Basics Training Manual
Discover Your Mad Skill
Case-Solving Competition Masterclass
The Basics, Structure & Frameworks for Winning Case-Solving Solutions
A practical training manual for case-solving competition teams
Cam Welsh
Emeritus Professor | Coach & Mentor to Aspiring Professionals | Helping the Next Generation Discover Their “Mad Skills”
How to Use This Manual
Business case competitions are not won by knowing the most frameworks.
They are won by knowing which questions to ask, which problems to solve, which tools to use, which ideas to pursue, and how to turn all of that thinking into a clear recommendation that a judge can believe.
This manual is designed to help you build those skills.
The goal is not to memorise a formula for solving every case. No such formula exists.
Instead, you will learn a repeatable process for:
DECIPHER → ANALYZE → DEVELOP → DECIDE → RECOMMEND → IMPLEMENT → COMMUNICATE
The process provides structure without taking away the judgment, creativity, and critical thinking that make case competitions valuable.
Before you decide which framework to use, you need to understand what kind of case you are facing. The characteristics of the case should influence your questions, your analysis, your alternatives, and ultimately your recommendation.
The better you become at deciphering cases, the less you will rely on frameworks as recipes and the more you will use them as strategic tools.
Part I: The Discover Your Mad Skills Mindset
Chapter 1: What Does a Winning Case Solution Look Like?
One of the most common questions I get when coaching case teams is:
What does a winning solution actually look like?
Most teams can build something decent.
It is logical. It contains analysis. It has a recommendation. It may even contain some good ideas. But decent does not necessarily win.
Over 20 years of coaching case-solving teams, I have seen that the difference is rarely about having the fanciest idea. Winning teams are better at turning their thinking into a clear, structured, supported, realistic, and implementable solution. That requires a process.
The Winning Solution
A winning solution should be:
1. Clear
· The judges understand the problem, the recommendation, and why you selected it.
2. Insightful
· You do more than repeat information from the case. You explain what the information means.
3. Supported
· Your recommendation is supported by analysis, evidence, and logic.
4. Realistic
· The organisation could actually pursue your solution.
5. Feasible
· The organisation has, or can reasonably acquire, the capabilities and resources required.
6. Implementable
· You explain how the organisation can make the recommendation happen.
7. Measurable
· You explain how the organisation will know whether it has succeeded.
8. Persuasively communicated
· The team communicates the solution with confidence, energy, and credibility.
Your goal is not simply to answer the case. Your goal is to make the judges think:
“That is the problem. That is the best solution. And I can see how they would actually make it happen.”
The Winning Solution Test
Before you finalize your presentation, ask:
· Can the judges understand it?
· Can they believe it?
· Can the organization execute it?
· Can the organization measure it?
If the answer to any of these questions is no, the solution is not finished.
Chapter 2: Coachability: The Foundation of Your Mad Skills
Case competitions are designed to expose weaknesses.
You will make mistakes. Your analysis will sometimes be wrong. Your recommendation will sometimes have holes. A judge will ask the question you hoped nobody would ask. A coach will tell you that the argument you spent two hours building doesn’t work.
That is not a failure of the process. That is the process.
One of the most important characteristics of successful case competitors is coachability.
Coachability means being willing to:
· be wrong;
· hear uncomfortable feedback;
· consider another perspective;
· change your approach;
· test the new approach;
· reflect on what happened;
· and try again.
The Coachability Cycle
PRACTICE à GET FEEDBACK à APPLY THE FEEDBACK à REFLECT à PRACTICE AGAIN
The objective isn’t to avoid mistakes. The objective is to recover from them faster and learn from them better.
Discover Your Mad Skills Principle
Feedback is fuel.
Do not collect feedback simply to hear it. Use it.
The Four Ps
Coachability becomes much more useful when it becomes operational.
My foundation for effective case teams is the Four Ps:
1. Preparation
· Read and understand the case.
· Come prepared to contribute.
· Do your individual thinking before the team discussion whenever possible.
· Pre-resolve solo, then collide ideas.
2. Participation
· Every team member should contribute.
· A team of four with three silent members is not a four-person team.
· Different perspectives are one of the reasons teams exist.
3. Presence
· Be fully present.
· Case solving requires attention. You cannot contribute your best thinking if you are distracted, disengaged, or mentally somewhere else.
4. Promptness
· Deadlines matter.
· In competition, being late can affect the entire team.
· Respect the clock.
PART II: Decipher The Case
Chapter 3: Don’t Solve the Case Until You Understand the Case
Before you reach for a framework, stop. Ask:
What is this case really about?
A case may contain:
· declining sales;
· a new competitor;
· unhappy employees;
· changing customer preferences;
· financial problems;
· operational challenges;
· technological disruption;
· sustainability concerns;
· or dozens of other facts.
But the case rarely asks you to solve all of them.
Your first job is to decipher the case.
What Does “Decipher” Mean?
Deciphering means turning a large amount of information into a clear understanding of:
1. What is happening?
2. Why does it matter?
3. What is the real problem?
4. What decision needs to be made?
5. What constraints matter?
6. What does success look like?
The objective is not to analyse everything. The objective is to identify what deserves analysis.
The Deciphering Questions
Before beginning detailed analysis, ask:
The Organization
· Who are we advising?
· What does the organisation actually do?
· How does it create value?
· How does it make money or create impact?
· Who are its most important stakeholders?
The Situation
· What is happening now?
· What has changed?
· What is driving the change?
· What happens if nothing changes?
The Problem
· What is the central challenge?
· What is the symptom?
· What is the root cause?
· Which issue matters most?
The Decision
· What decision must management make?
· What are they deciding between?
· What constraints exist?
· What criteria should determine the decision?
The Future
· What happens if the organisation succeeds?
· What happens if it fails?
· What would the organisation need to accomplish for the solution to work?
Deciphering Case Characteristics
Not every case should be solved the same way. A major case-solving skill is recognising the characteristics of the case.
Ask yourself:
Is this primarily a growth problem?
You may need to investigate:
· customers;
· markets;
· products;
· channels;
· pricing;
· competitive position;
· market size.
Is this primarily a profitability problem?
You may need to investigate:
· revenue;
· pricing;
· volume;
· costs;
· margins;
· operations;
· customer mix.
Is this primarily a strategic choice?
You may need to focus heavily on:
· alternatives;
· decision criteria;
· strategic fit;
· capabilities;
· risk;
· financial impact.
Is this primarily an implementation problem?
The analysis may be less about finding the idea and more about determining:
· resources;
· capabilities;
· timing;
· ownership;
· dependencies;
· risks;
· KPIs.
Is this a stakeholder problem?
You may need to understand:
· stakeholder interests;
· competing objectives;
· power;
· influence;
· incentives;
· trade-offs.
Is this a crisis?
Speed, risk, liquidity, reputation, and immediate action may matter more than long-term optimisation.
The point is not to label the case perfectly. The point is to recognise:
What kind of thinking does this case require?
The Case-Solving Rule
Don’t start with a framework. Start with a question.
Then select the framework that helps answer that question.
Chapter 4: What Business Are They Really In?
Before analysing an organisation, understand its business model.
One of the most useful questions you can ask is:
What business is this organisation really in?
The obvious answer may not be the strategic answer. For example, an organisation may appear to sell a particular product, but the real source of value may be:
· convenience;
· access;
· relationships;
· data;
· distribution;
· trust;
· experience;
· infrastructure;
· or another capability.
The answer changes the way you analyse the organisation.
The Business Decode
Complete this sentence:
This organization is really in the business of __________ because __________.
Then answer:
The organization creates value by __________.
The organization captures value by __________.
Its most important customers/stakeholders are __________.
Its biggest current challenge is __________.
This simple exercise can prevent your team from analysing the wrong problem.
PART III: Build The Case-Solving Architecture
Chapter 5: The Case-Solving Process
A strong case solution follows a logical progression.
1. DECIPHER
· What is really happening?
2. ANALYZE
· What do we need to understand?
3. DEVELOP
· What could the organisation do?
4. DECIDE
· Which alternative is best?
5. RECOMMEND
· What exactly should the organisation do?
6. IMPLEMENT
· How will it happen?
7. MEASURE
· How will we know it worked?
8. COMMUNICATE
· How will we make the solution clear and persuasive?
This sequence is not a rigid formula. It is a thinking architecture. Sometimes you will move backwards. A new insight may change your problem statement. A financial analysis may cause you to rethink an alternative. A capability constraint may eliminate an otherwise attractive option.
Good case teams iterate.
PART IV: Analysis
Chapter 6: Analysis Is Not a Fact Dump
One of the most common problems in case competitions is analysis that is really just information.
Teams find facts. They put those facts on slides. They add graphs. They add frameworks. Then they make a recommendation. The problem?
The analysis never actually explains why the recommendation is right.
Analysis should move you from:
FACTS → ISSUES → INSIGHTS → ALTERNATIVES → DECISION
The Analysis Ladder
Step 1: Fact
· What do we know?
Step 2: Observation
· What does the information show?
Step 3: Insight
· What does that tell us that isn’t immediately obvious?
Step 4: Implication
· Why does it matter to the organisation?
Step 5: Decision
· What should we do differently because of it?
An Example
Fact: Customer retention has declined.
Observation: Existing customers are leaving at a higher rate.
Insight: The organisation may be losing value not because acquisition is weak, but because the current customer experience is failing to retain customers.
Implication: Investing heavily in acquiring more customers may not solve the underlying profitability problem.
Decision: Prioritise retention before significantly increasing acquisition spending.
That is ANALYSIS!
Chapter 7: Choosing the Right Framework
Frameworks are useful. But frameworks are not answers. They are lenses. Your job is to choose the lens that helps you see something important.
SWOT
Use SWOT to examine:
Internal
· Strengths
· Weaknesses
External
· Opportunities
· Threats
The objective isn’t to create four boxes. The objective is to identify strategic implications.
Ask: So what?
Value Chain
Use the value chain to investigate:
· where value is created;
· where value is lost;
· capabilities;
· activities;
· sources of competitive advantage;
· missing capabilities.
Porter’s Five Forces
Use it to understand competitive pressures. Ask:
· How intense is rivalry?
· How powerful are customers?
· How powerful are suppliers?
· How easy is entry?
· Are substitutes becoming more attractive?
PESTLE
Use PESTLE to investigate broader external forces:
· Political
· Economic
· Technological
· Legal
· Environmental
Again: The framework isn’t the insight. The insight comes from interpreting what the framework reveals.
Financial Analysis
If the audience is senior management, financial impact will often be critical. Ask:
· What happens to revenue?
· What happens to costs?
· What happens to margins?
· What happens to profit?
· What investment is required?
· How quickly does the investment pay back?
· What happens under different assumptions?
Use appropriate tools such as:
· ratio analysis;
· ROI;
· NPV;
· pro forma statements;
· sensitivity analysis.
The financial analysis should answer a strategic question: Is the impact large enough to matter to this organisation and this audience?
The Framework Selection Test
Before using a framework, ask:
- What question am I trying to answer?
- Will this framework help me answer it?
- What decision will the answer influence?
- What insight did the framework produce?
- Can I explain the “So What?”
If you cannot answer those questions, don’t use the framework.
PART V: Developing Alternatives
Chapter 8: Alternatives Are Not a Buffet
A common mistake is to create three or four random ideas and then select the one the team likes best. That isn’t strategic decision-making. Alternatives should emerge from your analysis. They should be:
Realistic
· The organisation could actually pursue them.
Implementable
· The organisation could execute them.
MECE
· They should be: Mutually Exclusive and Collectively Exhaustive
· In other words: each option is meaningfully different, and the options collectively cover the reasonable strategic choices.
Don’t Build a Straw Man
One of the worst habits in case competitions is creating:
· one good idea;
· one mediocre idea;
· one obviously terrible idea.
Then the team announces:
“Clearly, Option A wins.”
Of course it does. That doesn’t demonstrate strategic thinking.
The alternatives should all be credible. Your recommendation should win because it is better, not because the other alternatives are ridiculous.
Chapter 9: Decision Criteria
Decision criteria are the standards you use to judge alternatives. The criteria should connect directly to:
· the organisation’s mission;
· strategy;
· culture;
· values;
· capabilities;
· financial objectives;
· stakeholders;
· and the problem you identified.
Possible criteria include:
· profitability;
· revenue growth;
· ROI;
· customer satisfaction;
· brand strength;
· capability requirements;
· risk;
· speed of implementation;
· employee impact;
· safety;
· environmental impact;
· flexibility.
The Decision Criteria Test
For every criterion, ask:
Why does this matter to this organisation?
Then:
Can we actually compare the alternatives against it?
Finally:
Does it connect to the problem we are trying to solve?
If not, reconsider the criterion.
The Alternative Evaluation
Your comparison might look like:
|
Decision Criterion |
Alternative A |
Alternative B |
Alternative C |
|
Strategic fit |
High |
Medium |
High |
|
Financial impact |
High |
High |
Medium |
|
Capability fit |
Medium |
High |
Low |
|
Risk |
Medium |
Low |
High |
|
Implementation speed |
High |
Medium |
Low |
|
Overall |
Best |
Strong |
Weak |
The purpose is not to make the table look sophisticated. The purpose is to make your logic visible. The judge should be able to see: Why this alternative wins.
PART VI: Recommendation
Chapter 10: Make the Recommendation Feel Inevitable
Your recommendation should not feel like a surprise. By the time you reach it, the judges should already understand:
· the problem;
· the root cause;
· the important insights;
· the available choices;
· and the criteria that matter.
Your recommendation is the logical conclusion.
The Recommendation Formula
Keep the recommendation crisp:
We recommend [ACTION] because [KEY REASON], which will deliver [KEY IMPACT].
Then prove it.
The recommendation should be supported by:
· strategic logic;
· financial impact;
· feasibility;
· implementation requirements;
· risk considerations.
Financial Proof
Ask:
- How much will it cost?
- What value will it create?
- What happens to revenue?
- What happens to costs?
- What happens to profit?
- What are the key assumptions?
- What happens if the assumptions are wrong?
- Don’t underestimate the solution. The scale of your investment should match the scale of the problem.
PART VII: Implementation
Chapter 11: A Recommendation Isn’t a Strategy Until You Can Execute It
One of the biggest differences between an interesting idea and a winning case solution is implementation.
The judges need to see: How does the organisation make this happen?
The Implementation Framework
1. WHAT?
· What needs to happen?
· Break the recommendation into specific actions.
2. WHO?
· Who owns each action?
o Think beyond the CEO.
· Consider:
o departments;
o managers;
o employees;
o external partners;
o consultants;
o suppliers;
o new hires.
3. WHEN?
· What happens:
o immediately;
o next week;
o next month;
o next quarter;
o over the next year?
4. HOW?
· What resources and capabilities are required?
5. RISK
· What could prevent the plan from succeeding?
6. MITIGATION
· What will you do to reduce that risk?
7. KPI
· How will you know whether it is working?
Implementation Should Be Visual
Whenever possible, show implementation using:
· timelines;
· Gantt charts;
· phased plans;
· critical paths;
· tables;
· ownership structures.
Don’t make the judge read a paragraph explaining the implementation. Show it.
KPIs
KPIs should measure whether the strategy is actually working. Consider both:
Leading indicators
· Signals that tell you what is likely to happen.
Lagging indicators
· Results that tell you what actually happened.
For example:
Leading:
· customer adoption;
· employee training completion;
· conversion rate;
· implementation milestones.
Lagging:
· revenue;
· profit;
· retention;
· customer satisfaction.
A good implementation plan tells the organisation:
· What are we doing?
· How will we know whether it worked?
PART VIII: Risk & Mitigation
Chapter 12: Don’t Hide the Risk
Risk should not be an afterthought. It belongs in your analysis because risk can affect which alternative is best.
Strategic Risk
Focus on risks that could prevent the strategy from succeeding. Rank them according to:
Impact × Probability
Start with the risks that matter most.
Risk → Mitigation
Every major risk should connect to a concrete mitigation.
For example:
· Risk: Customer adoption is slower than expected.
· Mitigation: Launch a pilot before full rollout.
· Implementation: Pilot with selected customers in Month 1.
· Owner: Marketing + Operations.
· KPI: Adoption rate and customer retention.
This is much stronger than: “We will monitor customer adoption.”
The Risk Rule
If the mitigation doesn’t appear somewhere in the implementation plan, it probably isn’t a real mitigation.
Risk makes your recommendation stronger when it demonstrates that you understand what could go wrong and have planned for it.
PART IX: Future Considerations
Chapter 13: Bold Ideas Without Confusing the Judges
Sometimes your team identifies a great idea that is outside the immediate scope or timeframe of the case. That’s okay. But you need to distinguish between:
NOW
· This is our recommendation, and
LATER
· These are opportunities we recommend exploring after the core strategy succeeds.
The Not-Now Framework
Start by saying:
“Our recommendation today is…”
Restate the core recommendation.
Then:
“Once this strategy is successfully implemented, we would recommend exploring…”
Clearly label future ideas:
· Future Considerations
· Phase Two
· Long-Term Opportunities
· Areas for Further Exploration
The judges should never be unsure about what you are actually recommending.
PART X: Building The Presentation
Chapter 14: The Opening
Your title slide is often visible longer than any other slide.
Don’t waste that opportunity.
The title slide should immediately communicate:
- what the presentation is about;
- who the audience is;
- who your team is;
- what role you are playing;
- the date;
- and the context.
Your Audience Is a Person
Don’t just write:
ACME Corporation
Define the actual decision-maker.
For example: To: CEO and CFO, ACME Corporation or:To: VP Operations, facing declining margins
This changes how the judges interpret the rest of your presentation. You are not presenting to a company. You are advising people in specific roles who have specific concerns.
Chapter 15: Story, Connection & SCQA
A strong opening can connect the case to:
· the organisation’s mission;
· the customer;
· the product;
· the service;
· the human impact;
· or a relevant experience.
But the connection must serve the case. Don’t tell an interesting story simply because it is interesting. The opening should connect to something important and personal and emotional if possible.
SCQA
A useful structure for organising the opening is:
Situation
· What is happening?
· The situation should be clear and indisputable.
Complication
· What has changed?
· Where is the tension?
· What makes the current situation unsustainable?
Question
· What needs to be solved?
Answer
· What is your solution?
SCQA creates a logical bridge between context and recommendation.
Executive Summary
The judges want to understand quickly:
· What is happening?
· What matters?
· What do you recommend?
· What will it accomplish?
Your executive summary gives them the destination before you take them through the journey. A good executive summary can include:
· Problem
· High-Level Recommendation
· Key Actions
· Expected Impact
Keep it crisp.
PART XI: The Presentation Structure
Chapter 16: The Winning Case Story
Your overall presentation can follow:
· Position the audience and your role.
2. Executive Summary
· Give the judges the destination.
3. Situation
· Set the context.
4. Complication
· Define the tension.
5. Question
· Define the decision.
6. Analysis
· Explain what you discovered.
7. Alternatives
· Show what the organisation could do.
8. Decision Criteria
· Explain how you evaluated the choices.
9. Recommendation
· State what you recommend.
10. Financial Impact
· Show that it works economically.
11. Implementation
· Show how it gets done.
12. Risk & Mitigation
· Show that you’ve thought about what could go wrong.
13. Future Considerations
· Separate later opportunities from today’s recommendation.
14. Close
· Reconnect to the story and reinforce the value.
15. Q&A
· Defend the solution.
Not every case requires every section. Deciphering the case determines what belongs.
PART XII: The Close
Chapter 17: Don’t End. Close.
Many teams finish their presentation as though they are relieved it is over.
They say:
“Thank you. We are now open the floor for questions.”
The energy disappears. Don’t do that. Your final moments are your final opportunity to persuade the judges.
Complete the Circle
If you opened with:
- a customer;
- a story;
- a problem;
- a question;
- a human impact;
return to it.
Show how your recommendation changes the situation.
Tie together:
Problem → Analysis → Decision → Recommendation → Implementation → Impact
Then deliver the big-picture benefit.
The Mic-Drop Close
Your final moments should communicate:
- This is what matters.
- This is what we recommend.
- This is what it will accomplish.
Then thank the judges with confidence and energy. Do not apologise. Do not sound relieved. Don’t weaken the ending with:
“Well, that’s everything.”
or:
“We now open the floor for questions.”
Land the recommendation. Then transition into Q&A confidently.
Q&A Preparation
Keep your strongest summary slide visible during Q&A when appropriate.
It should reinforce
- the recommendation;
- the major actions;
- the key benefits;
- the impact.
This gives the judges a visual anchor while they question you. It also helps keep the conversation connected to your solution.
PART XIII: The Discover Your Mad Skills Case-Solving Checklist
Before submitting your presentation, work through the following.
DECIPHER
☐ Do we understand what the case is really asking?
☐ Have we identified the central problem?
☐ Have we separated symptoms from root causes?
☐ Do we understand what kind of case this is?
☐ Have we identified the decision that needs to be made?
☐ Do we understand what success looks like?
ANALYZE
☐ Do we understand the organisation?
☐ Do we know what business it is really in?
☐ Have we turned facts into insights?
☐ Does every major piece of analysis answer a question?
☐ Are our frameworks being used as lenses rather than checkboxes?
☐ Can we explain the “so what?”
☐ Have we considered financial impact?
ALTERNATIVES
☐ Did our alternatives emerge from our analysis?
☐ Are they realistic?
☐ Are they implementable?
☐ Are they meaningfully different?
☐ Are they MECE?
☐ Are our decision criteria clear?
☐ Are the criteria connected to the problem?
RECOMMENDATION
☐ Is our recommendation clear?
☐ Is it obvious why it wins?
☐ Have we supported it financially?
☐ Does it fit the organisation’s capabilities?
☐ Is it realistic?
IMPLEMENTATION
☐ Do we know what happens first?
☐ Do we know who owns each step?
☐ Do we have realistic timelines?
☐ Have we identified required resources?
☐ Are the costs realistic?
☐ Do we have KPIs?
☐ Do we have leading and lagging indicators?
RISK
☐ Have we identified the most important strategic risks?
☐ Have we prioritised them?
☐ Does every major risk have a mitigation?
☐ Is the mitigation part of implementation?
COMMUNICATION
☐ Is our title slide engaging?
☐ Is the audience clearly defined?
☐ Is our opening connected to the case?
☐ Is our executive summary clear?
☐ Does our story have a logical flow?
☐ Does our close reconnect to the opening?
☐ Is our recommendation unmistakable?
☐ Are we ready for Q&A?
PART XIV: The Mad Skills Practice System
Knowing the framework isn’t enough. You have to practice using it. The objective of practice is not perfection. It is repeated recovery and improvement.
Practice 1 — Decipher the Case
Take a case and give yourself 10 minutes.
Write only:
- Organization:
- What business are they really in?
- Situation:
- Complication:
- Core problem:
- Root cause:
- Decision required:
- Success looks like:
- Case characteristics:
- Questions we need to answer:
Do not build a solution yet. The purpose is to practice deciphering.
Practice 2 — Framework Selection
Take the questions from Practice 1.
For each question, identify:
Question → Framework → Expected Insight → Decision Impact
If you cannot explain what the framework will help you discover, don’t use it.
Practice 3 — Insight Building
Take five facts from a case.
For each:
Fact → Observation → Insight → Implication → Decision
This exercise teaches you to stop reporting information and start analysing it.
Practice 4 — Alternative Generation
Create three realistic alternatives.
Then ask:
- Are they meaningfully different?
- Are they realistic?
- Are they implementable?
- Are they MECE?
- What decision criteria will distinguish them?
Practice 5 — The Recommendation Test
Give your recommendation to someone who has not seen your analysis.
Ask: “Does this recommendation feel inevitable based on the evidence?”
If the answer is no, your analysis or decision logic probably needs work.
Practice 6 — Implementation Challenge
Take your recommendation and answer:
- What?
- Who?
- When?
- How?
- Cost?
- Risk?
- Mitigation?
- KPI?
If you can’t answer these questions, you don’t yet have an implementable recommendation.
FINAL CHAPTER: From Good to Winning
Case competitions are not about predicting what the judges want. They are about building a solution that makes sense. The strongest teams understand that case solving is not a collection of disconnected tools.
It is a process.
· DECIPHER the case. They identify what matters.
· ANALYSE the right questions.
· TURN facts into insights.
· Develop realistic ALTERNATIVES.
· ESTABLISH meaningful criteria.
· DECIDE based on evidence rather than preference.
· Make a clear RECOMMENDATION.
· Show how to IMPLEMENT it.
· Identify RISKS and build mitigation into the plan.
· MEASURE success.
· COMMUNICATE the solution so the judges understand not just what they recommend, but why it matters and how it will work.
That is the difference between solving a case and solving it well. And ultimately, that is what Discover Your Mad Skills is about.
· Not memorising more frameworks. Not trying to sound smarter. Not creating more slides.
· It is about learning how to think. Learning how to choose. Learning how to communicate. Learning how to recover. Learning how to turn your own capabilities into skills that perform under pressure.
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