ensure that I fully thought about all the factors relevant to my question. The additional bucket ended up capturing two very key considerations: how difficult and realistic would it be to actually move out (e.g., finding a compatible roommate and location)?
Drilling Down: The Logic Tree
Finally, the last framework/skill that I’ve learned through consulting is to drill down, or continue to go down a tunnel of levels with more specific questions so that you really get to the specific, concrete heart(s) of a problem. Visually, this can be portrayed as a logic tree.
For example, if I were to continue digging deep into current constraints I’d face, the stream of thought would be something like this:
Current constraints →
financial savings + familial obligations →
dollars saved toward moving expenses, overall financial health + current well-being of family, financial needs of family, caretaking needs →
willingness to spend X dollars to move to city, what are the various moving options and their costs + do I feel good about my financial health, have I achieved my financial goals + is my family physically healthy? mentally healthy? emotionally healthy? + how financially well is my family if I were to leave in the short term? long term? + what caretaking support do they need? how rapidly would their needs grow? →
and so forth. Digging deep allows you to get very specific and arrive at easily answerable questions/addressable issues. By answering/addressing these very specific questions/issues, you essentially address the bigger question/issue at hand and can make a really thoughtful and effective decision with the new information you’ve collected throughout this thought process.
Final Thoughts
Hopefully, as you can see, consulting has helped me to apply skills and values such as organization, structure, logic, and thoughtfulness to my thinking around everyday questions and issues I face. The illustrative tools above, in retrospect, are a small snippet of a wider basket of frameworks I think through in thoughtfully making everyday decisions.
Furthermore, before being introduced to the consulting mindset, I used to think in very mushy, disorganized, and convoluted ways that were difficult to follow, to communicate to others, and to make use of. Now, since I can think in this followable, clear, and logical way, I am able to make really good decisions — both in and out of work— and individually and with others.
