Lecture Notes: Understanding MESI in Case Interviews

Introduction

Presenter: Davis, former Bain management consultant
Topic Overview: Explanation of MESI (Mutually Exclusive, Collectively Exhaustive) strategy for organizing ideas, people, and objects in consulting, particularly in case interviews.

Mutually Exclusive: (ME)
- Each item belongs to exactly one group.
- Prevents double counting, ensures distinct categories.
- Example: Sorting marbles by color (red, yellow, blue) ensures each marble belongs to one category.
Collectively Exhaustive (CE):
- Every item is sorted, none left out.
- Ensures comprehensive coverage.
- Example: Including all colors of marbles (red, yellow, blue) ensures none are left out.

Prevents skewed analysis by ensuring distinct groupings.
Ensures comprehensive solutions by accounting for all elements.
Example: Creating a revenue breakdown for a tire company, ensuring distinct (ME) and comprehensive (CE) categories.

Case Example: Delivery plan for medicines in Nigeria
- Ensuring mutually exclusive age groups to prevent overlap and shortages.
- Ensuring collectively exhaustive age groups to include all potential recipients.

Case Interview Structure:
- Use MESI to create a clear, organized framework.
- Example: Structuring analysis by product lines (Product A, B, C) in a tech company case.
Market Sizing & Analysis:
- Break down revenue potential by customer type (consumers, businesses, governments, non-profits).
- Ensure distinct and comprehensive coverage.
Brainstorming Techniques:
- Use MESI to categorize brainstorming ideas (e.g., offline vs. online marketing strategies).

Exercise:
- Divide categories into one grouping (X) and its complement (Non-X).
- Example: Birds vs. Non-Birds for sorting animals in a zoo.

Call to Action:
- Encourage practice with X Non-X method.
- Invitation to join consulting preparation program for further coaching and success stories.

Contact Information:
- Link for free strategy session with consulting offer team.