Plan Best Practice Solution

Decompose a multi-skill problem into sub-problems, match each to the highest-confidence best-practice skill, sequence them by dependency, and execute one skill at a time.

Why This Is Best Practice

Adopted by: McKinsey, BCG, and Bain use MECE (Mutually Exclusive, Collectively Exhaustive) issue trees as their primary problem-solving methodology for complex client situations. NASA and Boeing use Kepner-Tregoe structured problem analysis for high-stakes multi-system failures. Design Thinking's problem-decomposition phase is standard at Google, IDEO, and Apple before any solution is attempted. Impact: Rasiel (The McKinsey Way, 1999) documents that MECE decomposition is the primary tool consultants use to avoid missing problem dimensions — the leading cause of strategy failures. IDEO's Human-Centered Design methodology mandates an explicit problem-definition phase before ideation; teams that skip it produce solutions targeting the wrong problem, requiring full redesign rather than iteration (IDEO HCD Field Guide, 2015). Kepner-Tregoe structured problem analysis is used by Boeing and NASA for high-stakes multi-system failures precisely because unstructured analysis under pressure collapses to the most visible symptom, not the root cause. Why best: Single-skill application fails for complex problems because skills are scoped to one concept. Without decomposition: (1) important problem dimensions are missed; (2) skills are applied in the wrong order — applying a hiring plan before validating a business model wastes work; (3) conflicting guidance between skills goes unresolved. Structured decomposition first, then sequenced skill application, eliminates all three failure modes. Ad-hoc "try one skill, see what sticks" is the alternative — it produces incomplete coverage and rework.

Sources: Rasiel, The McKinsey Way (1999); Kepner-Tregoe Problem Analysis; IDEO Human-Centered Design Field Guide (2015)

Steps

1. Extract problem dimensions (silent)

From the user's input, silently identify: