I’m sure many of you have been in a conference room and listened to a presentation. Or maybe you’ve been the one in front of the conference room giving the presentation. It’s a business ritual – participants both willing and unwilling arrive. Time is spent struggling with a projector and laptop. IT is called and apologies are made. And then it’s down to business. Keep reading – there’s more
Tag Archives: management
The Four Questions
Every Passover, someone at the table, generally the youngest, asks the Four Questions. For me, these questions do a good job of putting the entire evening into perspective and make everything which follows them relevant to the overall purpose of the holiday. They are meant to be asked from a child’s perspective (hence the youngest inquires), which is often a combination of innocence and ignorance – without preconception.
I thought of the role questions play while working with a client of mine. We were reviewing a presentation we’re constructing to raise a funding round and the pitch felt too cluttered and unfocused. So I asked my own version of the four questions:
- What is the problem we’re solving?
- Is this a big enough problem that it can support a business that solves it?
- Is our solution unique and has anyone ever tried to solve this problem before?
- Who the hell are we and why should we be entrusted with anyone’s money?
You’ll notice I didn’t interject any mention of the client’s company or executive team until the end. Like most things in business, I like to try and keep ego out of it. Business is, at its core, about problems and solutions. It’s not about you – it’s about your customers (or potential customers). Odds are if you can answer the four questions I’m asking above, and remain focused on them, your business will be on the right track.
Fortunately, we already had the answers although they were buried deep within the current version of the presentation. A little editing and a lot of attention to some simple questions, and we’re a lot closer to some funding (we hope!).
Filed under Consulting, Helpful Hints
Stepping Out
I hope everyone had an enjoyable long weekend. One of the enjoyable things I did was to play in a scramble, which is a team-based golf tournament. In fact, this format was a step-out scramble in which everyone hits a tee shot and then whomever hit the tee shot the team selects to use can’t hit the next shot. Everyone putts once the ball is on the green, but if the approach misses the green, the person whose approach shot you’re using still can’t hit.
It’s a interesting format that forces the team to make tough choices from time to time. Do you pass up using the best (longest, most accurate) shot because you need the player who hit it to hit the next shot as well? If one ball is close to the pin but not on the green, do you pass up one player chipping or do you take the longer shot where all four can putt?
Of course, there are a few business points here. First, this format demonstrates once again that a solid team can achieve things than no individual member of that team can. We finished three under par – none of us has ever shot anything close to that on our own. Second, different team members bring different skills to a task. We had a person on out team who could not hit a ball more than 125 yards but was deadly accurate putting, where she saved us more than once. She contributed as much as the gorilla who drove the ball 270 yards but kept missing greens with approaches (ahem…). Third, and most important, the team has to learn to function without key members from time to time. The unique thing about this format is the immediate loss of someone who has just made a key contribution – best drive? Sit down!
The decision-making process was fascinating and the reason I think we did pretty well was that each member of the team performed well when the pressure was on. We didn’t rely on our best player to hit great shots all the time and bail out the team. In fact, we were able to the the “A” player try to hit shots that were low percentage because we already had put a ball in play in a good position. To me, that equates with having some solid operations generating the cash flow that permits a business to try new things that are risky but potentially more rewarding that what the firm is doing currently. It is, in my opinion, the only way ventures keep moving forward and shooting good scores.
Does your company rely on the “A” players too often? Is everyone contributing? Can the better players take time off or do something else for a while and will the team still perform? Have you been able to try some risky shots while knowing you were safe even if they didn’t work out?
We tied for fourth. missing third by a shot, out of 20+ teams. Not bad, and a great way to end a long weekend. Back to work!
Filed under Thinking Aloud
Consult Keith 