Frameworks, and why we do not teach them
No frameworks to memorise. The acumen to crack any case, in any industry, from first principles: here is the method, why canned frameworks fail, and what to do instead of each one.
Crack any case in five moves
Instead of hunting for the right framework, understand the business in front of you and build a structure that fits this exact question.
Pin the question
What decision does the client face, what does success look like, and by when? Say it back in one sentence and ask only the clarifying questions that change the answer.
Write the maths of the goal
Every business question is a number moving: profit is revenue minus cost, revenue is customers x purchases x price. Break the goal into drivers until each branch is something you can measure. That is your structure, and it fits because it comes from this question.
Use what you know about the business
How this business makes money, its value chain, its unit economics and its key measures tell you which branches matter here. Put those first and say why: that is your hypothesis.
Find the facts that decide it
Ask for or estimate the numbers that test your hypothesis, do the maths cleanly, read the one number that matters in each exhibit, and change your mind when the data says so.
Say so what
Answer first: the decision, two or three reasons with numbers, the main risk and the next step.
Why canned frameworks fail in interviews
- It is generic. A list that fits every case says nothing about this one. The interviewer has heard the same buckets many times that week and learns nothing about how you think.
- It misses the driver that matters. A fixed list puts every branch on the same level, so the one driver that decides this case sits next to five that do not. You spend the case collecting numbers instead of testing an idea.
- It sounds rehearsed. Naming a framework and reading its boxes shows you learned a list. It also leaves you stuck the moment a case does not match any list, which is exactly the kind of case final rounds use.
The ideas inside some frameworks are worth knowing, so each page below keeps the idea, phrased as questions that fall out of the maths of the goal, and shows a worked case built the other way.
How we build acumen instead
A tailored structure needs two things: the five moves, and knowing how the business in the case makes money. That is what the course trains.
The frameworks you will hear about
Know the words, so you recognise them when an interviewer uses them. Each page says what the framework is, the idea worth keeping, why reaching for it fails, and a worked case showing what to do instead.
Issue tree and MECE
StructuringThe issue tree is the shape a good structure takes, not a template to fill in.
Instead: Make the first split the maths of the goal, then branch further only where the facts point.
Worked case: Orders falling at a food delivery appPyramid Principle
StructuringAnswer first, then the reasons that decide it: a habit worth keeping, not a shape to fill.
Instead: Pick the reasons that would change the decision if they were different, and give each one its number.
Worked case: Should a regional airline launch a holiday route?Profit tree
ProfitabilityProfit equals revenue minus cost: the right start, but only when you build it for this business.
Instead: Write profit in the units this business uses (rooms, flights, members), check which side moved, and expand only that side.
Worked case: A hotel chain's profit falls while rooms stay fullRevenue driver tree
ProfitabilityPrice times quantity is a start; the real drivers depend on how this business earns.
Instead: Write revenue the way this business earns it, then find which driver changed.
Worked case: Growth slows at a streaming serviceCost structure
CostFixed and variable is only a start; build cost from the steps this business runs.
Instead: Write the cost of one unit, step by step through the operation, and attack the biggest step you can change.
Worked case: A parcel company must match a cheaper rivalUnit economics
ProfitabilityThe revenue and cost of one unit: the right maths when the unit matches the decision.
Instead: Choose the unit that matches the decision, write its maths, and find the driver inside it that is out of line.
Worked case: A fast-growing meal kit company that loses moneyThe three Cs
MarketCustomers, company and competitors: reminders of where to look, not a structure.
Instead: Write the maths of success for this decision, then use customers, company and competitors only to check you have not missed a driver.
Worked case: A coffee chain looks at a neighbouring countryPorter's Five Forces
MarketFive pressures on industry profit: useful vocabulary, but list all five and you miss the one that decides.
Instead: Write the return the client needs, then ask which pressure moves price or volume enough to change it.
Worked case: Should an investor build a new cement plant?Porter's generic strategies
StrategyLow cost, being different, or a niche: a useful test of clarity, not an answer.
Instead: Find which customers the client is losing and winning, and whose economics it can match.
Worked case: A mid-priced supermarket squeezed from both sidesValue chain
OperationsA firm's activities in order: useful for finding where money is lost, if you follow the money.
Instead: Write the maths of the profit that moved, then follow it to the step of the chain where it is made or lost.
Worked case: A fashion retailer's margin slipsBCG growth-share matrix
StrategyGrowth and share in four boxes: a quick sort that ignores profit, so never the answer.
Instead: Size what each investment would add in profit, compare it with what it costs, and rank by return.
Worked case: Which two brands get the money?Ansoff matrix
StrategyFour growth routes in a grid: a reminder of options, which only the gap maths can rank.
Instead: Size the gap to the target, size the best option on each route, and rank by value and risk.
Worked case: An online test prep company wants 50% more revenueGrowth levers
StrategyMore customers, more per customer, better price: correct, but it needs the gap maths to rank.
Instead: Write the growth equation this business runs on, size each term, and lead with the biggest one you can move.
Worked case: A software company wants 80 million of recurring revenueAttractive, win, economics
StrategyThree entry questions that are right in spirit, but useless until they hold this market's numbers.
Instead: Write how profit is made in this business, then ask which driver decides whether we can win.
Worked case: A payments firm eyes card machines abroadFour deal questions worth knowing, but the value maths decides the deal.
Instead: Write what the target is worth to us in this industry's terms, compare it with the price, and test the input that swings it most.
Worked case: A drug maker considers buying a one-drug biotechMcKinsey 7S
OrganizationSeven parts of an organisation that should fit: a checklist, not a diagnosis.
Instead: Start from the performance number that slipped, find where it slipped, then ask which part of the organisation caused it.
Worked case: A merged insurer's results slipSWOT
StrategyStrengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats: a list that ranks nothing.
Instead: Write the maths of the problem, find the number that will break, and size the options that fix it.
Worked case: A regional newspaper with shrinking print salesPESTEL
MarketSix kinds of outside factor: keep the one or two that change the maths, drop the rest.
Instead: Write the maths of the decision and keep only the outside factors that move one of its inputs, sized.
Worked case: Should a utility build a solar farm?The four Ps (and seven Ps)
MarketingProduct, price, place, promotion: launch vocabulary, but the launch maths decides.
Instead: Write the launch profit maths, find the input that breaks it, and set the lever that fixes that input.
Worked case: Launching a premium plant-based yogurtPricing lenses
PricingCost, competitors and value: the value maths for this customer is what sets the price.
Instead: Work out what the product is worth to this customer in money, decide what share to capture, and check it against how they buy.
Worked case: Pricing a sensor that predicts machine failuresBreakeven
QuantitativeThe volume where profit is zero: only useful next to what this business can really sell.
Instead: Work out breakeven in the measure this business uses (such as seats filled), then test it against what similar operations achieve.
Worked case: Should a cinema fit premium recliner seats?Bottleneck thinking
OperationsThe slowest step limits output: true, but find the step with maths, not by habit.
Instead: Write the flow maths, measure where items wait, and fix the step that causes the waiting, which may be outside the department in question.
Worked case: Cutting waits in an emergency departmentLearn the five moves
One lesson teaches the method, with two fully worked cases from very different industries.