Foundation · The core skill
How to structure any problem
The most important skill in the interview. Break a problem into clean parts, build your own issue tree, lead with a hypothesis, and use frameworks as tools rather than scripts.
14 min3 lessons Last reviewed
Start lesson 1 Clean splits: being MECE
Key takeaways
- A clean split has parts that do not overlap and that together cover everything.
- An issue tree is a picture of how you split a big question into smaller ones.
- Structure tells you where to look. A hypothesis tells you where to look first.
By the end you will be able to
- Split a problem so the parts do not overlap and cover everything (MECE)
- Build your own issue tree or driver tree for a new prompt
- Lead with a hypothesis, and change it when the data disagrees
- Use the classic frameworks as sources of ideas, never as a script
Lessons
1
Clean splits: being MECE
Breaking a problem into parts that do not overlap and together cover everything.
5 min
2
Issue trees and driver trees
Turning a clean split into a picture you can work through.
4 min
3
Hypothesis first, and frameworks as tools
Lead with a best guess, change it when the data disagrees, and use frameworks for ideas, never as a script.
5 min