“Tell me about the time you felt stretched and you had to take a decision in a limited time amount of time… maybe you needed help to solve a difficult problem”…
What trait is it evaluating? I found this question ambiguous…
“Tell me about the time you felt stretched and you had to take a decision in a limited time amount of time… maybe you needed help to solve a difficult problem”…
What trait is it evaluating? I found this question ambiguous…
Hello!
Your question is excellent, I have wondered myself the same thing (also coz this one is very used in tech too). This is one of those that you can bring it to whichever topic you want (e.g., you can give an entrepreneurial drive example easily, as well a personal impact…) usually in MBB they are quite much more specific.
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Hope it helps!
Hi there,
It is not perfectly clear indeed. But by exclusion, it should be Entrepreneurial Drive as the elements of the other dimensions (inclusive leadership and personal impact) are missing in the question.
I agree with Moritz that you can start with a one-line summarizing your story. So if that’s not the dimension they want that you cover, they can correct you.
Remember that when you tell your story for Entrepreneurial Drive, you should emphasize how you started and implemented something, even if that’s not clearly asked in the question. You should not talk about assigned tasks that you just had to execute.
You can read more on the PEI dimensions here:
Best,
Francesco
Hey there,
This would be Entrepreneurial Drive.
My main tip for the PEI is whenever you are unclear about what dimension they are asking about, play the question back and clarify what they mean. They don't want to trick you and tell you. :-)
If you want to learn more about the PEI, check out the article I wrote here: https://www.preplounge.com/en/mckinsey-pei
Cheers,
Florian
Thank you everyone for the feedback. What I found strange is that the interviewer *seemed* to like my story but then really honed in the specific moment I took a decision with limited time... I think I answered satisfactorily, but honestly I was thrown off a bit and I don't see how all entrepeneurial drive stories would be necessarily time sensitive.
(edited)
It is ambiguous, agreed. However, this almost certainly refers to Entrepreneurial Drive (my reasoning for this is based on confidential information, hence can't share).
If you encounter this ambiguity in an interview, you need to strike a balance between clarifying and just running with the question. Here's some pointers:
Hope this helps a bit. Best of luck!
(edited)
Thank you for the reply! I did give my one liner clearly stating the "leading" aspect and they told me to go ahead so I went with my best Inclusive Leadership story. Tough luck I guess. The silver lining is that I think that particular story could fit both traits (although I had separate stories for each).
(edited)
This is good! If you gave them the 1-liner and they "approved" the story, it's for the interviewer to grade your story adequately by referring to the appropriate scoring criteria. Wouldn't worry at all! Fingers crossed!
Hi there,
To me it sounds like Entrepreneurial Drive, but indeed it's a creative way of formulating it.
This only stands to show that you should practice your stories in a modular way, so that you are able to adjust them as needed based on the specific question you are receiving.
Best,
Cristian
Hi there,
I agree with this others - this is entrepreneurial drive.
And, this example is exactly why I tell my candidates not to just memorize stuff!
For behavioral, frameworking, market sizing, etc. you need to learn how to approach any and all questions. Learn to leverage your prepared stories, but adjust and adapt no matter the question.
Entrepreneurial drive. It’s about how you orient yourself and make judgement under ambiguity and uncertainty.
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