MAD Skills Practice System

Practice Leads to Improvement

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:

• Organisation:
• What business are they really in?
• Situation:
• Complication:
• Core problem:
• Root cause:
• Decision required:
• Success looks like:
• Case characteristics:
• Questions we need to answer:

Don't 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, please review your analysis or decision logic.

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.