Structured Problem-Solving using Frameworks

Interviewing Frameworks - I

Understanding a Business Problem

The CRISP-DM framework is the cross-industry standard process for data mining, which provides an approach for solving
a business problem in a structured manner. This process involves the following steps:

 Business understanding
 Understanding data
 Data preparation
 Modelling
 Evaluation
 Deployment

CRISP-DM = CRoss-Industry Standard Process for Data Mining

In addition to CRISP-DM, there are many systems and methodologies where business understanding is the first step.

In any industry, a problem might arise in any instance and at any time. Let’s look at some instances below:

 "Our sales are declining. What do we do?"

 "The company needs to increase its market share. How should we proceed?"

 “There is a new competitor in the industry, which is affecting our profits. What should be done?"

 "The company is incurring huge losses. How do we cut them down?"

In such situations, it might be difficult to decide on a problem-solving approach based on just one line of information and
without getting into the detailed context.

An incorrect approach to solving any of the problems mentioned above would be to jump to conclusions and
recommend solutions based on them. The suggestions made in such cases would be quite open-ended and would
provide no guarantee that the problem would be solved.

problem-solving can be broken down into five steps as shown in the image given below.
 Structured Problem-Solving using Frameworks
Factors to Consider in a Business Problem

In the real world, we may encounter many business problems. However, in this module, we will list out a few major types
of business problems that are faced by organizations. These include the following:

 Uncertainty—
Uncertainty leads to short-term focus. Companies drift or move away from long-term planning in favor of
short-term results, with uncertainty often the excuse.

 Globalization—
Understanding foreign cultures is essential to penetrate new markets with existing products and
services, in order to design new products and services for new customers. The problem that needs to be
solved in this case is that you need to better understand international markets and cultures through
better information gathering and analysis of what they mean.

 Innovation—
Large companies focus on innovation, and an improved innovation process is a topmost priority for most
companies. The problem that needs to be solved in this case is how to become more innovative while
still maintaining a sense of control over the organization.

 Government Policy and Regulations—

This involves understanding the meaning of the various government policies and regulations pertaining
to your industry and their implications for your business, and to develop the skills necessary to deal with
them.

 Technology—
This involves developing a long-term technology strategy while remaining flexible enough to take
advantage or shift to unforeseen technology developments.

 Diversity—
The objective is to foster the expansion of differing ideas and viewpoints while ensuring a sufficiently
cohesive environment where tasks are completed efficiently.

 Complexity—
It helps develop better systems-thinking capabilities so you can design your own business models,
processes, products and services in a way that minimizes unnecessary complexity.

 Supply Chains—
The need is to develop a supply chain strategy that not only ensures the lowest costs but also minimizes
the risk of crippling supply chain disruptions.

 Strategic Planning—
To produce good results in the future, strategic thinking and problem-solving are the keys to a successful
business operation.

Interviewing: Preparation
Previously, you saw that the first step in solving any business problem is to understand it completely.
To that end, you need to first familiarize yourself with the company. If you are solving an internal problem, then you
would already have several facts pertaining to the internal teams, processes, etc. Nevertheless, you should still verify
your understanding with the respective departments.
 Structured Problem-Solving using Frameworks

Now, if it is an external client, then you should spend some time learning about the company – what it does, the industry
in which it operates, the market it caters to, its consumers – in addition to gathering information that will help you to
understand the problem better.
Now, suppose a client approaches you seeking help with planning a marketing campaign. In this case, you should be well
acquainted with the company, especially about the following:
 What the company does
 The industry in which it operates
 The market that it caters to
 Its consumers
 Marketing concepts
 Information that will help you understand the problem better

Once you have done extensive self-research, you need to then understand the problem by interacting with the people
who are facing it. This step is what we call ‘interviewing’. To understand a problem completely, you will always need to
interact with multiple people inside a company.

interviewing is an activity that you will be performing with people all the time to gather information. Different job roles
will require you to interact with different sets of individuals, but the task of interviewing will remain the same across all
of them.

Now, even though interviewing is an important skill, it is often observed that people do not prepare for it and end up
asking random questions or missing out on crucial details.

before any interview, you should have answers to the following three questions:
 Why am I taking this interview?
 What will I do next?
 Why am I interviewing this person?
Write down the answer of above three questions
 Structured Problem-Solving using Frameworks
Interviewing: Do's and Don'ts
In an interview, you should:
 Turn off all the distractions (mobiles, laptops, etc.) around you.
 Use pen and paper to prepare notes.
 Be patient. Don’t be anxious to reply.
 Pause. Think. Ask.
 Playback your understanding with the interviewee for their validation.

Understanding Business Problems: Frameworks - I

For example, let’s consider you are interviewing a client who is troubled by the falling market demand. If you do not have
a clear structure in your mind, then you might start by asking the following question:

 “What do you think is wrong with the company?”

Some possible answers that you may have to this question are as follows:

 The internal processes are not optimized.

 The sales team is inefficient.

 The product is not popular because of poor quality.

 The company lacks the necessary resources.

You will end up with a list of, say, 10 random issues, involving, say, more than five different departments, when it is
possible that only two of them are relevant for your analysis; nevertheless, you will end up gathering irrelevant
information as well.

To overcome this issue, people have developed specific patterns of asking questions, which we call ‘frameworks’, over
the years. There are multiple frameworks that are available at your disposal, and you need to choose the one that is the
most suitable for your case and also depending on the domain you are solving the problem for.

Three frameworks:

 5 WHYs: This framework or pattern helps us ask for the WHY question to the problem till we get to the root
cause we are looking for. As Anand mentioned, we keep asking the WHYs till we get to the part we are looking for
or as much as we can go in-depth of the problem to solve it better.

 So what? : This framework or pattern helps us understand the implication based on the so what interrogation of
part 1, so what interrogation of part 2, and so on.

 5 Ws: The 5 Ws framework or pattern often asks the following set of questions.

o Who was involved in the problem?

o What is the problem that is being faced?

o Where does the problem take place?

o When does the problem arise?

o How does the problem affect the company or its operations?

 Structured Problem-Solving using Frameworks

Understanding Business Problems: Frameworks - II

5 WHYs

This is quite a helpful framework when it comes to identifying the root cause of a problem. It involves a
sequence of ‘why’ questions, and you continue the process until you reach a root cause or a reason for the
problem you were looking for. The nested form of this framework helps you cover multiple aspects of a particular
problem as well.

However, with the 5 WHYs framework, you should always keep in mind a few points:

 The 5 WHYs may take some time to reach the main root cause. The reasoning may branch into
multiple options (‘why else’), exploring each of which will require time.
 There is always a risk of landing on a false root cause, as the branch you have explored might digress
from the main issue.
 The discussion should involve people from all the teams affected by the problem. This will help in
covering all the aspects of the problem.

The 5 WHYs framework has multiple drawbacks:

 You need all the relevant teams to be together in a room to cover all the aspects of the problem. It
can be a difficult task to coordinate all the groups together for an ample amount of time to identify
the root cause in a systematic manner.
 The teams tend to have opinions and biases against other teams, which may not be true. This
sometimes leads to the disagreement between teams, making a healthy discussion an impossibility.
 Also, the time taken to check the biased responses will slow down the process of solving the
problem.

A person should be well versed with the flow of the process and the activities surrounding the problem to create
a 5 WHYs framework.

5 HOWs

An extension of the 5 WHYs framework is the 5 HOWs framework. It is a handy tool to drill down to the root
cause of the business problem. Once you have determined the root cause, you need to ask, ‘How will we address
the root cause?’. Using the ‘5 HOWs’ framework, your team will be able to come up with a precise answer. You
 Structured Problem-Solving using Frameworks
drill down to the solution using a series of HOWs until you have a set of steps that will be needed to complete
the task.

Now, having determined the root cause, your very first question would
be “How do we resolve this issue?”. The answer to this question is:
“Improve the brand reputation”. Using the 5 Hows framework, you can
break this solution down into further steps as shown in the image
given below.

So What?

The ‘So What’ framework comes in handy when you want to get a deeper understanding of the implications of a
particular problem or scenario. It helps you quantify the impact of a case with a series of ‘So what?’ questions.
You create a flow by asking a ‘So what?’ question after each level. It helps you determine the problem areas if
the business problem is not solved.

This is quite a helpful framework when you are trying to evaluate the need for a business solution. For example,
consider that a client has approached you for help with finding a solution to the shrinking customer base for its
products. In this case, the ‘So what’ framework will help you understand the implications of this problem on the
business. You begin by asking the client the following questions:

problem : “The customer base is shrinking.

So what?”
Due to the reduced customer base, the sales of the company has fallen.
“So what?”
The reduced revenue has impacted the profitability of the company.
“So what?”
The reduced profits are affecting the operations of the company.
“So what?”
Due to the inefficient operations, the company is losing more money and incurring greater losses.

So, with the help of the ‘So what’ framework, you have created a map that shows how the problems are
affecting the business.

5W Framework

This is one of the simplest and most effective frameworks to understand the business situation at hand. You just
need to write down the answers to the following five questions to get a clear picture of the problem:

 WHAT is the problem?

 WHO is affected by the problem?
 WHERE is it occurring?
 WHEN did it arise?
 HOW are the people involved affected by the problem?
 Structured Problem-Solving using Frameworks

These five questions will help you understand the context of the problem. This is generally the first step for any
person to work upon and is used in combination with other frameworks to solve a business problem. It is
necessary to have a clear answer to all of these questions before you can start solving the problem. In the next
session, you will see the application of 5W and 5WHy framework on industry domain problems

Interviewing Frameworks - II
Understanding Business Problems: Frameworks

SPIN selling framework

SPIN = Situation Problem Implication Need-payoff

The four categories of questions that you must ask in order to understand the business problem at hand and
establish a relevant proposition for the solution. Now, there should always be a balance between the number of
questions that can be asked under each category.
 Structured Problem-Solving using Frameworks

Question Type Description Benefit Impact

Seller understands the buyer’s Used more in calls that

Questions about the customer’s
Situation context, but the buyer is fail; overused by
current processes and situations
monotonous (dull) here inexperienced people

Seller reveals buyer’s problems;

Questions about the customer’s Strongly linked to success
Problem buyer is interested in discussing
problems in smaller sales
the problems

Questions leading customers to

Seller transforms implied needs Strongly linked to success
Implication reveal the implications of their
into explicit needs in larger sales
problems

Questions offering potential

Seller influences buyer to realise
solutions and highlighting the Strongly linked to success
Need-Payoff the potential benefits of solving
benefits of solving the customer’s in larger sales
the problem
problems

The SPIN framework starts with asking questions about the current situation and helps you visualise the entire
journey, from when the problem arose to what would happen once the problem is solved.

Following are some key points that you should keep in mind while using the SPIN selling framework:

 The result of the framework is highly dependent upon the quality of the questions that are asked. If you are not
asking the correct questions, then you will end up with a large chunk of useless information. This can go in the
opposite direction as well. You might even miss out on some vital information by not asking a question. Hence,
you should always include questions from all four categories (SPIN), by maintaining a balance among all of them.

 The questions asked should not make the interviewee uncomfortable. You should be careful while framing the
questions, so that the interviewee feels free to share relevant information.

 You should do your own share of research before asking the ‘Situation’ and ‘Problem’ questions, so that you have
some context when the interviewee is providing you with information about the process or the company. It will
help you prepare for the ‘Implication’ and ‘Need-payoff’ questions based on what solution can be provided in
those problem scenarios.

Implication and need-payoff should not trigger any unrealistic targets for the people facing the problem. It is a possible
scenario, because the client or the internal team may expect you to solve all the problems and address the implications
arising from them.

Apart from the points mentioned above, one major challenge associated with the framework is to correctly identify the
category to which a question belongs. The major confusion lies between ‘Situation’ and ‘Problem’ questions.

 If the question that you are about to ask is trying to gather information about a process or an activity, then it will
be a ‘Situation’ question.
 If it is meant to reveal the problems that the company might face, then it is an Problem question.
 Structured Problem-Solving using Frameworks
e.g.

Question 1: Why do you use equipment X for activity Y?

Question 2: Is equipment X reliable for activity Y?

Question 1 would fall under situational questions as you are trying to understand the process in the
company. However, Question 2 will be framed after you know the process and are trying to understand
whether there is any problem with equipment X. Hence, you should be able to distinguish between the
two questions.

SPIN Framework: Industry Case Study

Interviewing : Things to keep in mind

We learnt about multiple frameworks that can be used in an interview to understand the problem that your company or
client is facing. One point that you should always remember is that asking the right questions and following a structured
approach are not the only skills that are required; there are other factors as well that are important in achieving the
desired results from an interview.

So, during an interview, you should follow all the points that Anand covered in the video. These are as follows:

 You should have a skeptical mindset when you are listening to the interviewee. You should not have any
preconceived notions or prejudices before entering the room. This will hinder your ability to ask the right
questions and is highly unrecommended.

 You should keep on probing into the interviewee’s statements. This will help you gather more information and
validate the points made.

 While probing, you should always be careful when dealing with sensitive topics. You should always make the
interviewee comfortable, because they may carry the thought that there could be some future consequences if
they revealed their shortcomings.

 Always try to ensure that the interviewee replies with information that can be tested or verified. It is always
advisable to have some supporting data for it. You should also compare the responses of people from the same
team and check whether there is a huge difference between their answers.
 Structured Problem-Solving using Frameworks
So far, you have received pointers on how you should behave in an interview. In the real world, you will come across
people with different traits, and the same approach will not work for all of them. In the next video, Anand will explain
how to deal with different types of individuals during interviews.

Among the four types, the best type of interviewee is the ‘I Know It All’ type. They believe that they have all the answers
and are willing to share their knowledge without any hesitation. The toughest type of interviewee would be ‘The Stone
Face’ type. You would need to put in more effort into getting information from these interviewees.

If you are able to identify the type of the interviewee, then tailoring the conversation accordingly can result in a good
information source. This is a skill that you will have to practise and develop over time.

Summary

So far, you have learnt about the process of interviewing. In any business, you will come across various problems. The
learnings from the first two sessions will help you approach the problem systematically.

You started the first session with the steps involved in the preparation stage before an interview. Before you begin
interacting with a person from a different team or company, you should know about the process followed by the
particular team and the company. You need to be familiar with a few possible reasons why the problem can occur and
propose at least one solution. You can refer to the following blogs to learn more:

 Business Research: Definition, Methods, Types and Examples

 Business Research, Types Of Research and Process of Research

 Benefits of Market Research

 Structured Problem-Solving using Frameworks
Before you start an interview, you should have the answers to the following questions written down:

 Why this interview?

 What will I do next?

 Why this person?

Having answers to all the questions will help you plan the interview in a better manner. Once you are done with the
preparation, the actual interview comes into the picture. You came across the following frameworks:

 5W

 5 WHYs

 5 HOWs

 So what?

 SPIN selling

These frameworks will help you structure your conversation and also identify the possible reasons for the problem. In
some cases, you will be able to understand the solution requirements and make the other person realize the importance
of the same.

Business Model Canvas and Issue Tree Framework

While you are in the process of understanding a certain problem, you need to explore the reasons for it, i.e., you first
need to break down the business problem into possible causes. While you do so, you discover several hypotheses.

For example, some people still do not prefer to buy electronic goods online from e-commerce giants such as Amazon,
Flipkart and eBay. What according to you, could be the possible reasons for this?

After performing some analyses for the e-commerce question, you come to the conclusion that (using the 5 WHYs
framework) you can check the reliability and revise the customer trust policies of these e-commerce companies. Do you
think this is the only reason that you have identified the problem? Well, the answer is no. There could be multiple
reasons as to why some customers do not buy electronic goods online. In the working industry, the 5 whys framework is
often applied along with a structured approach known as the issue tree framework.

Also, you need to back up the root cause you deduce with the data available and check whether it is supported by the
same and then employ it to resolve the business problem that you were trying to solve in the first place. In case you do
not test the derived hypothesis and directly proceed with the solution, there is a possibility of some different reason for
that business problem that you were trying to solve, leading to wasted efforts.

Business Model Canvas

One of the points that you came across in the previous section is how to cover all the aspects of the problem. You will
only have limited time to solve any problem and hence, you need to be efficient in exploring all the domains of the
business. 'Business Model Canvas' is one such framework that provides you with a solution for this.

The business model is a strategic management template for developing new or documenting existing business models. It
helps you cover all the aspects on a sheet of paper in a structured format.
 Structured Problem-Solving using Frameworks

It covers multiple domains of the business in a simple and efficient manner. At the end of the model, you are aware of
the firm's or product's value proposition, infrastructure, customers, and finances.

 Your business understanding increases at an accelerated pace because multiple areas of the business are
covered in a very short span.
 This model is adaptive to all businesses. Whether it is a multinational company or a startup, this model can be
applied to all of them.
 Finally, all you have at the end is just a piece of paper. It is an advantage as you can easily carry your entire
research in the interviews for your reference.

The Business canvas model has the following components:

1. Value propositions -

 What are your products and services?

 What is the job that you get done for your customer?
 What value do we deliver to the customer?
 Which one of our customer's problems are we helping to solve?
 What bundles of products and services are we offering to each Customer Segment?
 Which customer needs are we satisfying?

Characteristics

 Newness, Performance, Customization, "Getting the Job Done", Design, Brand/Status, Price. Cost
Reduction, Risk Reduction, Accessibility, Convenience/Usability

2. Customer segments –

 What are the different customer groups with which the company interacts?
 Who is/are your most important customer(s)?
 Fow whom we are creating Value?
Mass market, niche market, segmented, diversified, multi-sided platform
 Structured Problem-Solving using Frameworks
3. Channels –

 How do you communicate with your customers?

 How do you deliver your value proposition?
 Through which Channels do our Customer Segments want to be reached?
 How are we reaching them now?
 How are our Channels integrated?
 Which ones work best?
 Which ones are most cost-efficient?
 How are we integrating them with customer routines?

Channel Phases

 Awareness: How do we raise awareness about our company's products and services?
 Evaluation: How do we help customers evaluate our organization's Value Proposition?
 Purchase: How do we allow customers to purchase specific products and services?
 Delivery: How do we deliver a Value Proposition to customers?
 After sales: How do we provide post-purchase customer support?

4. Customer relationships –

 How does the business maintain its relationship with its customers?
 What type of relationship does each of our Customer Segments expect us to establish and
maintain with them?
 Which ones have we established?
 How are they integrated with the rest of our business model?
 How costly are they?

Examples
Personal assistance, Dedicated Personal Assistance, Self-Service, Automated Services, Communities,
Co-creation

5. Revenue streams –

 What price are the customers willing to pay for your products?
 How would they prefer to pay?
 How much does each stream’s revenue contribution to the overall revenue?
 For what do they currently pay?
 How are they currently paying?

TYPES FIXED PRICING DYNAMIC PRICING

Asset sale List Price Negotiation (bargaining)
Usage fee Product feature dependent Yield Management
Subscription Fees Customer segment Real-time-Market
Lending/Renting/Leasing dependent
Licensing Volume dependent
Brokerage fees
Advertising
 Structured Problem-Solving using Frameworks
6. Key resources –

 Assets that are required to operate and deliver your company’s value proposition.
 What key Resources do our value propositions require?
 Our Distribution channels?
 Customer relationships?
 Revenue Streams?

Types Of Resources
 Physical
 Intellectual (brand patents, copyrights, data)
 Human
 Financial

7. Key activities –


The main business activities that are performed in order to run your daily business model. What
are the key activities that your value proposition requires?
 What Key Activities do our Value Propositions require?
 Our Distribution Channels?
 Customer Relationships?
 Revenue streams?
CATERGORIES
 Production
 Problem Solving
 Platform/Network

8. Key partners –

 Who are your key partners/suppliers, and what are the motivations for the partnerships?
 Who are our Key Partners?
 Who are our key suppliers?
 Which Key Resources are we acquiring from partners?
 Which Key Activities do partners perform?
MOTIVATIONS FOR PARTNERSHIPS
 Optimization and economy
 Reduction of risk and uncertainty
 Acquisition of particular resources and activities

9. Cost structure –

 What are the top costs of the company taking into account activities and resources?
 What are the most important costs inherent in our business model?
 Which Key Resources are most expensive?
 Which Key Activities are most expensive?

IS YOUR BUSINESS MORE

 Cost Driven (leanest cost structure, low price value proposition, maximum automation, extensive
outsourcing)
 Value Driven (focused on value creation, premium value proposition)
 Structured Problem-Solving using Frameworks
SAMPLE CHARACTERISTICS
 Fixed Costs (salaries, rents, utilities)
 Variable costs
 Economies of scale
 Economies of scope

The Business canvas model has the following components:

1. Value propositions - What are your products and services? What is the job that you get done for your
customer?

2. Customer segments - What are the different customer groups with which the company interacts? Who is/are
your most important customer(s)?

3. Channels - How do you communicate with your customers? How do you deliver your value proposition?

4. Customer relationships - How does the business maintain its relationship with its customers?

5. Revenue streams - What price are the customers willing to pay for your products? How would they prefer to
pay? How much does each stream’s revenue contribution to the overall revenue?

6. Key resources - Assets that are required to operate and deliver your company’s value proposition.

7. Key activities - The main business activities that are performed in order to run your daily business model. What
are the key activities that your value proposition requires?

8. Key partners - Who are your key partners/suppliers, and what are the motivations for the partnerships?

9. Cost structure - What are the top costs of the company taking into account activities and resources?

Demonstration: Business Model Canvas

 Structured Problem-Solving using Frameworks
Issue Tree Framework - I

The issue tree framework is one of the most comprehensive frameworks because of the way it helps in approaching a
problem. With the help of this framework, a problem can be disintegrated into multiple components and each
component can be further broken down into subcomponents. In other words, it is a systematic breakdown of a
problem/question into different components, which progresses to a further breakdown of each component in a branch.

Any large business problem can be broken down to smaller issues/problems, which results in a number of hypotheses.

An important point to note here is that every hypothesis cannot be tested. As you proceed, after you get a set of
hypotheses, you should always prioritize the hypothesis based on the impact that it has on the problem. One rule that
can be followed here is the ‘Pareto Rule’ or the ‘80:20’ rule, where 80% of the effects come from 20% of the causes.
Hence, you can try and identify these hypotheses and prioritize them accordingly.

Although issue tree charts are ready to make in any platform, a tool called Coggle (Coggle.it) is often used in the industry
to identify the different branches and structure the issue tree charts. Thus, Coggle can be used to build an issue tree
comprehensively and easily.

Before you start with the case and implement the framework, there are certain rules that you should be aware of. They
will be very handy when you are working an actual case with your company or the client.

The key points summarized below.

 Always begin the question with ‘How’, e.g., ‘How did this problem occur?’
Based on the question, you will get an answer like this: ‘It is caused either by this or by this’. So, ‘How’ helps you
to break down a problem into several components.

 The next step is to rigorously analyze the response at each level and keep drilling down in order to get to the
main problem.

 Best issue trees are always ‘Mutually exclusive and collectively exhaustive’ (MECE).
‘Mutually exclusive’ means that the branches of a problem are not overlapping or intersecting at any point.
‘Collectively exhaustive’ means that the subcomponents of your issue tree have covered all the possible causes
and they have been reviewed by you.

 You should always try to reach a logical hypothesis at the end of a branch. Ideally, every time you break a
problem into multiple components, there must be a reason for it. Also, avoid using arbitrary assumptions during
the process and analyze the interviewee’s response end to end.

 Once you finish drawing your issue tree, you have to prioritize the hypotheses that you get at the end of the
branch. This will help you in identifying the underlying causes that need to be prioritized. This is known as the
Pareto rule.
Structured Problem-Solving using Frameworks