Would you agree with the candidate who would approach the standard profitability case with the framework below? I haven't mentioned any details (sub-buckets etc.) in order to simplify my question.
1. Problem isolation (where did the problem come from?)
1.1 Revenue …
1.2 Cost structure …
2. Root-cause analysis (why did it happen?)
…
3. Solutions (what to do?)
…
Noooooooooooooooooooooo.
Thank you for this Q&A, as it's SUCH a good example of what NOT to do.
Every project has root-cause analysis. Every project has solutions. Every profit project has revenue/cost.
So a client is going to pay millions of $ for a top-tier consultant to say to them “I know how to fix your problem. First, we'll identify it. Revenues. Costs. Then we'll analyze it. Then, we'll come up with solutions”.
Of course not! Goodbye contract. Goodbye money.
A framework is HOWyou're going to approach the problem. Through what lens will you look at problem, revenue, cost, root-cause, solutions
Here's a hint:
Can you use the same framework for McDonalds that's facing weightloss drugs versus a mom-and-pop Parisian boulangerie? Nope :)
Actually, this can work.
It's difficult to give you a definitive answer at this granularity, but there are several things that this structure does well
1. it's original
2. it's operational i.e., it's actually leading somewhere
3. it's trying to identify the problem, identify the underpinning reasons and then move into the ideation space.
Still, I'm very much against the idea of using frameworks, so at most, what you're suggesting can be a starting point, but you should do a lot of tailoring for this to pass muster.
Best,
Cristian
Too generic, it can also be applied to a cat grooming company ;)
There are not such things as profitability frameworks. Frameworks must answer the main case question and this will be absolutely different across industries and companies.
If I don't know the problem, I don't know if this is the answer…
Each problem needs a tailored answer. Meaning that if you are trying to find a one-size-fits-all what you will get is a one-size-NEVER-FITS.
