MECE, pronounced “mee-see,” stands for “Mutually Exclusive, Collectively Exhaustive”. Its origins can be traced back to Aristotle to Barbara Minto’s work in ‘Pyramid Principle’, however it was popularized by consulting firm McKinsey.
Lets take some examples –
Spades, Diamonds, Hearts, Clubs – is a MECE list for Playing Cards
Winter, Spring, Summer, Fall – is a MECE list for Seasons
North, South, West – is not a MECE since its not collectively exhaustive
Everything you do as you create your technology strategy starts its life as a list. Your strategy is, at heart, a list of lists. There are two parts for your technology strategy list:
- It must be properly conceived i.e.
- Who your audience are and
- Why they care
- It must be MECE – It conveys all the possible recommendations about a strategy topic in a MECE form.
For example if you are writing your Cloud Strategy – it needs to cover
- Who your targeted audeince are and what they get following the strategy?
- It covers the MECE recommendations of your Cloud options and governing principles
Use MECE as a lens to examine the lists and use those lists to design your technology strategy.
– My adaptation on ‘Technology Strategy Patterns”.
Thinking Space 