All posts by Alberto Blanco

PowerPoint tricks, problem statement, storyline structure, Uncategorized

The story behind your presentation

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Just a quick one…

The beginning of this HBR article, How to give a killer presentation, is intriguing to the relationship of what many of us just experienced in our final presentations of MP.  Even though this article is shortened to non-subscribers, the intriguing part to me is the basis of the article – a story about a boy who had a story to tell.  The 90+ of us just finished our presentations, and it was amazing to see what some of my peers had to say.  Learning from each other is one of the biggest facets of this program, yet at the same time this isn’t just to learn about each others’ business knowledge, but to learn about the more personal part of each others’ lives.

Many of us gave great presentations, and as this article began, you have to begin with a good background to your story.  I think the key to this article is not just another subset of bulletpoints of how to do a process (although that’s probably where the article heads), but to make you think about what the baseline of any presentation needs to be – a good story.  A lot of times we can get caught up in the details – get caught up in the data.  Presenting the data is so critical, that we forget what the baseline is, and how to bring the story completely together, full circle.  Without a clearly stated statement at the beginning of your presentation, there’s a good chance you’ve already lost a large part of the story you’re trying to tell.

http://hbr.org/2013/06/how-to-give-a-killer-presentation/ar/1

team dynamics, team roles

What makes great boards great

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This article from HBR applies to almost everything we’ve been doing in MP from a group standpoint, and yet at one of the highest levels of business responsibility.

In today’s corporate society, it seems that Boards of Directors are sometimes viewed or regarded as just “guys sitting around a table”.  But this article deals specifically with the fact of how boards need to work, because there were lots of “smart people” in some of the most successful companies, while at the same time some of the most disastrous and unethical ones.

This article closely reminds me of the colored hat activity we had in class.  Who’s a black hat, causing all the trouble… It reminds me of a couple of conversations we had in our fall and spring MP groups, since in the first meetings we had, we all discussed who was strong in certain areas, who was the black hat, etc, and what other hats we purposely wanted to try on.  Instead of being complacent individuals to go with the flow and not challenge major initiatives, board members need to be engaged, involved, and asking the questions, the real ones, not just agreeing or disagreeing to a topic.

The article also noted that even though fierce discussion and disagreement is necessary and just, once the group decision has been made, the most successful boards also put up a united front on the action.  There is no “I told you so”, or private dissention if a decision was good or bad.  The board unanimously backs the forward motion of the decisions of the company.

http://archive.excellencegateway.org.uk/media/FE%20Governance/What_makes_great_boards_great.pdf

04-Managing a project team

Execs and the Art of Teaching

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There is no article attached to this post, only my personal experiences with one specific COO over the past 3 years at my company.

In my short career, I have had the opportunity to meet one C-level executive that was unlike any other high level director I’ve ever met.

Most of the D-V-C level executives I’ve met were always worried about the big picture, and were always worried about how to make the entire “thing” come together based off previous experience they had.  Most of these executives were always desk or travel executives – the ones you rarely saw, the ones that when you did see them, they had a crew of folks surrounding them when walking the floor.  Sure, these guys came and talked to you, wanted to give you a little bit of their busy day, to show that they truly did care about you as an employee.  And I respect that, because I know it’s a person of one vs. an employee base of many, and going out of your way to come say hello to YOU (/to me), does mean something.

But I now realize that there was something missing from these executive interactions.  I’ve had the opportunity to learn from one of the smartest manufacturing businessmen I know.  At my company we have a COO who is extremely involved in floor activities.  He has very specific lean manufacturing philosophies that he has implemented across our entire company (and his previous companies).  The most important thing though is how he has implemented them – by directly teaching us: the engineers, the staff, the operators, the managers.  He has been hands-on on the floor, and has had specific training courses that he developed and taught in.  These aren’t basic powerpoint presentations where a guy comes in a suit to give you a pre-recited speech with the “any questions?” slide at the end.  This is an executive who cares to TEACH and SHOW you the philosophies he wants you to practice.  Then, he walks with you out to the floor to help you when you need help, and to judge you when he’s got expectations for your work.  He’s not a soft person who’s there to cradle you when you don’t succeed – no, he’s there to kick you’re a** because his title starts with a C and he’s got high expectations for your work.  Here’s the theory, here’s the process, learn it, practice it, execute it.  But throughout the whole process, he started with one fundamental rule – teach.

I’ve learned some fundamental thoughts from him in the past three years:

1) If you want to be a respected manager (all the way through to exec), you need to teach.  Not from a desk.  Not from a powerpoint.  Not by just “setting what-you-think-are examples” on the floor.

2) As you climb the ladder with knowledge, open your knowledge to others.  Managers aren’t just there to make big decisions and set guidelines – the good ones are there to teach the next generation.

3) As your managers and staff are learning your principles, make sure that you are not only teaching them the ideas of the topic, but also how to communicate them later, making them effective teachers.

4) Surround yourself with other effective D and V level managers/execs who also know how to teach – not just how to make tough decisions.  They will help to reinforce a culture of knowledge development.

5) Make sure you followup with those you teach, even if at first it’s perceived as a “boot camp”.  You’d be surprised at their reaction when you test them later when you turn the tables and it’s their turn to teach.  So far, the first reactions I’ve personally received, even from operators on the floor, has been one of shyness, and anger.  Yet by the second or third time, it’s one of pride.  People are proud of what they’ve learned, and are proud to show someone else the how-to.