The McKinsey Way by Ethan M. Rasiel

Author:Ethan M. Rasiel
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Business & Economics, Training, Management
Publisher: McGraw Hill Professional
Published: 1999-02-22T05:16:20+00:00

9

BRAINSTORMING

ABOUT BRAINSTORMING AT MCKINSEY

When the study has been sold, the team assembled, and the preliminary research done, the real work can begin. Brainstorming is the sine qua non of strategic consulting. It’s what the clients really buy. Let’s face it. Most large, modern corporations are chock full of intelligent, knowledgeable managers who are darned good at day-to-day problem solving.

McKinsey offers a new mindset, an outsider’s view that is not locked into “the company way” of doing things. That’s what clients need when problems cannot be solved within the organization, and it starts in a meeting room with a table, some chairs, a bunch of pads, pens and pencils, some markers, and a clean “white board.”

Before the first brainstorming session, McKinsey consultants do their homework. Everyone on the team reads the results of the PDNet and library searches. The associates put together and distribute “fact packs” based on their preliminary research. The ED, the EM, and possibly the more senior associates on the team come up with initial hypotheses that the team will then test to destruction.

Brainstorming takes time. Typically, a McKinsey team blocks out two hours, if not more, for a brainstorming session. Some team leaders prefer weekends for their meetings, though this is not always looked on favorably by the other members of the team. These sessions often run well into the 93

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Working to Solve Business Problems

night, fueled by deliveries of pizza, Chinese food, or sushi (my personal favorite). I even recall some teams bringing in a six-pack or two of beer for a weekend session (presumably to stimulate the flow of ideas). McKinsey’s U.S. offices keep

“menu books” of the favored local food delivery services; these books see a lot of use.

The most important ingredient for successful brainstorming is a clean slate. There’s no point calling a meeting if you’re just going to look at the data in the same old way. You have to leave your preconceptions and prejudices at the door of the meeting room. That way, you are free to manipulate the facts in your mind.

I like to think of brainstorming as playing with that old puzzle Rubik’s Cube. Each fact is a face on one of the small cubes. Turn the faces this way and that, and you’ll come up with the answer, or at least an answer.

Another metaphor I like to use is shuffling a pack of cards. Each fact is a card. When you first open the pack, all the cards are in order. How boring. Shuffle the cards, or throw them into the air and see how they land. Now you might find some interesting patterns: straights, flushes, full houses. The same thing happens when you toss around facts and ideas.

In the next few lessons, we’ll take a closer look at the various aspects of brainstorming à la McKinsey, and learn a few tips to make your brainstorming more productive.

Brainstorming

95

PROPER PRIOR PREPARATION

Although brainstorming has an airy-fairy, college bull session connotation to some, in reality effective brainstorming requires some hard-nosed advance work.

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