Pyramid versus issue tree
The issue tree helps you investigate. It starts with the question and breaks it downward into smaller questions.
The Minto Pyramid helps you explain. It starts with the conclusion and supports it downward with reasons and evidence.
A consultant may use an issue tree during the project and a pyramid in the final recommendation.
The minimum vocabulary before case one
Decision, objective, constraint, issue tree, branch, workstream, hypothesis, evidence, implication, synthesis, risk, and next step.
What a case is
A case interview is a structured conversation about an unfamiliar business or organizational decision. The candidate is given incomplete information and must clarify the objective, organize the problem, use evidence, calculate, update, and recommend. The interviewer can provide data and guidance as the discussion develops.
The two structures
An issue tree helps investigate. It starts with the main question and breaks it into smaller questions.
A Minto Pyramid helps communicate. It starts with the answer and supports it with reasons and evidence.
During a case, the candidate often begins with an issue tree and ends with a pyramid. Workstreams are the managed branches that a real project team would assign.
What firms observe
Firms can observe analytical thinking, communication, judgment, numerical comfort, creativity, listening, and collaboration. They aren't only checking whether the candidate reaches one predetermined answer. The route matters because client work requires people to explain and update their reasoning.
Case components
A case can include:
- prompt and objective;
- clarification;
- initial structure;
- data or exhibits;
- calculations;
- qualitative brainstorming;
- new information;
- recommendation;
- risk and next step.
Some cases are interviewer-led, while others give the candidate more control. Written, online, group, and role-specific formats can differ.
Business knowledge
Candidates should understand revenue, cost, profit, market size, share, price, volume, fixed and variable cost, capacity, customer behavior, unit economics, cash, investment, and basic organizational constraints. The case isn't a trivia test, but basic business relationships reduce cognitive load.
Communication standard
The candidate should state the current question, explain the structure, show calculations, interpret each result, and keep the interviewer aware of how the answer is changing. Silence during analysis makes collaboration difficult.
Synthesis
A strong synthesis answers the client’s question, gives the two or three decisive reasons, quantifies evidence, states risk, and recommends the next action. It isn't a chronological recap of the interview.