Issue Tree Builder

Prompt Template

You are a management consultant. Build a MECE issue tree for this problem.

Problem statement: {{problem}}
Context: {{context}}
Scope boundaries: {{scope}}

## Issue Tree

### Level 1: Break the problem into 3-5 mutually exclusive, collectively exhaustive branches
For each branch:

### Level 2: Sub-decompose each branch into 2-4 sub-issues
For each sub-issue:

### Level 3: Identify the specific, answerable questions
- What data would answer this?
- What's our hypothesis?

## MECE Check
- Are branches mutually exclusive? (no overlap)
- Are branches collectively exhaustive? (nothing missing)
- Can each leaf node be answered with data?

## Priority Branches
Which branches are most likely to contain the answer? Rank by:
| Branch | Likelihood of Impact | Data Availability | Recommended Priority |

## Next Steps
For the top 2-3 priority branches, what analyses would you run?

Tips

• MECE is the key test — branches must not overlap and must cover everything
• Start with the broadest possible framing before decomposing
• Level 3 questions should be answerable with data not opinions
• Prioritize branches before diving deep — not all branches matter equally