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Two of the best skills you pick up from case competitions aren't solving the actual case. They're public speaking and networking. Back in 2019, my team and I were in Rotterdam, Netherlands, competing at Erasmus University. After the opening ceremonies, we sto...

PART II: Thinking Skills "Winning teams don't simply know more frameworks. They think differently." Video: Where Do We Even Start: The Steps to Solve a Case Video: How to Read a Case the Right Way: Stop Wasting Time and Start Seeing What Matters Video: How...

Part I: Building the MadSkill's Toolkit - Choosing the Right Tool for the Right Question Case competitions expose you to a wide range of tools, frameworks, and analytical techniques. Some help you understand: customers; competitors; industries;...

PART III: Understanding The Situation "Before you can solve the problem, you have to understand the situation." Case competitors have access to an enormous number of frameworks. SWOT. PESTLE. Porter's Five Forces. Value Chain. VRIO. Business Model Ca...

PART IV: From Insights 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 be...

PART V: Turning Strategy Into Action "A great strategy is only valuable if the organisation can make it happen." A case competition solution is not finished when you have selected the best alternative. It is finished when you can explain: What should the ...

Part VI: Winning the Room A strong solution is not enough. Judges must be able to understand it, believe it, remember it, and imagine the organisation acting on it. Winning the room is not about theatrical performance or polished slides alone. It is about hel...

Closing Reflections: Winning the Room Is About More Than Presenting "Great case competitors don't simply deliver recommendations. They create confidence in those recommendations." Over the course of this section, we have shifted our focus from developing gre...

Full List of Masterclass Videos https://www.youtube.com/@MadSkillsMasterclass Introduction 1:53 Ignite Your Mad Skills From Case Flops to Podium Domination That’s not failure. That’s your wake-up call. I’m Cam Welsh, Emeritus Professor at Haskayne Scho...

How to Use This Manual The Discover Your MAD Skills Masterclass is built around a simple idea: Great case solvers do more than analyse the obvious. They learn to see what others miss. The first manual introduced a systematic approach to solving business cas...

Over the years of coaching teams for case-solving competitions, if you asked any of my team members what the number one piece of advice I gave them, it would likely be this: "Don't boil the ocean." Too often, ambitious and talented teams try to do everything....

"Time doesn't create clarity. Strategic choices do." Over the past few weeks, I've been working with a team preparing for the Sydney International Business Competition. It's a demanding competition. Teams tackle two cases: A 6-hour case culminating in a...

A few weeks ago, Anna Mykheieva made some great points about the use of personas, and it got me thinking about how teams use this tool in case-solving competitions. When I watch teams work through cases, I see personas used frequently. The problem? Most pers...

The real value of case competitions is not the case. It's the person you become through the process. In a recent conversation with a former case team member for an upcoming episode of Unbarred Conversations Season 2 (coming this fall), Chloe and I talked abou...

In the last episode, I talked about the missing piece in education: real confidence isn’t built through exposure, it’s built through uncomfortable experience. This week, let’s get practical. How do we design practice environments that don’t just teach skills,...

Revised Case with Aerofugia collaboration  The Lift: Scaling eVTOLs Across the World The Decision In spring 2026, Aerofugia’s leadership faced a strategic question that extended far beyond the development of a new aircraft. The company’s AE200 electric ver...

The biggest reward I get as a case-solving coach isn’t when a student finally cracks a complex profitability case or delivers a flawless recommendation. It’s when I watch them transform. When the nervous, hesitant version of themselves is replaced by someone w...

The best teams deliver a unified, high-energy, emotionally connected performance. Most teams don’t. Here’s exactly why and how to build consistency from minute one in the resolution room. One of the clearest, most frustrating patterns I’ve observed after 20...

Too many teams deliver a great solution but leave the real impact in the resolution room. Here’s what actually separates podium teams from the rest. One of the most consistent patterns I see after 20+ years of coaching case-solving competition teams and debri...

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