Hi there,

great question - this is a key skill to master and something consultants often struggle with.

A few pointers

• Use MBA case books, ChatGPT, as resource to generate pretty much unlimited prompts
• Build the creative foundation: makd it a regular habit to read up on latest trends, ideas, technologies and their use cases (WSJ, Economist, Ark Invest Big ideas, McK & BCG publications are great resources etc) 
• Time-box yourself for every brainstorming and spend a few minutes to review / redraw each exercise
• Create cheatsheets for the most common question types (e.g. cost cutting ideas, growth ideas, process optimization levers, synergies, risks. This will help you become more efficient and structured.

Feel free to reach out to me or other coaches via DM for a chat, if you'd like to learn more on how to perfect this skill. I have a dedicated coaching format for it and loads of practice resources (Guiding Principles for better brainstorming, progress tracker, useful reading resources etc).

Hope this helps.

Regards, Andi

Hi,

Great that you are showing initiative to further improve a very common aspect of the case interview. 

There are many sources of brainstorming material that exist, but unfortunately there are very few that are specifically tailored with model answers to the consulting interview. I think you have 2 options

1. Generate these drills/answers yourself
   • Read articles, news, or just find any topic that interests you and comes to your mind and brainstorm about it
   • After that, spend some time to do research to understand the actual reality and then use that to come up with a MECE breakdown and check that again with your approach
2. Practice with a coach
   • Other than case libraries/mba case books, I feel that the only other people that would have drills on this with model answers would be coaches - this would be another option

Option #1 is actually what I did myself, when I was preparing for interviews in the past. It would be more time consuming, but more cost effective. 

Option #2 would be more expensive and costly, but definitely save you the time of researching and trying to generate your own answer. The additional plus is that you also get feedback and tips on your approach/thinking.

All the best!

Hi there,

Honestly, my course/coaching focuses a lot on this.

In addition, crafting cases, rocketblocks, daily reading, and preplounge drills can all help. Finally, your peers! Ask them to give you cases (or modify cases) with lots of brainstorming!

Hello,

Looks like you got some great advice on this already, but my additional two cents are as follows: remember that you can use any qualitative case question as brainstorming practice (whether as a drill by yourself or in practice with a partner). Instead of taking some time to structure a response, tackle the question as a brainstorming exercise. At the end of the case, compare what you came up with with the solution.

Also - structuring your answer on the fly is very difficult! It's perfectly normal for your brainstorming to be messier than your structured answers. No need to beat yourself up about this if it happens - it just needs to be good enough, not perfect.

Hi there!

I have just the thing for you. 

I wrote a free guide on this for the platform that cover all the core techniques for brainstorming AND how to get better at doing it. 

Hope you will find it helpful. 

Here it is:

• Free Guide: Mastering Structuring & Brainstorming

Best,
Cristian

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Practising for interviews? Check out my latest case based on a first-round MBB interview >>> SoyTechnologies