PART IV: FROM INSIGHT TO SOLUTION
PART IV: FROM INSIGHT TO SOLUTION
“Analysis tells you what matters. Strategy tells you what to do about it.”
The purpose of case analysis is not to produce an impressive collection of facts, frameworks, charts, and observations.
The purpose is to build a better decision.
At this point in the case-solving process, your team should have developed a reasonably strong understanding of:
· the organisation;
· the business model;
· the customers and stakeholders;
· the external environment;
· the competitive environment;
· the organisation’s capabilities;
· the central problem;
· the underlying causes;
· the opportunities and constraints.
Now comes the difficult part. What should the organisation actually do? This is where many teams lose the connection between analysis and recommendation.
They generate a few ideas. They choose one. Then they try to justify it.
Strong teams work differently. They allow the analysis to generate the alternatives. They establish criteria for evaluating those alternatives. They test the alternatives against the evidence. They consider the customer and stakeholder experience. They examine financial and strategic implications. And then they make a decision.
This is the transition from: Understanding the case to Solving the case.
Chapter 17: The Human Side of the Case -
Personas and Customer Journeys
Video: Personas & Customer Journeys: Bring the Human Side into Your Case Solution
Learning Objectives
By the end of this chapter, you should be able to:
· distinguish a persona from a demographic description
· identify customer motivations, goals, pain points, and values
· create useful personas from case evidence
· map a customer, employee, or product journey
· use personas and journeys to test the realism of a solution
· anticipate adoption, resistance, and implementation challenges
Why This Matters
Case teams often become obsessed with numbers.
· Revenue.
· Market share.
· Margins.
· Costs.
· Growth rates.
· ROI.
Those numbers matter, but businesses are ultimately made up of people.
· Customers experience your product.
· Employees experience your systems.
· Suppliers experience your processes.
· Stakeholders experience your decisions.
A strategy that looks excellent on a spreadsheet can fail because it doesn’t work for the people who have to use, buy, deliver, or support it. Don’t only focus on numbers and strategy and forget the actual customers, consumers, and stakeholders who will experience the solution.
Discover Your Mad Skills Principle
Don’t just describe the customer. Understand the person.
A demographic description tells you: “Sarah is a 35-year-old urban professional.”
A useful persona tells you: “Sarah is trying to save time, is frustrated by the complexity of the current process, values convenience over price, and is willing to switch if the experience becomes easier.”
The second version gives you something to solve.
What Makes a Useful Persona?
A useful persona can include:
Background: Who is this person?
Goals: What are they trying to accomplish?
Motivations: What matters to them?
Pain Points: What frustrates or prevents them?
Behaviours: How do they currently act?
Values: What principles influence their decisions?
Messaging: What type of value proposition is likely to resonate?
Channels: Where and how do they interact with the organisation?
Deciphering Case Characteristics
Personas are especially useful when:
· customer behaviour is central to the case;
· different customer segments have different needs;
· adoption is important;
· employee behaviour matters;
· stakeholder resistance is likely;
· the recommendation changes the customer experience.
You can also build personas for:
· customers;
· consumers;
· employees;
· managers;
· suppliers;
· stakeholders;
· decision makers.
The type of persona should depend on the question you are trying to answer.
The Customer Journey
A persona tells you: Who?
A journey tells you: What happens to them?
A typical customer journey might include:
Awareness à Consideration à Decision à Purchase à Retention
At each stage, ask:
· What is the customer doing?
· What is the customer thinking?
· What is the customer feeling?
· Where does the organisation interact with them?
· What pain point exists?
· What opportunity exists?
Coach’s Lens
A persona should not simply make your presentation look more human. It should change your thinking. If your persona reveals that customers value convenience more than price, that may change your recommendation.
If an employee persona reveals that employees feel excluded from decision-making, that may change your implementation plan.
If a customer journey reveals that the biggest problem occurs after purchase rather than before it, your solution should reflect that.
The test is simple: Did the persona change what we would recommend? If not, ask whether you needed it.
Journey Mapping as a Solution Test
Take your proposed solution and put it into the journey. Ask:
Where does the customer experience the change?
What happens at each touchpoint?
What new pain points could we create?
What support will be required?
What will make the customer adopt the solution?
This makes the customer journey an implementation tool, not just an analysis tool.
Common Mistakes
Demographics Without Insight
Age, income, and location don’t automatically explain behaviour.
Creating Too Many Personas
You don’t need ten fictional customers.
Focus on the segments that matter.
Inventing Information
A persona should be grounded in the case, research, or reasonable assumptions.
Making the Persona Decorative
If the persona doesn’t affect your thinking, it is probably unnecessary.
Ignoring the Journey
Knowing the customer isn’t enough.
You need to understand their experience.
Mad Skills Drill
Choose the most important customer or stakeholder in your case. Create a persona containing:
· background;
· goals;
· motivations;
· pain points;
· values;
· behaviours;
· channels.
Then map their journey. Identify: The three moments where your solution can create the greatest value.
Chapter Summary
Personas help you understand who you are solving for.
Journeys help you understand what they experience.
Together they allow you to test whether your solution is not only strategically attractive but also humanly realistic.
Key Takeaways
✓ A persona is more than demographics.
✓ Focus on motivations, goals, pain points, and values.
✓ Journeys reveal experiences and friction.
✓ Use personas to understand adoption and resistance.
✓ Use journeys to test your solution.
Looking Ahead
Understanding people helps you understand what the solution needs to accomplish. Now we need to determine: What different strategic paths could accomplish it? That brings us to alternatives.
Chapter 18: Building Alternatives That Actually Solve the Problem
Video: Alternatives That Win: MECE Options + Decision Criteria That Make Your Recommendation Obvious
Video: Turn Your SWOT into Strategic Alternatives: The TOWS Method That Actually Builds Solutions
Learning Objectives
By the end of this chapter, you should be able to:
· develop alternatives from case analysis
· distinguish alternatives from tactics
· create realistic and implementable options
· use MECE thinking to structure alternatives
· ensure alternatives are meaningfully different
· avoid premature selection of a favourite solution
Why This Matters
One of the most common weaknesses in case competitions is weak alternatives. Teams often create:
Option A: Improve marketing.
Option B: Improve operations.
Option C: Expand internationally.
Then they choose Option B.
The problem is that these aren’t necessarily alternatives to the same decision. They may simply be different initiatives. A common failure is teams create three or four random ideas, choose one because it “feels right,” and leave gaps in the logic. Winning teams instead develop realistic, MECE alternatives and evaluate them against clear decision criteria.
Discover Your Mad Skills Principle
Alternatives should represent different strategic choices—not different collections of tactics.
If the decision is: How should we enter the market? then alternatives might be:
· acquire an existing player;
· build organically;
· partner with a local organisation;
· enter through a limited pilot.
Those are strategic choices.
Start With the Decision
Before generating alternatives, complete this sentence: The decision we need to make is…
For example: “How should Company X expand into the Canadian market?” Now your alternatives can be built around that decision.
What Makes a Strong Alternative?
A strong alternative should be:
Realistic: Could the organisation actually do it?
Implementable: Could it be executed with available or attainable resources?
Meaningfully Different: Would choosing it lead to a different strategic path?
Complete: Does it actually address the problem?
MECE: Are the alternatives mutually exclusive and collectively exhaustive?
MECE
MECE means:
Mutually Exclusive: The alternatives should not substantially overlap.
Collectively Exhaustive: Together, they should cover the meaningful strategic choices.
MECE is not about creating artificial categories. It is about ensuring you aren’t comparing three versions of the same idea while ignoring another legitimate path.
Where Alternatives Should Come From
Your alternatives should emerge from your analysis. For example:
PESTLE: reveals a regulatory opportunity.
Five Forces: reveals intense competitive pressure.
Value Chain: reveals a distribution weakness.
VRIO: reveals a strong internal capability.
Persona: reveals a customer pain point.
These insights can combine to create strategic alternatives. This is why frameworks should be treated as lenses rather than checkboxes.
TOWS as an Alternative Generator
Video: Turn Your SWOT into Strategic Alternatives: The TOWS Method That Actually Builds Solutions
SWOT can also generate alternatives through TOWS.
SO: Use strengths to capture opportunities.
ST: Use strengths to respond to threats.
WO: Use opportunities to address weaknesses.
WT: Reduce weaknesses and avoid threats.
The video explains specifically how TOWS is a way of turning SWOT into strategic alternatives, keeping the analysis connected to the eventual solution.
Coach’s Lens
Don’t decide too early. Teams often fall in love with an idea during the first hour. Then the rest of the analysis becomes an attempt to prove that idea is correct. That’s confirmation bias.
Instead: Generate first. Evaluate second. Choose third.
This creates a healthier team dynamic and usually produces a stronger recommendation.
Common Mistakes
Alternatives That Are Actually Tactics
Alternatives That Overlap
If Options A and B are almost identical, they aren’t useful comparisons.
Unrealistic Alternatives
A $100 million acquisition may not be realistic for a cash-constrained organisation.
Too Few Options
You may miss a meaningful strategic path.
Too Many Options
Five or six weak options create noise.
Mad Skills Drill
Write the central decision for your case. Then generate five possible strategic choices. Reduce them to three. For each, write:
· what it means;
· why it solves the problem;
· what it requires;
· its biggest advantage;
· its biggest disadvantage.
Do not choose a winner yet.
Chapter Summary
Alternatives create the strategic choice set. The strongest alternatives emerge from your analysis and represent genuinely different paths forward.
Key Takeaways
✓ Start with the decision.
✓ Generate alternatives from insights.
✓ Make alternatives realistic.
✓ Make them meaningfully different.
✓ Use MECE where appropriate.
✓ Delay judgment until the alternatives are developed.
Looking Ahead
Once you have several credible alternatives, the question becomes: How do we decide which one is best? That requires decision criteria.
Chapter 19: Decision Criteria: Making the Choice Defensible
Video: Decision Matrix Show Judges Exactly How You Made Your Recommendation
Learning Objectives
By the end of this chapter, you should be able to:
· develop criteria that reflect the actual case decision
· distinguish criteria from evidence
· prioritise criteria
· use weighted criteria when appropriate
· compare alternatives objectively
· explain why the winning alternative wins
Why This Matters
Without clear decision criteria, teams often choose an alternative because: “It just seemed like the best option.” That isn’t enough. Judges should be able to see:
Here were the choices.
Here is how we evaluated them.
Here is why this one wins.
Discover Your Mad Skills Principle
If you can’t explain why your recommendation wins, you haven’t finished the decision.
Where Criteria Come From
Criteria should come from the case. They may include:
· strategic fit;
· financial impact;
· customer value;
· implementation feasibility;
· risk;
· speed;
· sustainability;
· organisational capability;
· stakeholder impact;
· mission and vision.
Good Criteria
A good criterion is:
Relevant: It matters to the decision.
Discriminating: It helps distinguish between alternatives.
Measurable: You can evaluate it using evidence.
Defensible: You can explain why it matters.
The Criteria Test
For each proposed criterion, ask:
· Does this matter to the decision?
· Can it distinguish between alternatives?
· Can we support our assessment?
If the answer is no, remove it.
Weighted Decision Matrix
When appropriate, assign weights to criteria based on importance. For example:
|
Criterion |
Weight |
|
Financial impact |
30% |
|
Strategic fit |
25% |
|
Customer value |
20% |
|
Feasibility |
15% |
|
Risk |
10% |
Then score each alternative. The exact numbers are less important than the logic behind them.
Coach’s Lens
A decision matrix is not a magic answer generator. If your team manipulates the weights until your favourite alternative wins, you’ve missed the point. The matrix should make your reasoning more transparent, not disguise subjective judgment as mathematics.
Common Mistakes
Generic Criteria
“Good for the company” isn’t a useful criterion.
Too Many Criteria
More criteria don’t necessarily improve the decision.
Equal Weighting Without Thought
Not everything matters equally.
False Precision
A score of 8.7 versus 8.5 doesn’t mean the decision is scientifically proven.
Criteria That Appear After the Decision
Your criteria should help make the decision—not justify a decision already made.
Mad Skills Drill
Take your three alternatives. Develop five possible criteria. Reduce them to the three or four that matter most. Explain why each criterion matters. Then evaluate your alternatives.
Finally ask: Would I still choose the same recommendation without the scoring table?
If not, investigate why.
Chapter Summary
Decision criteria turn: “We like this option.” into: “This option wins because it best meets the requirements of the decision.”
That makes your recommendation more defensible.
Key Takeaways
✓ Criteria should emerge from the case.
✓ Prioritise what matters most.
✓ Use evidence to evaluate alternatives.
✓ Use weighted scoring carefully.
✓ Don’t let the matrix replace judgment.
Looking Ahead
A strategic choice is incomplete until you know whether it creates enough value. That brings us to the financial and quantitative test.
Chapter 20: Financial and Quantitative Feasibility
Video: Financial Analysis in Cases: Situation Review, Modelling, and Sensitivity
Learning Objectives
By the end of this chapter, you should be able to:
· translate strategic recommendations into financial implications
· identify key assumptions
· estimate revenue, costs, and profit impact
· evaluate ROI and other relevant financial measures
· use sensitivity analysis appropriately
· connect financial results to the decision maker’s priorities
Why This Matters
A strategy may be attractive.
· Customers may love it.
· Employees may support it.
· Competitors may struggle to copy it.
But if it destroys value, you need to know. Financial analysis provides another test of the recommendation. Your analysis should ultimately connect to financial impact, particularly when the audience is a CEO or senior executive.
Discover Your Mad Skills Principle
Don’t just calculate the numbers. Use the numbers to make the decision.
Start With the Economics
Identify the major changes.
Revenue: How does the recommendation change revenue?
Costs: What new costs are created? What costs disappear?
Profit: What happens to profitability?
Investment: How much capital is required?
Cash Flow: When does the organisation actually receive or spend the money?
The Assumption Chain
Every financial model depends on assumptions.
For example:
Customers à Conversion rate à Transactions à Average revenue à Total revenue à Variable costs à Contribution à Fixed costs à Profit
The stronger your logic chain, the easier it is to defend your numbers.
Useful Financial Measures
Depending on the case, you may consider:
· revenue growth;
· gross margin;
· contribution margin;
· operating profit;
· ROI;
· payback period;
· NPV;
· IRR.
Don’t calculate everything. Use the measure that helps answer the decision.
Coach’s Lens
I often see teams present a beautifully formatted financial model and then fail to explain what it means.
Don’t say: “The project generates an NPV of $4.2 million.”
Say: The project creates $4.2 million of value under our base assumptions, but the result becomes unattractive if customer adoption falls below 18%.”
Now the financial analysis is helping the decision.
Sensitivity
Identify the assumptions that could materially change the recommendation.
For example:
· adoption;
· pricing;
· market growth;
· customer acquisition cost;
· implementation cost;
· timing.
Test them. You don’t need to model everything. Focus on the assumptions that matter most.
Common Mistakes
Financial Analysis as an Afterthought
The numbers should influence the strategy.
Unsupported Assumptions
Be explicit.
False Precision
Don’t make uncertain forecasts look certain.
Ignoring Timing
A profitable project can still create short-term cash problems.
Focusing Only on Revenue
Profit and cash flow often matter more.
Mad Skills Drill
Take your preferred alternative. Build a simple financial model. Identify:
· three revenue assumptions;
· three cost assumptions;
· initial investment;
· expected profit impact;
· payback period or ROI where appropriate.
Then identify the single assumption that matters most. Test it.
Chapter Summary
Financial analysis provides an important reality check. The goal is not to make the most complicated model. It is to determine:
Does the recommendation create enough value to justify the investment and risk?
Key Takeaways
✓ Make assumptions explicit.
✓ Focus on major financial drivers.
✓ Connect revenue, cost, profit, and cash.
✓ Use the appropriate financial metric.
✓ Test critical assumptions.
✓ Explain the financial implication—not just the calculation.
Looking Ahead
Now we have:
The customer need.
The strategic alternatives.
The decision criteria.
The financial implications.
The next step is to turn the winning alternative into a coherent strategy.
Chapter 21: Building the Strategic Choice
Video: Strategic Planning for Case Solutions: Build a Clear, Phased Strategy That Wins
Learning Objectives
By the end of this chapter, you should be able to:
· turn a selected alternative into a coherent strategic choice
· define the strategic objective
· identify where to play
· determine how to win
· connect strategic choices to capabilities
· distinguish strategy from tactics
Why This Matters
A recommendation is more than: “We should launch Product X.”
That is a decision. Strategy explains:
Why this direction?
Where will we compete?
How will we win?
What capabilities will we need?
What actions will turn the strategy into reality?
Your existing material defines strategy as a plan of action designed to achieve a major goal and distinguishes strategy from the specific tactics used to execute it.
Discover Your Mad Skills Principle
A strategy is not a list of tactics. It is a coherent set of choices.
The Strategic Choice
A strong strategy should clarify: Why?
What are we trying to accomplish?
Where to Play?
Which markets, segments, customers, or niches will we focus on?
How to Win?
What will create competitive advantage?
What Must Be True?
Which capabilities and resources are required?
What Will We Do?
What major initiatives will execute the strategy?
Strategy vs Tactics
Strategy
Tactics
· develop a dedicated sales team;
· redesign onboarding;
· introduce premium service packages;
· build institutional partnerships.
The tactics support the strategy. They are not the strategy themselves.
Coach’s Lens
One of the most common problems in case competitions is a presentation full of tactics.
The team has:
· launch campaign;
· redesign website;
· hire staff;
· create loyalty program;
· partner with influencers.
But what ties those actions together? A strategic choice does. Your strategy should act as the logic connecting the initiatives.
Strategic Coherence Test
Ask:
Does every major initiative support the strategic objective?
Does the strategy fit the organisation’s capabilities?
Does it address the customer problem?
Does it create economic value?
Does it respond to the external environment?
Does it give the organisation a reason to win?
If the answer is no, revisit the strategy.
Mad Skills Drill
Write your strategy in one sentence.
Then complete: We will win by…
Then: We will focus on…
Then: We will not focus on…
That last question is important. Strategy involves choices.
Chapter Summary
A strong recommendation becomes strategy when it creates a coherent set of choices about:
Where to play.
How to win.
What capabilities are required.
What actions will execute the strategy.
Key Takeaways
✓ Strategy is more than tactics.
✓ Make choices about where to play.
✓ Define how you will win.
✓ Connect strategy to capabilities.
✓ Ensure initiatives support the strategic objective.
Looking Ahead
The strategy tells us where we are going. Now we need to determine: How do we get there? That is implementation.
PART IV CLOSING: From Insight to Choice
Part IV represents one of the most important transitions in case solving. You began with:
Understanding people and moved through:
Customer journeys à Strategic alternatives à Decision criteria à Financial feasibility à Strategic choice
The process should feel connected. Your persona should inform the problem.
ü Your analysis should inform the alternatives.
ü Your alternatives should inform the criteria.
ü Your criteria should inform the decision.
ü Your financial analysis should test the decision.
ü Your final strategy should bring the pieces together.
That is what makes a recommendation feel inevitable rather than debatable.
The Discover Your Mad Skills Solution Chain
Use this chain whenever you feel your case is becoming fragmented:
1. What is the problem? Define à
2. Who experiences it? Understand à
3. Why is it happening? Analyze à↓
4. What could we do? Generate à
5. Which choices are realistic? Develop Alternatives à
6. Which choice is best? Evaluate à
7. Does it create enough value? Test à
8. What strategic choice does this create? Decide à
9. How will we make it happen? Implement
The Final Test
Before moving into implementation, your team should be able to answer these questions clearly:
ü What problem are we solving?
ü For whom?
ü What is causing the problem?
ü What alternatives did we consider?
ü Why does our chosen alternative win?
ü What evidence supports it?
ü What financial value does it create?
ü Why does it fit this organisation?
ü What strategic choices are we making?
If you cannot answer these questions, you probably aren’t ready to build the implementation plan.
Deciphering Case Characteristics
Not every case requires every tool in this section.
A customer-focused case may need detailed personas and journey mapping.
A strategic decision may require robust alternatives and decision criteria.
A financially focused case may require deeper feasibility analysis.
A transformation case may require a strong strategic choice before moving into implementation.
The tools are not a checklist. They are lenses. The characteristics of the case determine which lenses you need.
The Mad Skills Rule
Don’t build a solution because it sounds good.
Build a solution because the evidence makes it the best choice.
And then make that choice clear enough that the judges can see the logic for themselves. That is how you move from: Analysis to Insight to Choice to Strategy. And that is where a case solution begins to become podium-ready.
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