using your notes and mid-case structuresusing your notes and mid-case structures a fter you’ve...

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15S E C T I O N

Find 2nd Level Insights Using Your Notes and

Mid-case Structures

After you’ve mastered the basics of solving cases, you’ll need to show your interviewers that you can drive to deeper insights. � ese are

sometimes referred to as second level insights, because they go beyond a simple understanding of what the answer is or what the data chart says. Most candidates think that have to already know a lot about the industry or have amazing intuition to � nd these second level insights. � at would be great if you had those skills but in reality, there are a few basic techniques you can learn that will help you consistently take the discussion deeper. Let’s review those techniques and then you can start practicing them on your cases.

GREEN CLEAN CASE

Imagine you are solving a case about Green Clean, a dry cleaning franchise that has been successful to date and wants to roll out a new hanger to all their locations. About half of the customers complain about wire hangers, saying they are hard to handle and recycle; Green Clean wants to roll out an innovative cardboard hanger. � ey think it will be easier for people to recycle, and it has a lighter impact on the environment, which is one of their goals with all of their products. In addition, they like the idea that customers won’t have to hassle with bundling and bringing back the used wire hangers to the store. � ey have been testing this new product in a few markets. At the end of the

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C h a p t e r f i v e | S e c t i o n f i f t e e n

case, after you’ve gone through customer feedback as well as cost data, you’re asked to pull your conclusion together. What do you � nd?

Your analysis shows that the new hangers will be cheaper to produce, but only half of the customers like them. � ey have 27 stores in total but only 6 were used as test markets. In this case, a second level insight would be to talk about whether or not the test market data re� ects all of the markets. You would also want to ask if the wire hangers could be rolled out to all the di� erent locations in a consistent manner, whether there would be additional shipping and handling costs in some markets, and whether some regions care less about environmen-tal issues. Another deeper thought would be whether having the cus-tomers return the hangers to the store leads to additional dry cleaning sales. Since half the customers are not complaining, maybe custom-ers don’t � nd the wire hanger process to be a hassle. And perhaps it encourages them to do more dry cleaning on a consistent basis, since they are going back to the store. By bringing up these second level insights you are showing your depth of thinking and your desire to discuss the business problem in detail. But how do you come up with these insights?

NEW JOB DEPOT CASE

Let’s look at another short case and � nd some second level insights. New Job Depot is an outsourcing company that helps people who were displaced (� red, laid o� or “right-sized”) and matches them with new organizations. � ey have grown rapidly by acquiring a variety of similar mom-and-pop organizations around the United States. � ey have also grown organically by � nding new markets and opening up o� ces. Now they’re trying to get lean by reducing costs and system-izing their organization. � ey are wondering if there’s a better way to streamline their locations, develop the right employee mix and still remain e� ective. � ey are also open to growth options. After review-ing cost data and some organizational structures, you � nd that there are too many people at the senior levels and they seem to be over-paid compared to the market. What second level insights would you explore?

A natural progression of second level thought would be this: if we can save money with these senior folks, why not try to save money with the lower level people? Perhaps acquisitions brought in too many new people at all levels. Another place to look would be consolidation.

w w w . m b a c a s e . c o m

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Can certain o� ces be combined to cut costs, or can some functions be shared to save money? At the same time, what about service risks? Perhaps these higher level people were critical to landing large con-tracts or accelerating the placement of outsourced senior executives. What kind of revenue risk does reducing these senior levels represent?

Green Clean and New Job Depot re� ect case questions that I have given to hundreds of people in my private case interview practice. And I can tell you that very few people push the discussion to a deeper level. Why is it that some people naturally move to second level insights and others do not? I think the main reason candidates can’t take the dis-cussion deeper is that they do not manage their notes well. I’d like to share with you several note management skills that you can incorpo-rate into your case performance. As a part of that skill set you’ll need to develop mid-case structures, which we’ll review later in this section. We’ll start with the basics of taking great notes that track your case data but also lead you to insights.

TAKING GREAT NOTES—THE KEY TO FINDING INSIGHTS

By now you’ve mastered the ability to create a � rst page of notes where you probably write down all the facts and numbers that you hear early in the case. You’ve also � gured out where you like to put your plan so that you can structure and show your approach to the case. � is � rst page is something you can show and explain to other people. But even though you have that � rst page of note-taking under control, I’m sure you can still make some improvements. By taking the time to have neat, organized and accurate notes early in the case, you are increas-ing your odds of � nding the insights that will help you crack it. Let’s expand your basic skills now and incorporate some best practices for every page.

YOUR NOTES—PAGE ONE

For your � st page, I strongly recommend that you have clearly marked areas where you keep your information. I travel a lot for my Crack the Case workshops and have to pack and unpack often. One of the few very organized things in my life is my dresser. When I’m in a rush and have to pack in 15 minutes, I need to � nd things quickly. So I try to put every-thing, from socks to t-shirts, in exactly the same spot every time.

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F i n d 2 n d L e v e l I n s i g h t s U s i n g Y o u r N o t e s a n d M i d - c a s e S t r u c t u r e s

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Likewise, you will be in a rush during the case interview! You will need to � nd data and numbers quickly, and you’ll need to be organized. To avoid inconsistencies from case to case, put your data and facts in the same place every time. I like to mark o� 1/3 of my � rst page for these basic items, but create a method that works best for you. I know this sounds basic, but you’d be surprised at how many people scribble facts and numbers all over their page and hope to � nd what they need later. Nerves can hurt your performance in the case interview, so it’s impor-tant to make sure you have a consistent approach to coding your notes. I recommend you try di� erent methods of laying out your notes over your � rst 5–10 cases, and then pick one and stick to it from then on. As you get additional information throughout the case, you add it to this � rst page. You should keep interacting with this page as the case goes along. After you write out your plan for solving the case, plan to go back to it and and use it. You might point at it or write notes on

Put your paper in landscape mode.

4 Pages of Notes

Page 1 Page 2–3 *

Data / Facts Plan X + 33 = $77M

VALUE

SIZE

FORMULAS

THINKING TOOLS

CHARTS

$112

• DATA: Look for # and $

• FACTS: Important items like goals and client names

• PLAN: Show your structure clearly

• Analysis

• Brain Storming

• Mid-Case Structures

* Do not make this page unless your interviewer asks you to do it.

Final Recommendation


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V I D E O 15 - 01

Taking Great Notes


it. As your interviewer makes comments about your approach or gives you new information, you can go back to your plan and adjust it. Feel free to write on it or cross out parts or, of course, even add a section to your plan as you go along. Simply looking back at your plan more often as the case progresses makes you more likely to remember some of the important facts that you heard at the beginning of the case. Another great approach is to put check marks by facts and numbers that sound important or might be used later. � ese simple actions will help you � nd information quickly later on.

YOUR NOTES—PAGES TWO TO THREE

After you have presented your initial structure and are into the details of the case, you’ll eventually have to do some math. As you transition to your second sheet of notes, keep your � rst page close by. I call this my “left hand page”, because it’s always under my left hand, ready for me to look at whenever I need it. To help your analysis, you’ll want to be very systematic in how you handle your second page. � is page is for doing math or writing down more detailed data. It can also be used for laying out a qualitative topic, like how we should change the steps in the proposal development process. Check out some of the best practices below for this page.

As you go, it’s helpful to put check marks next to comments or num-bers that might be useful when you end the discussion. � at way, when the interviewer pushes you and says, “Let’s wrap it up,” or “What’s your � nal recommendation?” or “Can we be � nished now?” (which is never a good thing, by the way), you can scan the page and see some clear check marks. You can then refer back to earlier data and integrate everything together. � is also helps your interviewer see that you haven’t forgotten anything.

YOUR NOTES—FINAL PAGE

Some people recommend that you create a � nal page (or slide) for your interviewer with your � nal recommendations. I’m not a fan of that method, as I � nd it impractical: it’s time-consuming, your page looks messy, and it wrecks the rhythm of the case. By the time the interview is almost over you’ll be hyped up, and also typically feeling pressure from your interviewer to wrap it up. It’s not easy at that point to stop the � ow, ask for a minute and make a � nal slide. � at’s not a

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good use of your time. If you’ve been taking good notes along the way, you should just verbally sum up the key points. If you marked your important facts and data with check marks, look for those and sum up. I � nd it more compelling when the candidate can deliver a quick executive summary verbally, rather than taking another minute to write things down. Besides, taking another moment of silence towards the end tends to lose the momentum of the case, and as a result I don’t think it creates a powerful ending or good � nal impression. If the interviewer wants you to create a � nal slide, you should certainly do so, but try to keep it simple and succinct.

To help yourself bring all of the insights of a case together, it’s impor-tant that you lay out your notes neatly. It’s much easier to � nd things when they are clean, and it’s also easy to show the interviewer. � ere has been an increasing trend of interviewers asking for the candi-date’s notes at the end of the case. � ey may do this to review them later, or to ensure that the case facts are not leaking out to the masses. In either case, it’s another reason to keep your notes neat and view them as a tool for explaining your approach. Two practices that can improve your neatness are printing and simply writing less. A third habit I encourage my private clients to form is to keep all of their case notes in a folder and date them. After practicing for a few weeks, take the notes out and lay them out in chronological order. Have you seen them improve in neatness and organization and content? Do they seem more sophisticated and succinct? Could someone else read them? If your notes are getting better on these dimensions, then you are probably getting better at cases.

SECOND PAGE GOOD HABITS = EASY-TO-FIND INSIGHTS

In order to integrate and come to second level insights, you need to not just take good notes, but actually read and use them during the case. One way to integrate everything well in a case is to have your notes spread out in front of you and keep the main case question top of mind. Especially as you do analysis during the middle of the case, you’ll want to compare your � ndings to the main question and think through the “So what?” of everything you � nd. As you ponder how your � ndings matter to the company at hand, you can use the follow-ing techniques to pull insights from your analysis.


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BLOCK AND BREAK

� ere are several techniques for improving your second page; the � rst is the very basic discussion technique called Block and Break. You need to be a pro at taking any topic and blocking it out into di� erent parts. For instance, if your interviewer is talking about jet engines and wants to have a deeper discussion about why certain sub-components may be going up in price, this might be a good time for you to use your second sheet to create a small structure and talk through the issue. I call this a mid-case structure; it can be as simple you drawing 3–4 boxes below a header. It’s easy to write down “Component Costs Up” and start talking and drawing boxes as you discuss it.

Block & Break (part 1)

“Block”

“ Well, component costs could be increasing for a couple of reasons. Let me block these out so we can talk about them . . . one thought is that the raw materials that go into the sub-assemblies could be increasing . . . or transportation costs that are bundled in with the price could be going up . . . or maybe the supplier of the product just raised prices because they want to make more money. Now of course there are additional reasons, but I think these three are a good start.”

You don’t have to use the word “block”, but be sure you have some-thing on your paper that shows your interviewer that you’re thinking carefully about the topic and not randomly throwing out ideas.

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V I D E O 15 - 02

Power of Block and Break


Block & Break (part 2)

“Break”

Now we come to the concept of “break” in the phrase “block and break”. To show your depth of thinking and ability to discuss a topic to a su� cient degree, you should break every block into at least two parts. When your interviewer pushes on a block and asks you what you are thinking, if you have sub-divided it into two parts then you’ll be able to have a more in-depth discussion. Going back to our engine sub-components example, we have three blocks. Now let’s break them down into sub-components.

As you can see, by breaking these sub-components, you now have more to discuss and have shown more depth of thinking. Going back to your earlier voiceover, it would have sounded like this with the breaks layered in:

“Well, component costs could be increasing for a couple of reasons. Let me block these out so we can talk about them . . . one thought is that raw materials that go in to the sub-assemblies could be increasing, and that could be driven by an industry-wide trend or speci� c suppliers. . . or transportation and costs bundled in with the price could be going up, and I’ll split those between ship, land and air . . . or maybe the supplier of the product just raised prices because they want to make more money, and we’ll have to look into whether this is a short-term or long-term increase. Now, of course there are additional reasons, but I think these three are a good start for our discussion.”


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V I D E O 15 - 03

Creating Instant Tables


� at structure was easy to lay out for your interviewer while talking, and it provided a solid starting point for the discussion. Block and Break is a very basic technique to use during the middle of the case, and it’s a good way to make sure that you stay on point and show your interviewer you can think on your feet. Master this technique and you’ll use it frequently at di� erent points during the case.

CREATING INSTANT TABLES

Block and Break was helpful for dealing with a qualitative discussion, but your second page will usually be focused on dealing with num-bers and calculations. You’ll be given some data and asked to do a fast calculation, or to write down some numbers and rattle o� your impressions on what they mean. To accelerate your learning, you need to turn data into tables and charts quickly. � e key to creating these helpful charts and tables is the ability to anticipate what kind of num-bers you’ll be discussing.

For instance, if your case is about a tire store with three di� erent cat-egories of tires—High Performance, Winter-Safe and All Year—and there have been problems with overall sales, the interviewer may likely give you data related to each category for the last 12 months. Your mind immediately moves to price point changes or volume drops by category. Or you might think about pro� t per category. If your inter-viewer reads you data that you have to interpret, you would expect to put down columns with each tire type as the headers. You would basically make a data table.

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V I D E O 15 - 04

Using Mid-Case Structures to Succeed


By anticipating the analytics and data in the case, you can better pre-dict what the interviewer will give you and how to best lay out your table. � e earlier you anticipate your data and the more cleanly you lay it out, the better your chances of understanding the key insights in the case. I’ve given many cases over the years that have tables of data, and sometimes, rather than hand the data table to the candidate, I’ll just read the data out loud. I’m amazed at how much a candidate’s performance weakens when he has to write out the data himself as opposed to having the table in front of him. We all respond well to clean visuals like tables, charts and graphs. � e better you learn how to create that kind of clean visual for yourself, the better you’ll do in the case.

Developing Mid-Case Structures

Finding second level insights during a case is all about creating small structures that help you think, explore, and describe your logic. Learning how to create these small structures during the case is one of the most important skills you can build as you practice. � e best way to learn this is to keep trying to create them for every case and to be on the lookout for structures you can add to your arsenal. Since you’ll typically have to create them quickly while talking, keeping them simple is vital. Here are a few tips for starting to think about and design them. To keep these basic categories straight, we’ll use a picture of the human body as our memory tool.


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1 Observation: Hear, See, Smell, Think, Touch

When you are pushed to discuss something you may not know much about, like a typical mom-and-pop diamond store or a pet shop, you might want use mental observation as your tool. � ink about the scene and consider what you might see, hear, smell, taste or touch. Of course, there’s not much to taste in the diamond store and you may want to avoid the smells in the pet shop, but these mental observations can trigger topics to discuss with your interviewer. Here’s an example:

Interviewer (about 7 minutes into the case): “I think you’ve fully covered the initial structure. Well, let’s take a few min-utes and discuss one of Totally Hip Fashion’s � ve stores. � ey want to improve the customer experience and make the store more e� cient. How would you help them?”

You: “I’ve spent a limited amount of time in women’s clothing stores, but let me talk through the di� erent areas we might see in a typical store and ways to improve them. First, the cus-tomer walks in and I’m sure she sees a sea of clothes and racks. I know from looking into the stores at the mall that nothing seems to be very clearly marked. You have to know what you want and where you are going. Improving the signage could really help. Second, since they are supposed to be hip and current, the right kind of music will be important . . .”

As you work your way through an observation discussion, feel free to write down key words and circle or box them. You can put notes around them to keep yourself on track.

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2 Process Flow

� e next thing you should think about is how something � ows. � ere are many � ows throughout the body: blood, digestion and oxygen come to mind quickly. Businesses are also full of � ows: data to insight, raw materials to product, and inventory to sales. A � ow chart, or some kind of sequential chart, is a very common way to think through a business problem. If you’re interested in working for a company that does a lot of operations work, you’ll particularly want to be ready to create � ow charts during your discussion. When you have to create a � ow on the spot, try to think of the basic steps � rst and then add in more detail later.

One example might be getting approval for a home mortgage. Can you think through the most basic steps? First you have to � ll out forms about your � nancial status, next you need to submit the forms, the bank then reviews them and evaluates your risk, and then you are � nally approved for the mortgage. As you discuss this process with the interviewer, you might add in a due diligence step where the bank

keeps asking for more information, or the � nal step of receiving funds. But don’t hold out for perfection. It’s best that you start working on your paper while talking to the interviewer. As you look at businesses around you, think about the � ows that make them work.


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3 Network Information Flow

Another great mid-case structure is one that maps out how informa-tion might � ow. But since that is not always sequential, it might be better to think about how one hub sends out multiple messages, just like your brain sends di� erent messages to the body: pump the blood, eat the food, and walk across the street. Since many cases now deal with information � ow and technology, considering how a piece of informa-tion or data might � ow through an organization could be very helpful.

4 Individual Perspective or Stakeholder View

Another way to create a small structure is to go back to the human body again—but this time, think of multiple humans. Consider how di� erent people may view a situation or have an interest in a cer-tain outcome. Stakeholder analysis is an excellent way to gain di� er-ent perspectives. Basically, you lay out how di� erent people might be involved in a decision and talk about how they might view it.

For instance, you could think about the decision to roll out a new inventory management system. You might think of the employees who have to enter the data, management who want to manage costs

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better, people within the plant who need more accurate data, the Chief Information O� cer who’s worried about the cost, and � nally, the customers, who won’t experience as many stock outs. I’m sure you can think of more people and their concerns. Building your ability to incorporate multiple perspectives will help you both during the cases and also on the job.

How to Make Mid-Case Structures: Review

1. Can I observe something in my mind? For this topic, is there something unique about the look, sound, feel, smell, taste or touch?

2. Does this discussion lend itself to a process? Is there a clear input and output?

3. Should I be thinking about a � ow of information?

4. Am I considering several perspectives? How does everyone view the problem at hand?


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V I D E O 15 - 05

Creating Charts & Graphs


CREATING CHARTS AND GRAPHS

No discussion of small structures and second level insights would be complete without addressing charts and graphs. You may think of these as only something to review when the interviewer hands you one. But there are some basic ones you can create during your mid-case discussions that will help you quickly organize your data, show o� your analytical skills, and pinpoint insights.

Bar Charts

� e bar chart is my favorite, as it is easy to create quickly and is e� ec-tive at keeping your numbers all together. It’s simple: just draw a stack bar, put your number at the top and then � ll in what you know. You can lay out for the interviewer what you understand and what you need to � nd. Stack bars work well for both cost reduction and revenue growth discussions.

Data Over Time

Another thing to consider is data over time. Simply drawing a chart plotting your data over multiple years can show you some insights. You are also letting the interviewer know that graphs are second nature to you.

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2 x 2s

When you want to bring in several perspectives, using a 2 x 2 can be very helpful. Just try not to become a 2 x 2 addict who attempts to turn every discussion into two dimensions and four boxes. A common situation that lends itself to a 2 x 2 is that of a company deciding which projects to roll out. On one dimension you put the pay-o� . How much value will these projects bring to the company? � e other dimension is the cost or di� culty of rolling out the project. Either dimension can be low or high. If you arrange the chart properly you’ll have your easy-to-roll-out, high-impact projects in the upper right hand corner. � is set of projects would be your high priority list.

As we’ve discussed, being e� ective in the middle of the case is power-fully driven by using neat, well-organized notes and being structured, just like in the beginning of the case. So think about ways you can use these simple structures as you practice various cases. � e best way to master simple structures is to go back and do old cases a second time. � e more you use small structures, the easier it will be to drive to second level insights.


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HOMEWORK 15

Review all of the sample drawings and methods for organizing your thoughts. Practice drawing each one individually and then choose 2–3 that are easy for you to remember and use. Try using these small struc-tures in your next few cases. Look to add more mid-case structures to your skill set over time.

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using your notes and mid-case structuresusing your notes and mid-case structures a fter you’ve...

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