Option II Association Dues

With respect to other business, I am very excited about the energy of this year’s Board. For the first time, we have formed a strategy subcommittee that has begun the process of preparing a written strategic plan and operations manual for the Association. These two items will be critical in order to move the organization forward. Hopefully you already know, one of the primary goals of the Association is to increase the value of your Executive MBA degree and to provide a network of people from which we can all benefit. To this end, it has become even more important that the Board understand what you, the alumni, want for the Association, and be able to measure whether we are providing for those needs. The strategic plan and operations manual will assist us in addressing these issues.

The annual Dues Drive is underway! Notice I didn't call it a membership drive because we are all already members. The Dues Drive has been moved up from its traditional June timing to March. Why you ask? The Association will begin offering incentives and other perks to dues paying members. There will be further discussion of this in the membership dues packet, which you should receive within the next few weeks. Remember, although dues are voluntary, as well as inexpensive ($25), they are critical to the function of the Association. Membership dues allow the Board to sponsor regional events, sponsor the outstanding professor award, and cover the administrative cost of the Association. Please support YOUR association by responding timely to the Dues Drive.

Another piece to the membership issue is participation. The Association can only succeed with the support of the membership through the commitment of time. As you all know, the Association and the Board function on a 100% volunteer basis. In order for the Association to continue to grow professionally and provide increasing value, we need your help. You don't necessarily have to participate as a formal Board member. There are plenty of individual tasks or projects, such as tracking down lost alumni, collecting and disseminating information, assisting with mail-out, and others tasks that you can help accomplish. Therefore, I'd like anyone who is reading this newsletter to think about their Option II experience and whether the value of the education received is worth giving a few hours a week, a month or even a year back to the program. If so, please contact me to discuss how you can help. Remember this is your association and it is only as valuable as the level we all participate.

Due to increased work activity, Bill Harrison has resigned his role—good news for Bill. Maureen Zoric and Roy Longoria have volunteered to co-chair the Austin region.

David Taylor and I are proud to represent Houston Option II alumni on the Option II Alumni Association board. Our mission is clear…grow fellowship. To grow fellowship, we intend to provide every Houston regional alumni the opportunity to participate in events. The "test" email letter that was sent at the beginning of March confirmed more than 70% of our 129 regional alumni can be reached using email. To reach our 100% contact goal, watch for the follow up efforts to find our MIA alumni.

David and I want you to know that there is a calling for all of us to increase the value of our education. This value proposition can be what we choose to make it. Court Huber raised the quality of education bar for all of us, thereby increasing our market value. It is up to us to raise the bar again by increasing the strength of our fellowship. Ask yourself "what makes strong organizations successful?" We believe that success lies at the crossroads of two catalyzing elements…desire and vision.

The Houston Regional Alumni Board is a new value proposition for the Option II Alumni Association and our fellowship objective is clear. What is not clear is the insight into each of your hearts to know what will create value for you personally. A successful organization must optimize the desire for everyone to participate. David and I are interested in knowing what will create value for you. Send emails or call us to suggest better ways of improving the quality of Option II fellowship.

The benefits of branding our identity go beyond the OII experience. As a result, renowned artist and overall good guy Robert Floyd (’93) graciously agreed to design a logo for Option II that we have embraced as our identity for all eternity.

Send contributions to:

EDITOR: Mike Glenn ’97
64 Hunters Point Dr.
New Braunfels,  Texas  78132

The book presents the techniques used by McKinsey & Co consultants to successfully execute customer engagements. Reading the book took me back to many of the tangible and intangible lessons we learned during our Option II experience. This article will provide an overview of the book and discuss some of the tools we as business professionals can find useful.

The book is structured into five main parts. Part one discusses the structured thought process that McKinsey consultants use to approach a business problem. Part two relates the framework McKinseyites use to solve business problems. Part three discusses the methods they use to deal with executive management and clients. The fourth part describes techniques on how to survive at McKinsey. And finally the fifth part explores life after McKinsey for those that completed their tour and moved on to other challenges.

The author claims that the book provides proven method for "approaching business problems in a structured and fact-based way." Only someone with first hand experience working for McKinsey could vouch for the authenticity of the author’s description; however, after using many of the methods first-hand they seem sound and have proven useful. The next paragraph discusses some of these techniques.

Rasiel relates that at McKinsey everything happens in threes. Thus the solution to the client’s problem is fact-based, rigidly structured and hypothesis driven. Just as we learned in Option II, facts form the basis for business solutions. The structure for these facts is provided by MECE – mutually exclusive, collectively exhaustive. For instance, when listing issues that comprise a problem, one must ensure that the issues are mutually exclusive. Also, one should ensure that the list of issues addresses the problem, but just the problem (i.e. collectively exhaustive.) When structuring facts, the McKinsey consultants use MECE, MECE, MECE. Once structured and MECEed then one can develop the initial hypothesis for a solution to the problem. This hypothesis forms the seed for the problem’s eventual solution. The consultants analyze the initial hypothesis by decomposing the issues, gathering more facts, applying MECE and refining the hypothesis until a defensible solution emerges.

The problem solving relies on a set of simple rules:

• The problem is not always the problem. (Sometimes the problem you have been given to solve is not "right" problem. First figure out the right problem.)
• Don’t reinvent the wheel a broad range of business problem can be structured with a small set of techniques. Reminds me of Professor Doggett’s Global Marketing course.
• Don’t make the facts fit the solution.
• Make sure your solution fits your client. (Know your client, even if she is your boss. Remember the strengths, weaknesses and abilities of the organization and tailor the solution to those constraints.)
• Remember 80/20.
• Don’t boil the ocean. (There is usually a lot of data relating to your problem and lots of possible analysis you could perform. "Ignore most of them")
• Find the key driver (Make sure you know the important factors that influence your business – the key drivers.
• The Elevator test (be able to express your solution in 30 seconds or less. This ensures you know your solution and can relate it to the CEO in the span of an elevator ride.)

The book provides even more rules that can assist in the problem solving exercise.

Part two discusses the framework to solve business problems. This framework consists of selling the study to the client, assembling a team, accomplishing research, interviewing and brainstorming. This section probably will not provide any revelations to even the most casual Option II graduate or student. No cool stuff here.

Part three provides advice to those of you who are called upon to make presentations. The first piece of advice -- keep your charts simple and only have one message per chart. Second, be brief, be through and be structured. In other words, think before you speak and say only what needs to be said. Ensure that your message contains all the information that your listener needs, but not more. And provide your information in a framework and format that assists understanding.

Parts four and five are great to read if you are contemplating working for McKinsey.

Overall the book provides us with a reminder of the disciplined thought that we developed while in business school. The techniques presented in the book are practical and useful for solving business problems. The book is an easy read and I’d recommend it, especially if you have to solve business problems and relate your solutions to senior management.