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PART I: Discover Your Mad Skills Mindset

PART I: Discover Your Mad Skills Mindset

Before learning frameworks, financial models, presentation techniques, or specific case-solving tools, there is something more fundamental to develop: the mindset of a case solver.

Case competitions are not simply tests of business knowledge. They test how you think, how you work with others, how you respond to uncertainty, how you handle pressure, and how quickly you can learn. The chapters in this section establish the foundation for everything that follows.

Chapter 1: What Does a Winning Case Solution Look Like?

Video: Good to Winning: How to Turn a Solid Case Solution into a Podium-Winning One

Central Question

What separates a good case solution from a winning one?

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.

After more than 20 years of coaching successful case-solving teams, I have found that the difference is rarely about having the fanciest idea. Winning teams are usually better at turning their thinking into a solution that is:

Clear, Insightful, Supported, Realistic, Feasible, Implementable, Measurable, & Persuasive

That requires a process.

Why This Matters

Case competitions are not judged on the number of frameworks you use or the amount of information you can put on a slide. Judges are ultimately asking a much simpler question: "Would I trust this team to make this decision?"

Please make sure your solution gives them a reason to say yes. A strong case solution should make the logic easy to follow:

  • Here is the problem.
  • Here is what is causing it.
  • Here is what matters most.
  • Here are the alternatives.
  • Here is our recommendation.
  • Here is why it is the best option.
  • Here is how the organisation can make it happen.
  • Here is how we will know whether it worked.

The more clearly you can connect these pieces, the more credible your solution becomes.

The Eight Characteristics of a Winning Solution

A winning solution should demonstrate eight characteristics.

  • Clear: The judges should understand:

    • What is the problem?

    • What are you recommending?

    • Why did you select this recommendation?

If the judges have to work to figure out your answer, your solution is already losing impact.

  • Insightful: Strong teams do more than repeat information from the case.
    • They explain what the information means.

Data becomes valuable when you turn it into insights that change how you understand the problem or what you should do about it.

  • Supported: Your recommendation should be supported by:

    • Analysis

    • Evidence

    • Logic

    • Relevant assumptions

    • Financial or operational support where appropriate

A good idea without support is simply an opinion.

  • Realistic: Your recommendation should make sense for the organisation. Consider:

    • Its size

    • Its financial position

    • Its capabilities

    • Its market

    • Its customers

    • Its competitive position

    • Its constraints

A theoretically brilliant idea that the organisation cannot realistically pursue is not a winning recommendation.

  • Feasible: The organisation must have or reasonably be able to acquire the capabilities and resources required. Ask:

    • Do they have the people?

    • Do they have the money?

    • Do they have the technology?

    • Do they have the capabilities?

    • Do they have the time?

    • Can they overcome the constraints?

Feasibility turns an attractive idea into a possible one.

  • Implementable: A recommendation is incomplete if you cannot explain how it will happen. Your implementation should provide enough detail to demonstrate that the team has thought beyond the recommendation itself. Consider:

    • What happens first?

    • Who is responsible?

    • What resources are required?

    • What are the major milestones?

    • What risks need to be managed?

  • Measurable: Organisations need to know whether their decisions are working. Identify meaningful measures of success. These might include:

    • Revenue

    • Profit

    • Market share

    • Customer acquisition

    • Customer retention

    • Cost reduction

    • Operational performance

    • Employee measures

    • Strategic milestones

The specific metrics will depend on the case. The principle remains the same: If you cannot tell whether the recommendation is working, you cannot effectively manage it.

  • Persuasively Communicated: Even an excellent solution can fail if the team cannot communicate it effectively. The judges need to understand:

    • What you are recommending

    • Why it matters

    • Why they should believe you

    • Why the organisation can execute it

Your communication therefore becomes part of the solution.

The Winning Solution Test

Before you finalise your case, step back from the details and ask four questions:

Can the judges understand it?

  • Is the problem clear?
  • Is the recommendation obvious?
  • Is the logic easy to follow?

Can the judges believe it?

  • Do you have sufficient evidence?
  • Are your assumptions reasonable?
  • Does your analysis support your conclusions?

Can the organisation execute it?

  • Is the recommendation realistic and feasible?
  • Have you considered resources, capabilities, timing, and risks?

Can the organisation measure it?

  • Have you identified meaningful indicators of success?
  • Can management determine whether the recommendation is delivering the expected results?

If the answer to any of these questions is no, the solution is not finished.

The Difference Between Good and Winning

  • A good team might say: "We recommend expanding into Market X because the market is growing rapidly."
  • A stronger team might say: "We recommend entering Market X because its growth, customer fit, and competitive conditions create an attractive opportunity."
  • A winning team goes further: "We recommend entering Market X through a phased launch focused on Segment Y. This segment represents the strongest customer fit, requires a manageable initial investment, and allows the organisation to validate demand before committing additional capital. We will measure success through customer acquisition, contribution margin, and repeat purchase rates before expanding."

The difference is not necessarily the idea. It is the quality of the thinking surrounding the idea.

Discover Your MAD Skills Principle

Good ideas don't win cases. Well-developed decisions do.

The winning solution is not necessarily the most creative. It is the solution that best connects:

Problem → Insight → Alternatives → Recommendation → Rationale → Implementation → Measurement

That connection is what creates credibility.

A Practical Coaching Test

When coaching a team, I often find it useful to ask them to explain their recommendation without showing me the slides. Give them 30 seconds. Ask: "What is your recommendation, and why is it the best option?" If the answer is complicated, unclear, or filled with disconnected ideas, the problem is probably not the presentation. The thinking may not yet be finished. Once the thinking is clear, the presentation becomes much easier to build.

The Bottom Line

What Does a Winning Case Solution Look Like?
  • A winning solution is more than a good idea. It must be clear, insightful, supported, realistic, feasible, implementable, measurable, and persuasively communicated.
  • Judges need to understand not only what you recommend, but why it is the right decision.
  • Analysis should generate insight rather than repeat information from the case.
  • Recommendations should reflect the organisation's actual resources, capabilities, constraints, and circumstances.
  • Implementation turns an interesting recommendation into something the organisation could actually execute.
  • Measurement demonstrates that you have defined what success looks like.
  • The presentation should make the judges think: "That is the problem. That is the best solution. And I can see how they would actually make it happen."

Before considering the solution complete, apply the Winning Solution Test: Can the judges understand it? Can they believe it? Can the organisation execute it? Can the organisation measure it? If the answer to any of these is no, keep working.

Chapter 2: Coachability: The Foundation of Your Mad Skills

Video: Feedback as Fuel: The Coachability Mindset That Built 180+ Podium Teams

Central Question

How do you turn feedback and mistakes into competitive advantage?

Case-solving 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 does not work.

That is not a failure of the process. That is the process. One of the most important characteristics of successful case-solving competitors is coachability. Coachability is the willingness to recognise that your current approach may not be the best and then do something about it. A coachable competitor is willing to:

  • Be wrong

  • Hear uncomfortable feedback

  • Consider another perspective

  • Change their approach

  • Test the new approach

  • Reflect on what happened

  • Try again

This creates a powerful learning cycle:

PRACTICE → GET FEEDBACK → APPLY THE FEEDBACK → REFLECT → PRACTICE AGAIN

The objective is not to avoid mistakes. The objective is to recover from them faster and learn from them better.

Why Coachability Matters

Case competitions create an unusual learning environment.

  • You have limited time.
  • The information is incomplete.
  • The problem is unfamiliar.
  • Your teammates may disagree with you.
  • Your assumptions may be challenged.
  • The judges may take your solution in a direction you did not anticipate.
  • You therefore cannot rely on knowing everything in advance.
  • You need the ability to adapt.

The strongest teams are not necessarily the teams that make the fewest mistakes. They are often the teams that recognise mistakes quickly, learn from them, and adjust.

Discover Your MAD Skills Principle

Feedback is fuel.

Do not collect feedback to hear it. Use it. There is little value in receiving the same feedback five times if nothing changes. When someone tells you that your recommendation is unclear, don't simply write: "Make recommendation clearer." Ask:

  • Why was it unclear?

  • What did the listener misunderstand?

  • Where did the logic break down?

  • What could I do differently?

  • How can I test whether the revised version works?

Feedback becomes valuable when it changes behaviour.

The Four Ps of Effective Case Teams

Coachability becomes even more useful when it is combined with strong team habits. My foundation for effective case teams is the Four Ps:

1. Preparation - Come prepared to contribute. This means:

  • Read and understand the case.

  • Complete the preparation required.

  • Develop your own initial thinking.

  • Understand the tools and concepts you may need.

  • Be ready to explain and defend your ideas.

Whenever possible: Pre-resolve solo, then collide ideas. Individual thinking before team discussion can prevent the first idea raised in the room from becoming the team's automatic answer. The goal is not to eliminate collaboration. It is to make collaboration better.

2. Participation - Every team member should contribute. A team of four with three silent members is not functioning as a four-person team. Different perspectives are one of the reasons teams exist. Participation means:

  • Contributing ideas

  • Asking questions

  • Challenging assumptions

  • Building on other people's thinking

  • Listening to different perspectives

  • Helping the team move forward

Participation does not mean everyone must speak equally on every issue. It means everyone has a responsibility to contribute to the team's thinking.

3. Presence - Be fully present. Case solving requires attention. You cannot contribute your best thinking if you are distracted, disengaged, or mentally somewhere else. Presence means being engaged with:

  • The case

  • Your teammates

  • The discussion

  • The clock

  • The evolving solution

It also means listening. Sometimes the best contribution you can make is recognising the important point someone else has just raised and helping the team develop it.

4. Promptness - Deadlines matter. In competition, being late can affect the entire team. If one person is late to practice, misses a preparation deadline, or fails to deliver their portion of the work, everyone else may have to compensate. Promptness is therefore not simply about punctuality.

It demonstrates respect for:

  • Your teammates

  • Your coach

  • The process

  • The competition

  • The limited time available: Respect the clock.

Coachability in Action

Imagine your team delivers a practice presentation. The coach says: "Your recommendation is good, but I don't understand why it is better than your second alternative." There are two possible responses.

Response One

  • "We explained that on Slide 12."
  • This is defensive.

This team is trying to prove that it did the work.

Response Two

  • "That's helpful. If you didn't see the difference, we probably haven't made the trade-off clear enough. Let's rethink how we compare the alternatives." 

This is coachable. The second response does not mean the coach is automatically right. It means the team is willing to investigate the feedback rather than immediately defend itself.

Challenge the Feedback Don't Dismiss It

Coachability does not mean unquestioningly accepting everything someone tells you. Good coaches can disagree with you. Judges can misunderstand your argument. Teammates can provide feedback that is not useful. Coachability means being willing to consider the feedback. Ask: "What can we learn from this?"

  • Sometimes the answer is: "The feedback is correct. We need to change."
  • Sometimes it is: "The feedback reveals a communication problem, even though our underlying analysis is correct."
  • And sometimes it is: "We considered the issue carefully and still disagree."

All three can be legitimate outcomes. The important part is that you thought about it rather than dismissed it.

Build a Recovery Mindset

Case competitions will produce moments where things go wrong.

  • You forget a number.
  • A slide does not advance.
  • A judge asks an unexpected question.
  • A teammate loses their train of thought.
  • Your financial model produces an unexpected result.
  • Your recommendation is challenged.

The response that matters is not: "We made a mistake." The more useful question is: "What do we do next?" This is a recovery mindset. Strong teams learn to:

Recognize → Recover → Reflect → Improve

The ability to recover under pressure is itself a competitive skill.

The Coachability Test

After every practice session or competition, ask:

  • What went well? Identify behaviours worth repeating.
  • What did not go well? Be specific.
  • What feedback did we receive? Separate observations from emotions.
  • What will we change? Identify concrete behaviours.
  • How will we test the change? Put the improvement into the next practice.
  • Did the change work? If not, adjust again.

This turns practice into a learning system rather than repeated performance.

The Bottom Line

Coachability: The Foundation of Your Mad Skills
  • Case competitions are learning environments. You will make mistakes, encounter difficult feedback, and discover weaknesses in your thinking.
  • Coachability is the willingness to hear feedback, consider it, apply it, test the result, and learn from what happens.
  • The objective is not to avoid mistakes. It is to recover faster and learn from them better.
  • Feedback has little value if you never change your behaviour.
  • Use the learning cycle:

PRACTICE → GET FEEDBACK → APPLY THE FEEDBACK → REFLECT → PRACTICE AGAIN

  • Strong case teams also practise the Four Ps:
    • Preparation — arrive ready to contribute.
    • Participation — use the perspectives and abilities of the entire team.
    • Presence — remain fully engaged.
    • Promptness — respect deadlines and the competition clock.
  • Whenever possible, pre-resolve solo, then collide ideas. Individual thinking before group discussion can create stronger team conversations.
  • Coachability is not simply about accepting what a coach tells you. It is about developing the judgment to use the feedback to become better.

Feedback is fuel, but only when you use it.

Mad Skills Drill

Take a case your team has previously solved—or a recommendation from a recent practice case. Give yourself 10 minutes. Without rebuilding the solution, evaluate it against the Winning Solution Test. Ask:

  • CLEAR:  Can we explain the problem and recommendation in one sentence each?
  • INSIGHTFUL: What did we discover that was not immediately obvious from reading the case?
  • SUPPORTED: What are the three strongest pieces of evidence supporting the recommendation?
  • REALISTIC: Could this organisation genuinely pursue the recommendation?
  • FEASIBLE: Does it have, or can it acquire, the required capabilities and resources?
  • IMPLEMENTABLE: Can we explain who does what, when, and how?
  • MEASURABLE: How will management know whether it worked?
  • PERSUASIVE: Could we convince a senior decision-maker that this is the best course of action?

Then identify the weakest dimension of your solution. Improve that dimension.

Coachability Twist

Present your assessment to another team member or coach.

  • Their job is to identify one weakness you missed.
  • Your job is not to defend the original solution.
  • Your job is to ask: "What would we need to change to make this stronger?"

The Mad Skills Test

Can you identify a weakness in your own solution before a judge does? Winning teams don't just create solutions. They continually make them harder to challenge.

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