What is MECE?
MECE stands for Mutually Exclusive, Collectively Exhaustive — a way of breaking a problem into parts that don’t overlap and cover everything important.
It is the core of consulting because it forces you to think clearly, logically and without duplication.
Why MECE Matters in Consulting
- Ensures your structure is clean and complete
- Prevents double counting and confusion
- Helps you create strong issue trees, hypotheses, and storylines
- Makes analysis faster because you know exactly what belongs where
How to Apply MECE (Step-by-Step)
1. Define the broad question
Start with the core problem you’re trying to solve.
Example: “How can the company grow revenue?”
2. Break it into MECE buckets
These should be:
- Mutually Exclusive → no overlap
- Collectively Exhaustive → no gaps
Example:
- Increase price
- Increase volume
(These two do not overlap and together cover all revenue growth levers.)
3. Test each bucket for overlap and gaps
Ask:
- Are these options distinct?
- Have I missed any important category?
If yes → refine.
4. Add sub-buckets where needed
Go one level deeper, maintaining MECE at every step.
Example under “Increase volume”:
- Acquire new customers
- Increase usage by existing customers
Common MECE Patterns
1. Binary splits
Profit = Revenue – Cost
Growth = Volume × Price
2. Customer segments
By geography, age, income, behavior (ensure segments don’t overlap)
3. Process flows
Awareness → Consideration → Purchase → Retention
4. Business levers
Revenue / Cost / Risk / Operations
What MECE Is Not
- Not splitting randomly
- Not including everything you can think of
- Not making lists that still overlap
MECE is about smart completeness, not length.
Mini Example
Problem: “Why are profits declining?”
MECE Split:
- Revenue issues
– Price decrease
– Volume decrease
– Product mix change - Cost issues
– Fixed cost increase
– Variable cost increase
No overlap. Nothing missing.
Where to Use MECE
- Issue trees
- Hypothesis creation
- Guesstimates
- Recommendation structures
- Slide-making
- Interview answers
- Data analysis
MECE is the backbone of every consulting tool you’ll learn next.