McKinsey Presentation Decks - What is the Storyline and What is a "Dot-Dash"?

If you're working with a McKinsey boss to prepare a PowerPoint (PPT) presentation - known in consulting as a "deck" - you might be asked to work on a storyline and prepare a "Dot-Dash" version of that storyline.  In this post, I'll explain what those terms means and why they're important...

What is a storyline?

The storyline refers to the journey on which the deck takes the audience.  It should take the audience from Point A (their current mindset) to Point B (your desired outcome).

Think of the storyline as the roadmap for a journey and the PowerPoint deck as the vehicle for taking your audience to your desired destination.  Each element of the deck - every page, every exhibit, and each word - should take your audience one step closer to your desired end-state.

What is a "dot-dash" storyline?

"Dot-dash" refers to the bullet-point, outline format, where a) main, top-level ideas that drive the storyline are designated with round, dot-shaped bullets and b) 2nd-level, supporting ideas, facts, and exhibits are indented and designated with dashes.  These dots and dashes provide the structure around which the PowerPoint deck should be built.

Why are these concepts important?

The dot-dash approach allows you to lay out the entire storyline without investing the time to create PPT pages and exhibits.  If changes need to be made to the storyline, you can find out before you waste a lot of time and effort.

Think about how long it would take you (and your team) to put together a PowerPoint deck - even a basic, "ghost" deck - to review with key stakeholders, only to receive feedback that the storyline is wrong, some of the pages are off point, and/or you're missing critical content.  Not only do you have much rework ahead of you, but you've already lost a lot of time and effort that has now been wasted.

Now consider the same scenario but instead of a deck, you just reviewed a dot-dash storyline outline.  You still might have a lot of work ahead of you, but you've learned some valuable lessons about the deck for minimal cost.

For this approach to be effective, it is critical that you develop it and get early feedback from key stakeholders so you give yourself time to course-correct and minimize wasted effort.

McKinsey Presentations - How to Apply Ghost (aka Shell and Skeleton) Decks and Pages

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McKinsey consultants invest a lot of time and effort into making PowerPoint presentations (decks) and pages.  "Ghost" decks are used to align on what the end product will look like and to minimize wasted work.  In this post I'll explain what a ghost deck is and what it means to "ghost out" a deck or pages...

What is a "ghost" deck or page?

The ghost deck - also referred to as a shell or skeleton at other firms - is an early draft of a PowerPoint deck.  Think of it as a PPT presentation that's about 20% complete, with most of the work going into developing leads (titles) and headlines (the one to two lines of text just under the leads) that push the storyline forward.  Aside from the leads and headlines, most of the individual ghost pages will be blank or contain some rough sketches of exhibits - tables, graphs, etc. - that the team intends to eventually complete.  It can be helpful to "sticker" the pages with notes on what data to populate those exhibits are already available and what still needs to be obtained.

It can also be used more broadly, meaning a rough draft of anything.  For example, I've heard of preliminary Excel model referred to as a ghost.  It had all of the elements of the final model - input screens, calculation worksheets, and output tabs, but without any of the complex programming or functionality.

Sometimes consultants will also use "ghost" as a verb, as in "just ghost out your idea and we'll discuss it" or "now that we're done ghosting out the deck, let's review it with the Partner".  "Ghosting" or "ghosting out" refers to creating a rough draft version of something.

How are ghost decks and pages used?

McKinsey teams use ghost decks to align on the approach and direction for a PPT deck and the workplans to get to the final version while minimizing wasted work.  Once the team, leadership, and sometimes clients have agreed upon the storyline for the deck, the ghost deck is developed to answer the following questions after a minimal investment of time, effort, and resources:

1. Now that we see how we would tell the story, do we want to make changes to the storyline?
2. What content is required to support the storyline?
3. What do we already have and how will we present it?
4. What are we missing and what do we need to do to get it?

The sames things can be done with a ghost page or ghost model.

Why are ghost decks helpful?

Let's examine the benefits of the ghost deck based on each of the four questions above.  By preparing and reviewing ghost decks, teams can better do each of the following steps, as needed...

1.  Adjust the storyline before a lot of work is invested

Even the most carefully planned, problem-solved, and thought out storylines might be revised at the ghost stage.  As draft pages bring the storyline to life, new ideas surface and/or gaps are exposed.  If a storyline has to be changed, it's much better to know sooner rather than later. 

Because effective ghost decks are prepared with minimal investment of time and effort, changes at this stage mean less wasted work.  Storyline changes often create cascade effects, impacting pages later in the deck - by identifying those changes early, any additional steps can be planned appropriately and unnecessary work avoided.

2.  Align on what content will be required

These answers comprise the wish list or shopping list for the team.  By allowing the storyline and ghost deck to dictate what content needs to be prepared, a team can focus their effort where it will maximize impact.  The ghost deck also puts the content into context, so people can understand why they're developing specific content, informing what to prepare, how to frame it, and what alternatives they might want to consider.

3.  Plan for what needs to be done with available content

When reviewing the draft deck and ghost exhibits, the team should note which exhibits already have data behind them.  If these pages survive the ghost review and will remain in the deck, the team can briefly discuss what information is available and develop high-level workplans for completing those exhibits and pages.  For example, the team can make preliminary plans for what analyses will be done, what the expected conclusions are, and the implications to the storyline

4.  Identify gaps in the storyline and data needs

Often, what is most apparent from the ghost deck is what is missing.  If there is a gap in the storyline, the team can problem solve on what pages and content are needed to bridge that gap.  It might require a set of new pages or an adjustment to the storyline.

Data needs are exposed when pages are ghosted and the team realizes they cannot populate the page or complete exhibits with currently available data.  Identifying data needs early is critical because it often takes a long time to find, gather, and clean data before it can even be analyzed.  This is especially true if the information will be coming from the client or a 3rd party where the sense of urgency is typically not as great as it is at McKinsey.

Clearly identifying what is missing also helps reduce the work the team needs to do.  By being targeted in their efforts, team members can avoid "boiling the ocean" and following up on the entire universe of potential questions and answers.

Why are ghost decks important?

Time is precious, especially when the workload is high and the timelines are short.  Ghost decks are another way McKinsey teams make the most of their time and effort. 

Using ghost decks also allows consultants to "be more 80/20" in their thinking, showing their McKinsey boss that they understand how to maximize impact for the time invested, and can apply top-down thinking and problem-solving techniques.

Asking Your McKinsey Boss for Help - Bring Solutions, Not Just Problems

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In a previous post, I provided three ways to keep your McKinsey boss happy.  In this post, I'll explain a fourth, equally important way to stay in the good graces of your McKinsey boss:  When you're struggling with something and need help from your McKinsey boss, make sure you bring solutions, not just problems

Everybody needs help

Even the best consultants run into problems that require advice, assistance, or problem solving from their McKinsey boss.  Any good McKinsey leader knows that their teams need the benefit of their support, knowledge, and experience.  One of their responsibilities is to make sure you are successful, but you should be mindful about how you approach the situation.

Bring something to the table - potential solutions

Because your McKinsey boss is responsible for the success of the team, your problems become their problems.  Although your McKinsey boss should be willing to help you out, your approach can have a tremendous impact on how you are perceived.  As discussed previously, your McKinsey boss is likely to be very busy and you can keep him/her happy by making their job easier. 

If you have a question or problem that requires help, you should make yourself part of the solution.  This can be done by thinking through the issue first and going in with one or more potential straw man solutions.  You straw man answers might not be perfect, but will start the conversation off on the right foot - rather than a needy, squeaky wheel that needs attention and answers, you might be seen as a proactive, self-sufficient, problem solver who wants a thought partner to assess options.

Why this approach is better for everyone...

1.  Providing options makes it easier for your McKinsey boss to respond

If you go to your boss with nothing but a problem, he/she has to put a lot of thought toward identifying solutions from an entire universe of possibilities.  By providing some options to consider, you give your McKinsey boss something to react to.  It's the difference between a multiple choice and fill-in-the-blank test.

2.  It shows you're not just passing the buck

Consider how each of the following consultants might be viewed by their McKinsey boss.

• Consultant A - "I can't figure out what companies to benchmark for our client.  What should I do?"
• Consultant B - "I'm having a hard time figuring out what companies to benchmark.  So far I've asked several clients who they consider to be their top competitors.  I've also read multiple reports by industry analysts.  The answers have been all over the place so I've also scheduled calls with some Firm experts on the industry.  Is there anything else I should be considering?"

Consultant A is basically asking their boss to do their work for them.  Consultant A is taking something off his/her own plate and dumping it on the plate of their boss.  To help Consultant A, the McKinsey boss is going to have to start from scratch and do the thinking for both of them.  Consultant A is going to come across as lazy and/or less competent.

Consultant B has taken ownership and accountability for the situation.  It's clear that Consultant B has given the issue plenty of thought, exercised significant effort, and already come up with some good approaches.  At this point, all the McKinsey boss has to do is validate the work that's already been done and, possibly, contribute an additional idea or two.  Consultant B is going to come across as more proactive, diligent, and thorough.

Which perceptions would you rather convey?

3.  You might solve the problem yourself

By the time you think through potential solutions to present alongside your problem, you might find that you've already figured out the answer.

You still might want to run it by your McKinsey boss for confirmation, but that's a much easier conversation for both of you.  Would you rather be asking "what should I do?" or "I'm planning to do X, does that sound right to you?"  The former is something Consultant A would ask, the latter is how Consultant B succeeds.

The Straw Man - An Important Tool for McKinsey-Style Problem Solving

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As a Firm, McKinsey if often engaged to work on a client's most challenging problems and McKinsey teams apply structured approaches to arrive at the best answers.  The "straw man" is an important tool for collaborative problem solving in all phases and at every level of a client engagement.  In this post I'll explain what a straw man is, why they're important, and caveats for their use...

What is a straw man?

In the context of problem solving, a "straw man" is a draft version of something that a team can debate, pick apart, and improve.

The use of a straw man is aligned with a couple of hallmarks of McKinsey problem solving.  The straw man is hypothesis-driven and it enables an iterative process for getting to increasingly better solutions.  Like anything else hypothesis-driven, the team should be prepared to discard it if necessary and resume work with a new straw man.

Disclaimer:  This "straw man" should not be confused with the political / debating version of a "straw man" in which your opponent takes Position "A", you find a similar but easily attacked Position "B", and argue against Position "B" (the "straw man") rather than your opponent's actual Position "A".

Common examples of where a straw man might be used

This list is not meant to be exhaustive, but includes some examples of occasions when a straw man could be used to drive team problem solving:

• Initial hypothesis for the overarching answer for a client engagement
• Preliminary outline ("dot-dash") for a PowerPoint presentation (deck) storyline
• Draft version of a PowerPoint page for making a particularly challenging point
• Simple, working model in Excel that will eventually require more complex functionality

Why the straw man is important

In each of the examples above, it is much easier for a group of people to engage in discussion about a draft version of something rather than debating it in abstract.  The intent is never for the straw man to be the ultimate answer, instead, it is a tool to help get to the best answer.

The arguments and ideas that arise from the straw man provide valuable feedback that inform and improve the final answer.  Sometimes, the most successful straw man is the one that gets discarded but adds tremendous value by revealing where the answer is NOT.  Often, the best arguments against a straw man end up being or leading to the actual solution.

Consider how a collaborative problem-solving session can get derailed without a straw man.  Here are some ways group work can get derailed without a straw man...

• Lack of common understanding of the problem and/or potential solutions results in miscommunication, frustration, and wasted effort
• An infinite solution space can leave teams stuck in the brainstorming phase without making progress toward a solution
• Without a straw man to test and discard, teams could end up wasting valuable time developing and refining solutions that are suboptimal or incorrect

Caveats for using a straw man

1.  Present it as a rough draft

It's critical that a straw man be presented in the proper context- that it is highly preliminary and meant to be picked apart.  Clients, in particular, can be uncomfortable or unfamiliar with the hypothesis-driven approach.  That makes it especially important that the following be made clear:

• The team is not assuming that they already know the answer - a common knock against consultants is that we act like we know everything.  A straw man taken out of context would reinforce that perception.
• The straw man is preliminary, incomplete, and possibly incorrect - without the proper context, clients can anchor on the straw man and reference it, even after it has been discarded.  It can also hurt your credibility if the client has a culture that values always being right.
• This is an iterative process and the intent is to discard or improve the straw man - clients might question why they're paying so much for something that's so clearly wrong

2.  Don't over-invest time and effort

Because the straw man is a rough draft, it doesn't make a lot of sense to spend a lot of time and effort fine-tuning and polishing it.  As long as it's developed enough to make its position clear and trigger the necessary thinking and debate, it's ready to go.

3.  Avoid pride of ownership

If you find yourself defending your straw man too vigorously, take a step back and make sure you're arguing for the hypothesis and not for your own work.  The straw man is meant to be attacked and picked apart - either so it can be discarded or so that it can be improved.  Don't take it personally.  And if you're on the other end of the process, remember to focus your critical eye on the straw man, not its creator.

Another important use of the straw man

In a previous post, I covered 3 ways to keep your McKinsey boss happy.  In a future post I'll go into greater detail on how a straw man can help you with a 4th way to keep your McKinsey boss happy - always go to him/her with solutions, not problems.  The straw man can be an important tool for doing this.

5 Ways to Get the Most Out of your McKinsey Summer Internship

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It's internship season and that means all the insecure overachievers who are McKinsey Summer Associates and Summer Business Analysts are stressing out about whether or not they'll get a job offer at the end of the summer.  While securing the full-time offer is important, there are other critical things a Summer can get out of the internship.  Here are some tips on getting the most out of a McKinsey summer internship....

1. Enjoy the summer

The Firm has invested a lot of time and effort into identifying the best candidates for internships.  Along with returning BAs, the summer internship program is the primary source for full-time hires.  Therefore, Summer Associates (SA) and Summer Business Analysts (SBA) receive internship offers because the Firm is fairly certain they will make good full-time consultants.  As a result, at least in the US, the summer internship program is as much about recruiting and "cultivating" SAs and SBAs for full-time recruiting as much as it is about evaluating their performance.

Don't get me wrong - it's still possible for SA/SBAs to not get a full-time offer.  Sometimes it's just apparent that there isn't a great fit between the intern and the Firm or consulting in general.  Other times, SAs/SBAs exhibit such poor judgement, professionalism, or performance that they're not asked to return.  But those cases are rare.  In all of the SA/SBA classes I've been a part of or helped recruit, fewer than 10% do not get an offer to return.

That means as long as you don't drop the ball frequently and/or in a egregious way, you're likely to get an offer to return.  So, mind your Ps and Qs, but know that you don't have to stress out about locking down your offer to return and try to enjoy the summer.  Because the Firm wants interns to return, summers are usually filled with fun, social weekend events, including the annual North American SA/SBA Conference where all the interns from across the continent are brought together to a resort environment for a weekend of fun.  Past SA/SBC Conference activities have included scuba diving, golf, horseback riding, surfing, and sailing.

2.  Interview the Firm

The summer gives the Firm 10 weeks to assess interns - it's a far better litmus test of a person's ability to succeed at McKinsey than a handful of one-hour interviews.  The same applies in reverse - the summer is a much better way for interns to assess the Firm.  SAs/SBAs will learn far more about whether or not they like McKinsey over the course of the summer than they can through coffee chats, research, and interviews.

It's important that interns be honest with themselves over the summer.  Consulting jobs at McKinsey are prestigious, pay well, and can boost a resume, so it can be tempting to accept a full-time despite signs that it's not the best fit.  Some critical questions for interns to ask themselves over course of the the summer are:

• Do I like Consulting?
• Do I like the culture of the Firm?
• Do I like my colleagues?  My engagement teams?  My SA/SBA class?
• Do I like the people in my location?  Is the size of the office right for me?  Am I excited to work with the Partners?
• Can I handle the lifestyle?  The long hours?  The travel?  The high standards?  The stress?

McKinsey gives SAs/SBAs a "real" summer experience.  On most McKinsey teams, the SA/SBA is given the same responsibilities as any other, new, full-time Associate or Business Analyst.  So, the summer internship is representative of what the full-time experience will be like.  My understanding is that other Firms give their interns a much cushier summer experience than their full-time consultants get.

3.  Be a sponge

 ...and I'm not referring to taking full advantage of the open bars that seem to be at every McKinsey event, although you should also do that!  I'm talking about soaking in as much knowledge as you can about how the Firm works and how to be a high-performing consultant.  Even though it might not feel like it at the end of the summer, you will have learned a tremendous amount about how to be a better consultant. 

When you return as a full-time consultant, you will have a huge advantage over the other full-time hires.  After 10 weeks as an SA/SBA, you'll know things that your full-time classmates won't.  Some examples include, how to...

• make client-ready pages
• submit R&I requests
• send pages to VGI for production
• reach advanced analytic support for help with Excel models

You'll even know what to wear to client sites or to the McKinsey office, how to submit expense reports, and have an inkling of how staffing works.  These are all things that your full-time class won't know and will be looking to you for help.
Also, when you return to campus after your internship, you'll be in a much better position to help you classmates understand what they're getting into as they apply for full-time consulting positions.  McKinsey's returning SAs/SBAs are often the Firm's most effective recruiting resources for aspiring consultants..

4.  Build a reputation

Other full-time classmates aren't the only ones with heightened expectations of returning SAs/SBAs.  Partners and Engagement Managers (EMs) putting teams together know that returning summers are likely to be more effective than a brand-new Associate or Business Analyst.  Therefore, returning summers tend to be in high demand.

Most new consultants are unknown quantities, so there's no reason for a Partner or EM to go out of their way to staff one.  But if, during your summer internship, you can do the following, the more likely you'll have people willing to go out of their way to staff and work with you.

• Establish a track record for high performance
• Build a reputation with your team and Partner(s)
• Network with other SAs/SBAs, partners, and consultants
• Gain some expertise on an industry, function, or client

That will give you more options for your early staffing, increasing the likelihood that you can be successful in your first few engagements.

5.  Get to know your SA/SBA class

During the summer, the Firm will give you plenty of opportunities to interact with your SA/SBA classmates, especially those from the same office complex.  Take full advantage of these chances to connect with your summer class - it seems that summer classes are able to form much more tightly knit groups than the larger full-time classes.

If you plan to return to McKinsey full-time, these people will be your support network for your first few years in the Firm.  It's also likely that you'll be attending many of the same tenure-based trainings throughout your McKinsey career.  You'll be experiencing many of the same things and facing the same challenges at the same time, so you'll be able to give each other a lot of advice and support.  This is especially true when, as a group, you begin to face career milestones and decisions like how to manage teams and when/how to leave the Firm.  To this day, some of my strongest friendships and connections are with my SA/SBA classmates.