Good morning, I'm Lao Yuan.
Around the project manager, there are many problems encountered every day.
The project is not progressing smoothly, the established KPIs cannot be completed, and there are problems in the multi-party coordination of the project...etc.
When we encounter this kind of situation, the problem we see on the surface is often not the real problem, but the phenomenon that causes the problem is the real problem.
This is the case when looking at the essence through phenomena.
If you can't recognize what the real problem is, then you can't find the right solution.
Today, Laoyuan shares a way of thinking advocated by McKinsey - the MECE rule . Solve your logic confusion and can't find the root problem.
1. About the MECE analysis method
01 What is MECE analysis?
The "Pyramid Principle" was first proposed by consultants from McKinsey & Company, who is also the author of this book.
Recently, because of the secrets of McKinsey’s work, Lao Yuan started to read it again. He happened to see the MECE analysis method, which is also the source of inspiration for Lao Yuan’s article today.
Many people may ask, what is MECE used for? It provides a way of thinking and answering questions.
Not intuitive enough? It can be found from its full name Mutually Exclusive Collectively Exhaustive, that is, "mutually independent and completely exhaustive". ME: Each part is independent of each other, there is no overlap, and there is exclusivity. CE: All parts are exhausted, nothing is omitted.
02 Why use MECE?
From a macro perspective, we need to use thinking models and tools to help us think and make decisions;
From an application point of view, in daily work, whether you are a product manager or a project manager, you have extremely high requirements for logical ability, and MECE can just help you in this regard.
Carrying out the overall process of project management, dismantling and optimizing each link, what situations will be encountered, what resources need to be coordinated, and which parties need to be communicated, can you fully understand it?
Or it is common for product managers, such as sorting out the registration and login process of a website or APP, you need to consider all possible factors.
For example, how to prompt if the account does not exist, how to set the verification code, how to set the password save and update, and how to prompt if the password is wrong?
Like project management, in the process of sorting out the product process, it is necessary to clearly consider the initial state, normal state, boundary state, and error state of the product.
2. How to use MECE
If you know it's useless, it's really useful if you know how to use it. So how to use it is usually the most concerned issue for everyone.
I will not talk about particularly complicated concepts, because I may not understand it after explaining it, and it is useless if I understand it, so today I will only talk about practical applications.
Using the MECE analysis method usually starts with a top-level question and decomposes it layer by layer, so in actual application, you only need to keep asking yourself two questions:
1. Did I take all possible factors into consideration, and did I miss anything? If there is, go find it again. 2. Are there any overlaps between these factors? If so, deduplicate.
01 Taxonomy commonly used in MECE analysis.
There are 5 common ways of thinking in MECE, and you can try to substitute them in practice to solve practical work problems. Practice makes perfect.
Dichotomy method, process method, element method, formula method, two-dimensional four-quadrant method .
How to use these categories?
① The process method is applicable to the execution of any actual event, operation, project process or product will involve the sop process.
② The element method has relatively high requirements for mutual exhaustion, and try not to repeat or omit.
③The formula method is commonly used in data processing, and you will find that it is really fragrant.
④ The two-dimensional quadrant method , which is used by many people for time management or prioritization.
Have you noticed that these thoughts are actually connected with time management, four-quadrant method and wbs disassembly.
02 Precautions
It must be noted that thinking tools are not absolutely independent, and of course there are things that MECE cannot do.
For example, it responds slowly because it is static and sometimes cannot keep up with changes. What should I do?
Combining induction and deduction, use MECE to draw out logic, use induction and deduction to perform dynamic drills, two swords combine!
Of course, it is not limited to only one combination. Just use it according to the actual project situation.
3. IBM internal training materials: McKinsey work secrets
There are tens of millions of mental models, and you can't master them immediately after reading an article.
I just hope that through this article, I can help you open up your mind and accumulate more thinking models. Sometimes you encounter bottlenecks, change your mind, and the sea and the sky will be brighter.
Finally, I would like to share with you an IBM internal training material: McKinsey’s work secrets, there are too many contents, Lao Yuan uploads a few, if necessary, add Lao Yuan’s WeChat, and note "McKinsey" to get the complete PPT content.
————
I am Lao Yuan, welcome to follow my official account [ Project Manager Lao Yuan], every day there will be dry goods sharing of project management cases .