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Structured Problem-Solving for Nigerian Business

Turn a client's complaint into a question you can answer — and an answer they can act on.

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About this course

Clients do not arrive with questions. They arrive with complaints — sales are falling, the farm is not profitable, give me a strategy — and inside each complaint sits a symptom, a cause they have already assumed, and a solution they half want confirmed. This course is the first in the Consulting Mastery sequence and it teaches the analytical craft that turns that complaint into a defensible answer: unbundling the brief and writing one question tied to a real decision, breaking problems down by first principles until every piece is something you can count, cutting MECE so nothing is double-counted and nothing is missed, building and pruning an issue tree whose every leaf names its analysis, its data and its days, committing to a hypothesis early and then trying hard to destroy it, and spending your weeks on the two branches that could actually move the answer. It then does the part that generic problem-solving training leaves out: working inside a moving currency, a moving fuel price and a moving rulebook, knowing which authority can refuse permission for what you are about to recommend, and reading three sectors properly — fintech and agent networks, FMCG distribution and the shrinking wallet, and agriculture and energy, where logistics quietly eats the margin the plan assigned to the product. You finish by synthesising findings into one governing sentence, three supports, an executable recommendation and an honest statement of what you could not establish. The capstone is a full problem-definition pack for one real Nigerian business you can actually get access to.

A managing director in Ibadan calls you in. He runs three bakery outlets, and he opens with one sentence: sales are falling, and he needs a strategy. That sentence is where the work starts and it is almost never what the work answers. Inside it are three different things bundled together — a symptom he has noticed, a cause he has already privately decided on, and a solution he half wants you to confirm. Your first job, before any data, any interview, any model, is to pull those three apart and replace them with a single written question that can actually be answered in the time you have been given.

What you'll learn

Course syllabus — 12 lessons

  1. The complaint is not the question15 min
  2. First principles: break it until the pieces are things you can count16 min
  3. MECE: cuts that do not overlap and do not leak14 min
  4. The issue tree: turning a question into a structure16 min
  5. Lead with an answer, then try hard to kill it15 min
  6. Which branch is worth the week14 min
  7. Volatility: what FX, inflation and fuel do to a client's margin17 min
  8. The regulator in the room16 min
  9. Sector case: fintech, banking and the agent on the corner17 min
  10. Sector case: FMCG, distribution and the shrinking wallet17 min
  11. Sector case: agriculture and energy, where logistics decides everything17 min
  12. The answer: synthesis, so-what, and honest limits16 min

Your project

A problem-definition pack for one real Nigerian business

A written pack of roughly 900 to 1,600 words containing: the quoted complaint with its date and source; the complaint unbundled into symptom, assumed cause and preferred solution; one written question with its decision, deadline, decision-maker and blocker; scope in and out plus an honest inventory of what data exists and what does not; an issue tree described or photographed, at least two levels deep with six or more leaves, each leaf annotated with analysis, data source and days, and one node's MECE demonstrated on an awkward item; rough sizing of the second-level branches with the arithmetic shown, a two-axis ranking, the two branches you would work first and one you pruned with its reason; a dated provisional hypothesis with two designed tests stating the true-case and false-case expectations and one piece of evidence that would make you abandon it; and the volatility and compliance checks with sources and dates.

Certificates on Skillnaija are earned, not issued for attendance: you submit this project, it is graded against a rubric, and passing issues a certificate anyone can verify.

Frequently asked questions

Is Structured Problem-Solving for Nigerian Business free?

Yes. Structured Problem-Solving for Nigerian Business is completely free on Skillnaija. You need a free account to open the lessons, and there is no charge for the course, the project, or the certificate.

How long does Structured Problem-Solving for Nigerian Business take to complete?

6 weeks · ~4 hrs/week. There are 12 lessons, about 3 hours of material in total. You learn at your own pace and your progress is saved.

Do I need any experience to start Structured Problem-Solving for Nigerian Business?

Intermediate. Some prior grounding in the subject will help you move faster.

What will I learn in Structured Problem-Solving for Nigerian Business?

You will build practical skills in Unbundle a client's complaint into the symptom, the assumed cause and the preferred solution, then write one answerable question tied to a real decision, Identify the sponsor, the decision-maker and the person who can block, and find out what has been proposed before and why it died, Break a problem down by first principles until every piece is a number somebody can count this week, Cut MECE — segment by observable events rather than attributes of people, and test any cut with the awkward case, Build, annotate and prune an issue tree whose leaves each name an analysis, a data source and the days it needs, Size and rank branches by how much they could move the answer against what they cost to settle, State a provisional hypothesis and design tests that could genuinely prove it false, Restate margin on replacement cost and model bad, base and good cases when FX, fuel and input prices are moving, Name the authority that could refuse permission for a recommendation, find the current rule, and cite it with a date, Read fintech, FMCG and agriculture-and-energy problems using the measurements that actually decide them, Synthesise findings into one governing sentence with MECE supports, an executable recommendation and a stated reversal condition. Every lesson is written for a Nigerian context, with examples drawn from how the work is actually done and paid for here.

Do I get a certificate for Structured Problem-Solving for Nigerian Business?

Yes, but it has to be earned. You complete the course project — A problem-definition pack for one real Nigerian business and submit it for grading. Passing the project issues a verifiable certificate; finishing the lessons alone does not.

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