Part 7: Defining the Problem Statement, and Structuring with MECE

1) Establish the need: the goal and second-order goals, the sponsor, who benefits (shareholders care about pricing because of profit). 2) Contextualise: constraints - the other side of the solution coin - prior attempts, lessons, watch-outs. 3) Define the statement: one problem or nested ones, their hierarchy, requirements for success (KPIs, time span). Example: a company that must show a path to profit in six months for an IPO cannot use a five-year M&A plan. 'A bit of an art and less of a science.'

Disaggregation breaks the boulder into chunks. Mutually exclusive = no overlap; collectively exhaustive = nothing left out. Heights: (<4, 4-5, 5-6) fails on the overlap at 5 and the missing >6; (<4, 4-6, >6) is MECE. Supply chain late to distributors: loading at the factory, en route, offloading - and a set can be exclusive without being exhaustive. Tip: think linearly, step by step or chronologically.