July 2018

TRAINING

Problem solving– MECE

Training 2

confidential
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CONTENT

• Part 1 – Recap of MECE

• Part 2 – Examples

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MECE stands for Mutually Exclusive; Collectively Exhaustive

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Applications of MECE

• Analytics
⎼ Segmentation
⎼ Dividing a problem into its component issues; Statement of issues and sub-
issues
• Communication
⎼ Synthesis
⎼ Simplifying a long list into the general « buckets » (bucketing)
• Project management
⎼ Workstream definition

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CONTENT

• Part 1 – Recap of MECE

• Part 2 – Examples

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Examples of MECE

Is this MECE?

Under 65

Population

Under 18

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Examples of MECE

Is this MECE?

18-65

Population

Under 18

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Examples of MECE

Is this MECE?

Data Data
Users Data Storage Data Storage
Acquisition Acquisition

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Examples of MECE

Is this MECE?

OEM
Tier 1
Tier 2 Suppliers Car Dealer
Supplier
Manufacturer

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CONTENT

• Part 1 – Recap of MECE

• Part 2 – Examples

• Part 3 – recap and limitation

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Limitations

Theory Reality – MECE sufficient Reality-MECE not sufficient

• In real life very few things are actually MECE

- Many parts even if they look separate are actually connected by a different type of relation
- For example, if you break down a Profitability question into revenue and cost, and revenue is
price and volume; price and volume are highly correlated and are linked by an elasticity equation
- Another example used in consulting for a go to market, we usually use a Market, Competitors,
My capabilities approach; market and competitors are linked, as market is the sum of
competitors
• The rule is to limit the overlapping between issues as much as possible and not too forget
key elements of the problem

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Recap and common pitfalls

Key rules for MECE Most common mistakes

1. Simplify
- Make sipme to understand and
analytically helpful categories
- MECE should advance the problem
2. Use 80-20
- If the majorty of the problem can be
understood by a framework then use it
- No need to find the perfect framework
3. 3 to 5 groups
- Generally search for 3 to 5 buckets
- Too any buckets are no longer helpful
- Too few and the brekdown may not be
very meaningful
1. Not MECE
- The framework or grouping is not MECE – and the
categories do not work
- Think carefully through your categories and test
whether they actually work
2. Too complex
- MECE categorization should add simplicity, not
additional complexity to the problem
3. Searching for perfect breakdown
- Sometimes you need 80/20 thinking to get to a
MECE structure.
- If it works 80 percent of the time then use the
structure and explain when it does not work

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