McKinsey Ecosystem game - one producer not being eaten

Question

Hi community,

I have recently finished the McKinsey Solve game, with ecosystem being the first game and Red rock study being the second.

My question is on the ecosystem game. I have also seen people raising this issue recently on this forum, so would be interested to hear other people's experiences.

I am pretty sure I understand the rules of the game, hence I started out pick the 3 producers with the highest calories provided to start. However only 4 animals can survive in that condition (out of the 10 animals in that same environment, I'm pretty sure 6 of them violates the rule one way or the other).

I panicked a bit, but after double checking that this eco-system was unstable, I switched to another set of producers with 15min left on the clock.

The second ecosystem was easier to build, and I was able to find 5 animals, on top of the 3 producers to finish the system. However, in this sustainable system, one producer was not eaten by anyone (there's one animal the can use this ‘uneaten’ producer as food source, but since the other viable producer had higher calories provided, this producer remained ‘uneaten’)

Here's my question:

1. Has other people experienced this ‘unsolvable' ecosystem in one of the 3 sets of producers? Online guides generally stated all set of producers should be viable, which leads me to think maybe McK tweaked their game (ie calories, or food sources) to make the game harder?

2. Has anyone else get this scenario like me where one particular producer was ‘uneaten’, but still managed to find 5 animals to create this 8 species ecosystem, I'm assuming this is also okay, but I was in a rush to finish the game and now am a bit unsure!

Thanks!
A

Answer 1

Hi there,

1) Has other people experienced this ‘unsolvable' ecosystem in one of the 3 sets of producers?

It is possible to have an ecosystem that doesn’t work and you might need to switch to a different one as you did. It is actually not uncommon.

2) Has anyone else gotten this scenario like me where one particular producer was ‘uneaten’, but still managed to find 5 animals to create this 8 species ecosystem.

If the chain was sustainable, there is no problem if one producer was not eaten by anyone. Normally that makes the chain more difficult to build, but in your case it seems there were no problems.

Best,

Francesco

Answer 2

Hi there,

First of all, congratulations on the progress in the application process with McKinsey!

I think this is an interesting question that may be relevant for many people. I would be happy to share my thoughts on it:

First of all, generally speaking, I have never encountered the issue with any of my coachees where, when following the rules to identify the best set of producers, there was no sustainable solution to the ecosystem game. I feel you might have overlooked the fact that it is also important for all producers to have predators, in addition to providing the most calories.
Moreover, there is no issue with one producer not having any predator, as long as the rest of the ecosystem is sustainable. While it is certainly not common, you should be fine with this solution.

If you would like a more detailed discussion on how to address your specific situation, please don't hesitate to contact me directly.

Best,

Hagen

Answer 3

Hi there,

1. Has other people experienced this ‘unsolvable' ecosystem in one of the 3 sets of producers? Online guides generally stated all set of producers should be viable, which leads me to think maybe McK tweaked their game (ie calories, or food sources) to make the game harder?

I've actually seen this occur when you take the wrong approach! You should not pick the ecosystem first. You should pick the animals first (along their ecosystem groupings). If that makes sense. There's also the top-down versus build-up approaches - again, you have to go about it “right” to avoid getting stuck.

2. Has anyone else get this scenario like me where one particular producer was ‘uneaten’, but still managed to find 5 animals to create this 8 species ecosystem, I'm assuming this is also okay, but I was in a rush to finish the game and now am a bit unsure!

Yes! This is totally normal and fine. I actually love this type of ecosystem because it's “easier”

Answer 4

Hi there!

Yes, there are occasional anomalies and then I would recommend you just change to a different ecosystem. There's not much that you can do aside from that.

Best,
Cristian

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