Hi,
for the PEI on Personal Impact, how many iterations should there ideally be until I convince my vis-a-vis? I read that it is not recommended to have too many, as it could be perceived as being reluctant to the feedback and stubborn.
What is the rule?
Hello!
I believe you are overthinking this one. There is not such a KPI as “number of iterations”. What´s true is that the story needs to be convincing and good (which means that you need to convince a “good” stakeholder about something “hard”, that doesn´t always happen in the first iteration). However, it´s not a must -think for instance of a great example in which you literally only have one shot at this, that would make you rule out a potentially great story!
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Hope it helps!
That's a great question.
Especially because the most common mistake I notice with stories related to personal impact is that the situation resolves itself too easily - the typical one here is that the candidate went with ‘data' to whoever they needed to convince, and then it worked out.
There is no magic number, but around 3-4 iterations is what it looks like in reality when you are trying to persuade somebody more complicated.
For anyone else who is preparing for the PEI component, I've created a video course with my 6-step storytelling framework that has helped my candidates get distinctive feedback on the McKinsey PEI. You can find out more about it here:
Best,
Cristian
Hey there,
How many iterations it took is not a metric that is very relevant. You can effectively convince a person or group within one go if you showcase how you tailored your approach and arguments to the person and the situation.
I usually work on stories with one or two iterations, just because it makes it easier to tell a convincing story (pun intended) with a proper story arch and development over time.
If you want to read more on the PEI, check out my article here: https://www.preplounge.com/en/articles/mckinsey-pei
Cheers,
Florian
Unlike entrepreneurial drive where your resilience is crucial, I would simplify it for personal impact. It’s important to share the initial conflict but from there, the focus should be more on how you were able to influence that person. If that involves a few iterations then fine but I would only do so if it helps communicate across the challenge/complexity or additional aspects of your influencing. Good luck!
(edited)
Hi there,
I totally agree with Ken - it's more about being clear on how you persuaded them.
If you did it in 1 go, but employed multiple techniques (data, communication, hearing them out first, etc.) then that's fine!
It really depends on the story and how the “flow” sounds but 1-2 is reasonable. Of course, this doesn't count the “initial” persuasion where you tried and they said no.
