Group Project Evaluation

• Weightage of 30% (30 marks) in the overall course evaluation

• Sessions 19-20, 28th Jan, Tue
• Evaluation parameters:
o A storyboarded presentation, clearly demonstrating the vertical and horizontal logic
o Clarity – problem statement and hypothesis tree
o Rigor of discovery and analysis – Rumsfeld matrix and its execution
o Relevance of recommendations to the problem statement
o Artifact - attire and grooming appropriate for a presentation to the management team of the client’s company
o Q&A of 10 mins – sessions 19-20 on 28th Jan
• Each team-member must either present or participate in the Q&A; participation only in the latter would automatically imply
that the person didn’t actively contribute on the project
• Marks may vary within the same team, depending on the individual performance of each team-member on the evaluation
parameters, for the part presented by them

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 Consulting Communication (2C) Elective

Discovery by Design

Prof. Ranjan Kumar

Copyright © 2024. Dr. Ranjan Kumar. [Link]@[Link] All rights reserved 1

Design Thinking Process and Methodology

What If? | Ideate What Wows? | Prototype

• Envisions a new future • Narrows down concepts to tangible
• Develops hypothetical concepts in choices
an unconstrained environment • Targets the ‘sweet spot’ of customer
value upside and profit potential

What Is? | Empathize and Define What Works? | Test

• Explores current reality • Enables the go-to-market
• Identifies dissatisfactions and pain • Evaluates design criteria
points

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Design Thinking Tools and Techniques
Illustrative only
The Consulting Lifecycle and the Communication ‘Ask’
Complex and specialized communication competencies required at each milestone

• Exploratory discussion • Making the consulting pitch

• Understanding the need Pre-Contracting • Project kick-off meeting
• Building the proposal • PMO set up
Contracting

Action and
• Final report Implementation

• Commitment to action (CTA)

• Implementation meeting Discovery
• The Whole Discovery process
• Debriefing and closure
• Hypothesis formulation and validation
Diagnosis and
Analysis • The analysis plan
• Discovery meetings and interviews

• Interim report and project updates

• Applying analytical tools and frameworks

4
 Consulting Communication (2C) Elective

S. 9-10| The Consulting Proposal

Prof. Ranjan Kumar

Copyright © 2024. Dr. Ranjan Kumar. [Link]@[Link] All rights reserved 5

 What is a good proposal? 7 Tenets

1 Summarize and convey formally the conceptual agreements reached in discussions to that point between you
and the client.

2 Detail the objectives and success metrics of the project.

3 Detail how the objectives will be met. (the A&M)

4 Describe the value that will occur once the objectives are met.

5 Supply options from which the buyer can choose to determine the amount of value sought for the investment
committed.

6 Stipulate fees and expenses (the “Commercial” proposal)

7 Enable immediate acceptance in writing.

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 Finding the “Economic Buyer”. 7 Questions

1 Whose budget will support this initiative?

2 Who can immediately approve this project?

3 To whom will people look for support, approval, and credibility?

4 Who has initiated this request?

5 Who will claim responsibility for the results?

6 Who will accept or reject proposals?

7 What is the decision-making process

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 What is a good proposal? 7 Tenets

1 Summarize and convey formally the conceptual agreements reached in discussions to that point between you
and the client.

2 Detail the objectives and success metrics of the project.

3 Detail how the objectives will be met. (the A&M)

4 Describe the value that will occur once the objectives are met.

5 Supply options from which the buyer can choose to determine the amount of value sought for the investment
committed.

6 Stipulate fees and expenses (the “Commercial” proposal)

7 Enable immediate acceptance in writing.

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 4 Common Objections

1 No money

2
No time

3 No need

4 No TRUST
The Value Distance

CLIENT NEEDS

CLIENT WANTS…
The Hypothesis-Driven Approach to Problem-Solving

Action &
Contracting Discovery Diagnosis
Implementation

Designing the Interpreting

Framing the Problem Gathering Data Analyzing Data
Analysis Results

• Defining the problem • Determining the • Identifying data and • Applying qualitative • Providing
and the core issue methodology and information required to and qualitative recommendations
• Breaking it down into analysis techniques to conduct the analysis analysis and an
its component prove/disprove the • Accessing relevant data techniques to implementation
elements hypothesis and information sources analyze data plan to the client

• Developing an initial
hypothesis or
hypotheses, as
required

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 Consulting Communication (2C) Elective

S. 8 | Designing the Analysis

Prof. Ranjan Kumar

Copyright © 2024. Dr. Ranjan Kumar. [Link]@[Link] All rights reserved 12

Video Caselet: Conquer the “Unknown Unknowns”

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The Rumsfeld Matrix – A Rational Thinking Model from the Iraq War!

Text

UNKNOWN

2 4

KNOWN

1 3

KNOWN UNKNOWN

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What Rumsfeld Stated:

Reports that say that something hasn't happened are always interesting to me, because as we
know, there are known knowns; there are things we know we know.
We also know there are known unknowns; that is to say we know there are some things we do
not know.
But there are also unknown unknowns—the ones we don't know we don't know. And if one looks
throughout the history of our country and other free countries, it is the latter category that tends to
be the difficult ones.

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Group Activity – Populating the Rumsfeld Matrix (1/2)

Quadrant 1 – Known Knowns

• List all the facts, assumptions, and variables that you and your team (and the client-mentor) are aware of and
understand

• Be as specific and comprehensive as possible, as these elements form the foundation for your decision-making process

Quadrant 2 – Known Unknowns

• In this quadrant, list all the factors, questions, or variables that you (and the client-mentor) know exist but don't
fully understand. These could include gaps in your knowledge, areas requiring additional research or expertise, or
potential risks that need to be investigated further

• Prioritize and address this quadrant. Allocate resources to address these uncertainties through research,
consultation, or experimentation.

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 Consulting Communication (2C) Elective

S. 4-5 | Hypothesis-Driven Problem-Solving

Prof. Ranjan Kumar

Copyright © 2024. Dr. Ranjan Kumar. [Link]@[Link] All rights reserved 17

Reading 2: Using Hypothesis-Driven Thinking | Jeanne Liedtka, 2006

• The scientific method of problem-solving

• Three forms of reasoning – inductive
(data to rule), deductive (rule to data),
abductive (effect to possible causes)
• The 4 characteristics of “wicked problems”
(Rittel, 1972)
o Multiple stakeholders…
o …who see the problem differently
o Interdependencies and dynamic
constraints
o Different solutions, none verifiable

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How would you frame this problem?

Doug Dietz, an innovation architect at GE Healthcare, whose main

responsibility was designing state-of-the-art MRI scanners.

During a hospital visit, he saw a terrified child awaiting an MRI scan and
discovered that a staggering 80% of children needed sedation to cope with
the intimidating experience.

Doug suddenly saw the situation with the eyes of the girl.
“The room itself is kind of dark and has those flickering fluorescent lights”, he
remembers. He adds “that machine that I had designed basically looked like
a brick with a hole in it.”

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Frame and Re-Frame

This revelation prompted him to reframe the problem:

“How can we turn the daunting MRI experience into an exciting adventure for kids?” This is what Doug Dietz
invented after his user research

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The GE Adventure Series MRI Machine

This fresh angle led to the development of the GE Adventure Series, which dramatically
lowered pediatric sedation rates to a mere 15%, increased patient satisfaction scores by
90%, and improved machine efficiency.

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“Successful people ask better questions, and as a result, they get
better answers. And outcomes.”

― Anthony Robbins, Motivational Guru

Reading 1: Consulting is more than giving advice | Arthur Turner, 1982

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 Consulting Communication (2C) Elective

S. 2-3 | The Four Helping Inquiries

Prof. Ranjan Kumar

Copyright © 2024. Dr. Ranjan Kumar. [Link]@[Link] All rights reserved 24

Asking Questions

Humble

• Just not asking questions, a total attitude that includes deep listening, responding appropriately, and revealing
more of ourselves in the relationship building process

• Aimed at uncovering issues, understanding problems, and developing self-realization

Diagnostic

• Steering the conversation and influencing the other person’s attention towards what you are curious about

• Taking charge of the conversation, directed at coming up with an explanation

Process-Oriented

• Follows a standard set of steps or a predefined process to resolve a query or issue

• Typically, adopted in resolving standard customer complaints

Confrontive

• Intentionally inserting your idea, often at a variance, into the conversation

• Based on helper’s own ideas of what can or should happen next

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Humble Inquiry

The fine art of drawing someone out,

Of asking questions to which you do not already know the answer,

Of building a relationship based on curiosity

And genuine interest in another person.

(Source: Humble Inquiry by Edgar H. Schien)

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 Vyba Probiotics – Applying Humble Inquiries

1 What motivated you to create this new drink, Vyba Vibe?

Why is it exclusive to the national grocer?

2 What other opportunities of this scale exist or could potentially exist for Vyba Vibe?

Have you been exploring any such opportunity?

3 What do customers like the most about Vyba products?

What is your brand promise?

How do you compare with your competition?

4 Have there been any episodes of allergic reaction with Vyba products in the past?

5 What is your best and worst case scenario if you go ahead with the launch?

6 What is your best and worst case scenario if you don’t go ahead with the launch?

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 Vyba Probiotics – Applying Diagnostic Inquiries

1 What is the likelihood of Vyba Vibe causing an allergic reaction?

a Do we know? How do we know?
b Are older people, 50-plus years, more likely to have such an allergic reaction?

2 Do we know what might be causing what some customers described as a “weird allergic reaction?”
a What are the symptoms and characteristics of this allergic reaction?
b Have you met or spoken to any of these customers?

3 Why is Vyba Vive more expensive than your existing products?

4 Why are those above 50 most likely to purchase and benefit from Vyba Vibe?

5 Why is the grocer not pulling out despite the instances of allergic reaction?

Why do they want to know Vyba’s decision “today?” What’s driving this urgency?

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 The Hypothesis Tree. An example
Increase time spent on new Use digital technologies for enhancing
business generation as a efficiency and productivity
proportion of total available
time of wealth managers
Outsource/delegate routine and
transactional work
Defining the Problem

How can ICICI Bank M Increase the share of wallet Identify upsell and cross-sell M
(SoW) of existing clients, by
increase the productivity
(new business generated
E pitching new services and
opportunities through data mining
E
products to them
per annum) of its wealth C Seamlessly integrate different offerings C
management team by 1.5X? and products across investment,
E insurance, and banking E
Target the growing HNI and Ultra HNI
Increase the ticket size of client base
new business (client
accounts) acquired
Target new/emerging small towns as
the new pockets of affluence

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 Building the Hypothesis Tree – Vyba Vibe
Secure $750k order and gain thousands
Option 1 of potential customers
Go through with the deal and
tell the grocer to sell Vyba
Vive
Secure dollar donations and awareness
of health initiatives
Defining the Problem

How can Vyba Probiotics M Generate buzz, even though sales M

manage the challenge of the
reported allergic reactions
E Option 2
Limit sales to 18+ for the
targets may not be achieved
E
impacting the launch of its C initial roll out
Upside vs. downsides in making it 18+ C
new product, Vyba Vibe?
E E
There could be reputational damage for
Option 3 Vyba and the agreement will be void
Pull out of the deal

Vyba will survive but 3 months to

reformulate, find another partner, losing
honored partner status

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