Do you know your partner's hypothesis?
Many MBB consultants get ambushed in partner meetings. It happens because they ignore one thing: the partner’s hypothesis. This post is for consultants who want to anticipate that and build conviction
Do you know your partner’s hypothesis?
Why do you need to know that?
Let me explain…
Imagine you get a task from your partner or manager. It’s a content task, not some process management one.
Most likely, they already have a hypothesis in mind.
Understand this. Your manager or partner has worked for many years in consulting. That’s how they think and operate. They just want you to execute.
If you don’t know their hypothesis, you open yourself to a significant risk.
Imagine this scenario…
Your analysis goes against your partner’s hypothesis.
You step into the meeting with them.
What do you think will happen in that meeting?
For you, it will feel like an ambush.
The partner will ask you dozens of questions. Even if you know the answers, you will be caught off guard and start doubting yourself.
You will say something like:
“Ah, I am not sure. Let me double-check that. I’ll come back to you.”
How do you think you will look to your partner?
Yes, like an incompetent consultant.
But imagine an opposite scenario…
You know your partner’s hypothesis. And when doing your analysis, you already see that the facts go against that hypothesis.
What do you do?
No, I am not asking you to fabricate the fake facts to meet your partner’s hypothesis.
Instead, you prepare for a battle.
You anticipate the questions your partner will be asking you. You double and triple-check every fact and argument. You prepare support and proof for every piece of data.
You go into that meeting ready.
Then, you fight like a lion in that meeting. You respond with confidence and conviction.
You manage to convince your partner.
What do you think he will be thinking of you?
He will see you as a competent and confident consultant.
That’s what you want to build your reputation as a successful and high-performing consultant.
But consultants often ask:
How do you find out your partner’s hypothesis?
Well, the answer is pretty simple.
Ask that at the time of accepting the task.
That’s what I coach consultants in my coaching program. Ask clarifying questions in a way that doesn’t trigger and annoy your partners and managers. We even role-play these situations, so consultants can learn the right techniques. If you want to learn more about this important skill, read my post: Accept tasks well and understand expectations.
But unfortunately, sometimes that’s not enough.
Even if you ask clarifying questions, for whatever reason, you can’t get the answers you need. What to do in this situation?
Let me share one story that happened to my client.
There was a situation when one of my clients, in fact, asked his manager about his hypothesis.
But the manager responded that he had one, but won’t tell it to the consultant, and wanted to see what the consultant would come up with.
They had this broken and even toxic relationship, and that’s why the manager responded in this weird way.
The consultant went on to execute this task.
He didn’t come up with the right answer. As a result, he had to do the second iteration to correct his mistake.
The manager got upset, and it further strained an already difficult relationship.
But that situation could have been easily avoided.
That consultant asked me for help to make a post-mortem analysis of what he could have done better, and why the technique of asking clarifying questions failed him in this situation. And most importantly, what he could learn from this situation and not repeat the same mistakes again.
We jumped on the call.
My first question was: “Did you guess his hypothesis right?”
The consultant’s answer completely startled me: “I haven’t even thought about it.”
Apparently, he didn’t even ask that question himself.
The manager told him that he had a specific hypothesis in mind, and he expected the consultant to guess it right. But that consultant didn’t even think of what that hypothesis could be.
He just started doing the analysis and let the data dictate his answer.
Then, when the manager mentioned his hypothesis, the consultant was caught off guard because it was completely opposite to what he had created.
He didn’t even think about an alternative version of reality.
The data was actually showing him that. But he chose to ignore that and proceeded with the first idea that came to his mind.
What was the right way to do it?
Well, first, he had to think about what potential hypotheses his manager could have.
He should have come up with multiple potential options. In fact, it was a simple structuring situation. Some of the options could be more probable, some of them less. But all of them have the right to exist and should be carefully considered.
Then he had to ask himself a question: “What set of conditions should be true for alternative scenarios to be right?”
That’s the moment when he could catch that mistake and see that some of the data was actually supporting the alternative reality.
Here’s the important lesson.
Often, you don’t need partners to tell you their hypothesis. You can explore all the potential options, explore each of them, and select the best one. This way, you prevent yourself from being caught off guard or being blinded by the first idea that comes to your mind.
It’s important to think about your hypothesis before you actually look into data because data can skew your point of view and cloud your judgment.
But once you create a mental map of potential solutions, you will be able to judge the situation much more independently.
If you are an MBB consultant and want to improve your performance through personalized coaching support:
We will discuss your pain points, challenges, and aspirations. No strings attached, just straight answers to your biggest questions.
If you want to learn more about my coaching program, read this post:
The coaching program for MBB consultants.