🔍 Analysis tools

Answer first (pyramid principle)

Lead with the recommendation, then the reasons.

Busy executives want the answer first. State your recommendation, then two or three supporting reasons, then the evidence.

It's how you should close every case.

How to break it down

Recommendation

Reason 1

Reason 2

Reason 3 + risk

🧮 Example

“We should enter Pune with two pilot stores. The market grows 12%, our unit economics work at 60 orders a day, and the main risk is rent — so we sign short leases.”

🎯 Interview tip

End with risks and next steps — it signals partner-level thinking.

Used in

Consulting cases Operations cases M&A cases Product Strategy cases Marketing cases

Learn next

Hypothesis-driven thinking

Start with a guess, then test it.

Sensitivity analysis

What happens to the answer if an assumption is wrong?

MECE

Mutually exclusive, collectively exhaustive — no overlaps, no gaps.

The Case Flex weekly

One concept. One case breakdown. One practice prompt. Every week, in simple words.

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