Preface

Series Preface

This series of manuals represents anmy attempt to capturecapture, organise, and organiseshare more than 20 years of experience coaching case-solving teams at regional, national, and international competitions.

OverIt thoseis twoalso decades,the culmination of a year-long sabbatical and the first year and a half of my retirement, a period where I have had the opportunity to coachstep back, reflect, and bring together the materials, lessons, and experiences accumulated over two decades of coaching and teaching.

During that time, I have had the privilege of coaching hundreds of teams, workworking with students from a wide range of programs and backgroundsbackgrounds, and observeobserving what separates teams that simply solve a case from those that solve it exceptionally well. I have also learned a great deal through teaching in the classroom, judging competitions, mentoring students, and, perhaps most importantly, watching teams succeed, struggle, recover, adapt, and improve.

Much of what I have learned over those years originally existed in different forms: lecture materials, coaching notes, presentation slides, Excel models, exercises, examples, exercises, competition experiences, and countless conversations with students. These manuals bring those resources together into a more organised and accessible system.

I have also used ChatGPT as a tool to help compile, organise, refine, and structure many of the resourcesmaterials I have developed over the years. The ideas, examples, frameworks, approaches, examples, and experiences reflected inthroughout these manuals are grounded in that accumulated body of work and in the lessons I have learned through coaching and teaching. The result is a series of five manuals designed to support the development of case-solving skills, from the fundamentals of solving and presenting a case to the deeper analytical, financial, and judgment-based skills required for more advancedcomplex applications.challenges.

The First Two Manuals: GettingBuilding Started

the Foundation

The first two manuals are designed to provide a relatively quick introduction to the case-solving process. Their purpose is to help students and new teams getbuild upa andstrong running.foundation quickly.

• The first manual introduces the overall case-solving process fromprocess: deciphering the case andcase, understanding the problemproblem, throughanalysing analysis,the situation, developing alternatives, recommendations,making a recommendation, and implementation.
  building

  an implementation plan.

• The second manual focuses on communicating that analysis.communication. A greatstrong solution is only valuablecreates value if athe team can communicateexplain it clearly and persuasively. This manual therefore explores the skills requiredhow to turn analysisgood thinking into a compelling presentation through story, slide design, delivery, teamwork, and toQ&A.
deliver

it

Together, effectively. Thesethese first two manuals provide the foundation. They are designed to answer thea fundamental question:

"What do we need to know to start solving and presenting cases effectively?" They provide the structure. The remaining manuals build the depth.

The LastFinal Three Manuals: Going Deeper

The final three manuals take a deeper dive into the case-solvingskills process.behind strong case solving. Rather than simply introducing the steps,steps of the process, they explore the thinking tools, analytical techniques, financial skills, and specialised skillsperspectives that canhelp strengthenteams theproduce qualitystronger of the analysisinsights and themake decisionsbetter that emerge from it.decisions.

The third manual expandsis thea practical toolkit to cover additional analytical andfor case-solving topics.teams. It offersdevelops the thinking skills behind exceptional performance and explores a deeperbroader explorationrange of various thinkinganalytical tools andfor approaches to help teams understandunderstanding organisations, industries, markets, customers, stakeholders, and strategic choices.choices, Thisimplementation progression helps teams move from insights to solutionschallenges, and effectively turn their strategies into actionable steps. Additionally, it addresses the skillscommunication necessary to engage and persuade the audienceneeded to win the room.

The fourth manual focuses on financial analysis and Excel mastery. It explores how financial information can be used to understanddiagnose the current situation, evaluate alternatives,opportunities, model recommendations, assess investments, test assumptions, and turn numbers into meaningful business insights.

The fifth manual moves beyond the traditional business case into special topics and more complex decision environments. It exploresexamines areassituations where financial and strategic analysis alone may not tell the whole story, including sustainability, ethics, stakeholder considerations, not-for-profits, social enterprises, not-for-profits,business ethics, implicit bias, and complex trade-offs. 

Together, these final three manuals are intended to answer a different question:

"How can we develop the depth of analysisanalysis, thinking, and judgment required to solve more complex cases?"

More Than a Collection of Frameworks

One of the most important lessons I have learned through coaching is that successful case solving is not about knowing allthe themost frameworks. It is about knowing which questions need to be answered and which tools can help answer themthem..

• A framework is useful when it helps a team see something it might otherwise miss.
• A financial model is useful when it helps a team determine whether a recommendation is viable.financially credible.
• A stakeholder analysis is useful when it reveals an important conflictconflict, opportunity, or implementation risk.
• A valuation model is useful forwhen determiningthe team needs to understand what an opportunity'sorganisation, investment, or opportunity may be worth.
• A sensitivity analysis is useful when it shows whether a recommendation remains attractive when important assumptions change.

The objective is therefore not to use every tool available. It is to develop the judgment to know when awhich tool is useful andmatters, when it ismatters, not.and what to do with the insight it produces. Throughout these manuals, thatThat principle isruns fundamental:

throughout

the entire series: The goal is not to collect tools. The goal is to develop judgment.

A Record of What I Have Learned

These manuals are also personal in an important way.personal. They represent the lessons I have accumulated through more than two decades of coaching and working with case-solving teams.

• Some lessons came from podium finishes and successfulexceptional competitions.performances.
• Others came from teams that struggled.
• Some came from seeingwatching a particular approach work exceptionallyremarkably well.
• Others came from watchingseeing a team make a mistake and realising that there was a better way.
That

is

Over onethe ofyears, the things I valuevalued most about case competitions.competitions include:

• Every case,case everyteaches team,you everysomething.
judge,
• Every andteam everyteaches you something. 
• Every judge teaches you something.
• Every competition providescreates another opportunity to learn.

TheThese manuals are anmy attempt to capture some of those lessons soand thatmake theythem canavailable beto shareda morebroader broadly.group of students, competitors, coaches, and aspiring professionals. I hope that they will help studentsreaders avoid some of the mistakes I have seen over the years, develop betterstronger habits more quickly, and ultimately become more confident and capable caseproblem solvers.

How to Use the Series

The five manuals are designed to work together, but they doare not haveintended to be read from beginning to end every time.

time

you
• solve a case. Use the first two manuals to understand the overall case-solving and presentation process.
• Use the final three manuals as deeper learning and reference guides when you need to strengthen a particular skill, exploreapply a specific analytical tool, improve your financial reasoning, or prepare for a more complex case.
• Return to individual chapters when you arepractise.
  practising.
• Use the examples when you need to see how a conceptconcepts can be applied.
• Use the drills and reflection questions to challenge your thinking.
• Use the checklists when you are preparing for competition.
• Use the accompanying Masterclass videos to reinforce and extend what you learn.

Most importantly, take the ideas from the manuals and put them into your practice environmentenvironment.

and

Test testThem them.→

Adapt Them → Make Mistakes With Them → Get Feedback → Try Again

Case solving is a skill.skill, Likeand like any skill, it improves through repetition, reflection, feedback, and deliberate practice. These manuals are intendeddesigned to support that process.process, not replace it.

Finally

I have learned an enormous amount from the students and teams I have had the privilege of coaching over the past 20-plus years.

• Their questions have challenged my thinking.
• Their mistakes have taughtshown me what needs to be explained differently.
• Their successes have shown medemonstrated what is possible.

Their persistence has reinforced one of the most important lessons of case competitions:competitions can

teach: You don'tdo not become a great case solver by knowing everything. You become one by learning how to think, how to adapt, and how to make good decisions when you don'tdo not have all the answers. That is ultimately what these five manuals are designed to help you do.

Welcome to the Discover Your Mad Skills Masterclass.

Decipher the case.problem. DevelopAsk better questions. Use the skills.right Turntools. thoseMake skills intobetter decisions. WinCommunicate thewith podium.confidence. Keep learning.

It's time to start your journey to Discovering Your MAD Skills.