All posts by Steven Lubow

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Personal reflections on MP: Thoughts from the other side of the table

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Last night I had the opportunity to join the one year MBAs, as they delivered their final presentations of the Delta project. After three (long…in a good way) semesters working with professors Noonan and Smith It was fascinating to sit on the other side of the table, and put a critical eye on the work of others. Let me start by saying that all five of the teams that I had the opportunity to watch did a great job, and clearly put time and energy into this project.

While I watched these presentations, what fascinated me most, was how far I feel that we, 2016 EvMBA’s have come since our first semester of MP. I went back and looked at slides from our Carlos Museum project and compared them to slides I saw in both our Delta and our personal reflection projects. I think it is fair to say that we all have come a long way in our story craft, our slide building capabilities, and our delivery techniques.

As I sat in room 234 writing notes and thinking of tough questions that could poke holes in the teams logic, I had to remind myself that they have not had the same opportunity to practice and refine these skills with previous semesters. This highlighted to me that practice really does help to improve these skills, and that I am a far better problem solver today than I was a year ago. I took this thinking one step further and wanted to equate this to my biggest take away from MP.

My key take away from the past three semesters was actually summed up best by Fawad in his final presentation last Thursday evening. As most of you recall, Fawad told a story about his home renovation; a project that revolved heavily around knocking down walls. His key theme, however, was not about the actual act of demolition, or the renovation project itself, but rather around a problem solving technique. As his exact quote escapes me, I will paraphrase a point that Fawad was able to articulate so well. “If you break down large complex problems into identifiable and manageable tasks, you can begin to see how a seemingly daunting task is actually rather simple if approached it the correct way.”

Since last Thursday, I can already recount three instances where I used this piece of advice not only in daily thinking, but also in a presentation to my company. I now view problems and structure solutions in a way that I had never thought about one short year ago.

04-Managing a project team, 05-Creating & constructing good solutions, problem statement, team dynamics

A post about the birds and the bees: The Five Habits of Highly Effective Hives

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Think back to the first time you had to make a decision in a corporate setting. Take a moment and ask yourself some question:

– What was the problem at hand?
– Did you have all of the information that you needed to accurately make a decision?
– Did you have enough time to think over all of the potential outcomes?
– Or conversely, did you have so much time, that you started to second guess yourself?

Now, I will ask a different question. Think about the first bad decision that you made; a decision that had an outcome that was not what you were hoping for. Ask yourself the same questions. Then ask yourself, what would have been different, had you sought help from those around you, and made a decision as a group, rather than as an individual?

I personally find the group mentality to be frustrating, even maddening, at times, since, typically the more minds that come together, the more lag there will be until a decision. I know that many share my feelings, and in fact, the majority of corporate decisions are made on an individual basis. It is always easiest to have someone to point the blame at if things go wrong. Is this mentality the most effective decision making tool that we have in our arsenal?

In the HBR article entitled, The Five Habits of Highly Effective Hives, Thomas Seeley analogies the group think process to that of Honey Bees. Professor Seeley explains an effective method for maximizing our collective IQ, and ultimately obtaining better solutions then one might without a group. His five step method is below:

  1. Remind the group’s members of their shared interests and foster mutual respect, so they work together productively.
  2. Explore diverse solutions to the problem, to maximize the group’s likelihood of uncovering an excellent option.
  3. Aggregate the group’s knowledge through a frank debate.
  4. Minimize the leader’s influence on the group’s thinking.
  5. Balance interdependence (information sharing) and independence (absence of peer pressure) among the group’s members.

Decision making is arguably the most overlooked competency in organizations today.  People are promoted based on an assumption that they are better decision makers than others.  Yet, group decision making proves to be an insurmountable hurdle for many corporations today. Mastery of both theory and implementation of this soft skill will not only positively impact your corporation, but also your personal brand. Practice this skill and help to raise the collective IQ of the group.

 

**Sorry, I left out the birds….

The Five Habits of Highly Effective Hives

 

07c-Telling stories, 07d-Delivering a presentation, storyline structure

9 Public-Speaking Lessons From The World’s Greatest TED Talks

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When asked what my passions in life are, I often respond the same way – food and public speaking (in no particular order). While one is likely to help me further my career and the other is likely to help me further my waistline, they are both still passions of mine.

Public speaking didn’t come naturally to me at first; in fact, there was a time in life where it terrified me. But through practice, practice, and more practice, I came to not only achieve an acceptable level of competency in the skill, but I started to truly enjoy speaking to large groups.

I, like most, am constantly looking for ways to improve my public speaking skills. Like many, I often watch TED talks to gain ideas, inspiration, and witty one-liners to utilize in my presentations. Carmine Gallow’s article entitled, 9 Public-Speaking Lessons From The World’s Greatest TED Talks, is a great synopsis of how there is a style to TED talks, and how this same style can be incorporated into everyday presentations.

There are two ways to summarize this article. The first, and the conventional way, would be with the nine bullet points below. However, it is more exciting to view the most watched TED talk of all time via this link. This TED talk, like many others, illustrates eight of the nine points below (The presenter does not use any materials, so point #8 does not apply).

  1. Unleash the master within.
  2. Tell three stories.
  3. Practice relentlessly.
  4. Teach your audience something new.
  5. Deliver jaw-dropping moments.
  6. Use humor without telling a joke.
  7. Stick to the 18-minute rule.
  8. Favor pictures over text.
  9. Stay in your lane.

Aside from the list, I would like to add one more bullet point that I see as a theme through most of the great presentations that I have seen, the one you may have just watched included.

  1. Take chances.

I would like to point out one skill in particular that this article highlights and the TED talk illustrates – storytelling. This presenter is a phenomenal storyteller. He paints vivid images for the audience through the use of tales about his family, his friends, or moments in history that help bring his points to life. When this powerful imagery is combined with his vibrant scene of humor that both engages and captivates the audience, his message becomes memorable, and he gains instant credibility based on the audience liking him, not his actual subject knowledge.

The points raised in the article do not differ from the lessons learned in MP over the past year. Style, delivery, and content are at the heart of every presentation. The only way to improve these skills is to practice and learn from mistakes made along the way. For anyone with trepidation about public speaking, weather at school or at work, read this article and watch this TED Talk, you will be glad that you did.

Read more: 9 Public-Speaking Lessons From The World’s Greatest TED Talks

Watch the TED Talk: Ken Robinson: How schools kill creativity