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October 29, 2006
Escaping from PowerPoint Purgatory
I'm guilty of creating more than my share of PowerPoint slides in my work in teaching management and leadership skills. I always think that the slides are important and serve as a good teaching tool and reference for my clients. Some recent reading I have done has caused me to rethink the number of slides I create and what I put on them.
One rule I've worked hard to apply is no more than 10 words per slide. As one client told me-if you're going to simply read the slide, just email them to me and save me the time.
Another practice I've been working on is to use a picture or graphic as the slide and put my talking points in the notes section of the slides-I can then use the notes as reminders (like the old 3x5 cards) and have the visual as the key that clients see.
Picked up a book, by Cliff Atkinson, entitled Beyond Bullet Points that I'm going to read and see if I can get some more ideas to share.
Check it out. He uses a Hollywood analogy for how to frame the storyboard view.
Now as to whether what I learn in the book will translate to more effective presentions... I'll let you know.
Posted by chitch at 8:52 PM | Comments (1)
October 24, 2006
Rick's Rule of Three with Email
One of my good friends and colleagues is Rick Adamson, the COO of American Research Institute. In our previous work together, there were several instances of emails that would get answered back and forth until there were 6 or 7 threads to the original email content.
Rick implemented his "rule of three". Rick's rule of three simply said that if it took three email threads or bounce backs, then the two (or more) individuals stopped using email and either used "sneaker net" (walking to another cubicle or office) or picked up the phone to call, get clarification, and resolution.
Pretty simple, but VERY effective rule.
Thanks Rick.
Posted by chitch at 10:18 PM | Comments (0)
October 21, 2006
"You Go First" by David Maister
I've been a long time fan of David Maister, whom I consider the absolute best "thought leader" with professional service firms (and what we do in working with school executives and what school executives do in working with teachers, parents, and students is a professional service). I read his blog weekly and find it terrific on two levels-both on the content and on the rich dialogue that his blog inspires from a wide variety of people around the world.
He wrote a post on "You Go First" that I thought would be relevant to us as execs.
Check it out. I'd also be interested in your reaction to his two major points.
Posted by chitch at 5:12 AM | Comments (0)
October 17, 2006
My favorite month is October. Baseball playoffs are in full swing, college football is well underway, there is a crispness in the autumn air, and college hoops start practice this weekend. Read an article from Joe Torre, the manager of the NY Yankees on winning. Now, I'll freely admit I am not one of the diehard Yankee fans and I am very pleased to see the Tigers do as well as they have this year, but I have always been impressed with Mr. Torre's ability to work effectively with a high profile boss, within the glare of the NY media, and with a bunch of highly paid talent. The August 21, 2006 issue of Business Week had an interview from Joe on winning.
I found a couple of comments in the interview useful for me, I kept the article just for this time of year. Hope you find the quotes useful as well.
"The great UCLA basketball coach John Wooden told me once that you can be prepared and have the best talent there is, but you can't necessarily control the outcome."
"...even with all the talent and resources we have here, having heart is what really makes a difference. As manager, or if you're running a company, you want to know that you can ask somebody to do something and that they are going to find a way to get the job done. That's the essence of a competitor."...."A winner is someone who goes out there every day and exhausts himself trying to get something accomplished. Being able to get the most out of their ability. That's what characterizes a winner."
Posted by chitch at 3:45 PM | Comments (1)
October 16, 2006
43 File Folders as a time management tool
This past week, I worked with a group of principals on some lessons I've learned about time management. One of the most effective tools I've used is the concept of the 43 file folders. The idea has been around for some time, but the basic idea is to have 31 file folders (I use hanging file folders), numbered 1-31, plus 12 additional file folders (January-December). You simply drop in the hard copies of the papers and actions you need to get done that day, pick up the file folder and work through the folder on the appropriate day.
This setup saves me LOADS of time and effort and cuts down on the worries of "when is this due?"
What other time management tips have worked for you?
Posted by chitch at 5:18 AM | Comments (0)
October 13, 2006
Moving from Analysis Paralysis
I ran across an article last evening from Optimize magazine by Michael Useem, from the Wharton Business School. He commented that "A less than ideal action stands a chance of success, whereas no action stands no chance."
He outlined several tools to overcome common decision making barriers. I'm planning to implement the "70% Solution" that he talks about in the article-if you have 70% of the information, have done 70% of the analysis, and feel 70% confident, then act.
Posted by chitch at 3:38 PM | Comments (0)
October 9, 2006
Jack's Five "Cs" of Leadership
I was lucky enough to learn from Jack McCall 13 years ago and have the distinct pleasure to listen and learn from him as he and his wife, Mary, come to the Principals' Executive Program to talk informally about leadership and life to some groups of school executives. During one of his talks with experienced principals, Jack mentioned the Five C's of leadership. With apologies to him if I missed some notes while I was sitting at the side of the room taking notes, here are the five C's for leaders.
Civility-it is the bedrock of civilization. We can disagree with someone without being disagreeable about it. Common courtesies, such as holding the door for someone else, and saying "thank you" go along way to bringing people along with your leadership.
Conservation-we are all interconnected. It is critical for us to remember that just like a food web in ecology, we are all interconnected through each other. There is truth to the idea of six degrees of separation.
Community Service-take care of those who need to be taken care of. People want to contribute and to be taken seriously.
Considerate Conversations with yourself-it is easy to beat yourself up for mistakes. You don't get wisdom by staying in the harbor and not taking a chance.
Jack concluded his "fireside chat" with us by reminding us that almost all of his successes followed upon his failures. Resiliency is key.
So the question is: Are there other "C's" or keys of leadership that you work from?
Posted by chitch at 5:16 AM | Comments (4)
October 1, 2006
Change and the Brain
Read an interesting article this past week from CIO magazine on change. In the article, "The New Science of Change", Chris Koch notes that while managers get frustrated with getting people to change their behaviors (I'm of the opinion that managers cannot change attitudes, we can only change behaviors and actions), it has it's roots in neuroanalysis. Koch offers up some interesting and useful reminders on change management. His difference is that he shares some rationale based upon his review of neuroanalysis in his article. There are also good reminders on helping manage change. CIO has some other links (see the sidebars on 10 rules for change management and the science behind the article.
Posted by chitch at 12:13 PM | Comments (0)