"Root cause found, let's talk about solutions." Hmm. Let me stop you right there.

I am the #1 coach for Revolut and this is one of the most common mistakes I see senior leaders make during our coaching sessions:

Jump into solutions.

After finding a potential root cause, they start listing what to do next and what solutions may help solve it.

They are missing 3 important steps.

1. To verify if something that seems to contribute to the problem IS indeed the root cause. 

For example, say a company has seen a 2x increase in churn rate for product Y in the past 6 months. 

After analyzing what changed, you realize that the UI of the app was updated around the same time. 

Ok, that is a change and it MAY impact churn. But would this modification explain a 2X drop? 

In order to find out, size the impact of what you have discovered. Math is required.

E.g.: how many of the customers who left pointed out UI as the main reason? 

How much does it represent considering the total?

The question you are trying to answer is: is this even worth solving?

2. Understand the context. 

Let's assume you found a root cause, confirmed by how much it contributes to the problem.

Now, before starting listing solutions, you need to understand the context. 

The goal is to see if there is an open door for exploration.

Using a different example: the problem is about increasing conversion of a particular product, and you noticed that one of the root causes is that it requires 3 clicks to find its widget. 

Well, you should not recommend placing it on the home screen.

Before recommending placing the widget on the home screen, or something along these lines, you need to understand the context, and the best way to do so is to ask WHY: 

Why is it 3 clicks away anyway?

It may be because it has a lower LTV (or other core metric) than ones that are better placed. 

It may be because other new products are being promoted. 

Or it may be because nobody has paid attention to it until now.

See that depending on the answer, you may or may not have a green light to proceed.

The question here is: Why is the situation such? Can I do something about it?

3. Third: Check for feasibility. 

You found a root cause, and after understanding its context, you realized that there is nothing preventing you from exploring it.

However, the solutions may not be feasible, especially given the constraints the case may present.

For instance, let's say a fintech company has seen growth stagnating and you discovered that the main reason is that the company doesn't have a bank license.

There is nothing holding the company back from getting it, but if you have one quarter to fix this problem, "get a bank license” is not the answer.

Although the company may be willing to get it, it is unlikely to happen from scratch within 3 months. 

The question here is: What solutions are out of the table given the potential constraints?

Keep these steps in mind If you're preparing for Revolut's Problem Solving interview, and you'll be way ahead of the majority of the candidates.

And if you want to learn how to approach a full case from end to end, I built a course specifically for Revolut PS interview. Link here!