WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:07.000 Last week we talked about the power of shaping up work that matters. 2 00:00:07.000 --> 00:00:14.000 Now, to get us going, let's go through a quick checklist as a follow-up to that conversation. 3 00:00:14.000 --> 00:00:23.000 The first is, have we set one hour a week aside so that people can make pitches and presentations? 4 00:00:24.000 --> 00:00:31.000 We need to pick a time. In our organization, that happens at 1pm on Wednesdays. 5 00:00:31.000 --> 00:00:36.000 Several things happen at 1pm. People come and make their pitch. 6 00:00:36.000 --> 00:00:39.000 I'm going to go through again to remind you what a pitch is involved. 7 00:00:39.000 --> 00:00:43.000 A pitch should only take you about 20 minutes at most to prepare. 8 00:00:43.000 --> 00:00:51.000 If you're spending more time than that putting a pitch together for the team, you're already starting to work on the solution. 9 00:00:51.000 --> 00:00:54.000 So, don't do that. Just get the pitch done very simply. 10 00:00:54.000 --> 00:00:59.000 You may want to practice as a team the first time about doing a pitch together. 11 00:00:59.000 --> 00:01:03.000 The second thing is, remember that some people are finishing their pitches. 12 00:01:03.000 --> 00:01:07.000 In other words, they're finishing their projects and we call those presentations. 13 00:01:07.000 --> 00:01:10.000 So, there are pitches and presentations. 14 00:01:10.000 --> 00:01:16.000 Pitches when you start a project. Presentations when you're presenting that finished project. 15 00:01:17.000 --> 00:01:23.000 So, when we say we've had over 100 projects that have never been an hour late, that's what we're referring to. 16 00:01:23.000 --> 00:01:28.000 At 1pm pacific time, we go and make our pitch. 17 00:01:28.000 --> 00:01:34.000 And then we count the number of deep work sessions it's going to take. 18 00:01:34.000 --> 00:01:37.000 And then say, I will see you in that many weeks time. 19 00:01:37.000 --> 00:01:41.000 So, as an example, let's say on Wednesday I make my pitch. 20 00:01:41.000 --> 00:01:45.000 And I think about it and I think that's going to take three deep work sessions. 21 00:01:45.000 --> 00:01:52.000 And since I'm doing one deep work session per week, that means that's going to take three weeks. 22 00:01:52.000 --> 00:01:58.000 Well, we always add a little bit of margin in and make it four deep work sessions and four weeks. 23 00:01:58.000 --> 00:02:07.000 So, I literally calculate the date and say four weeks from now, four weeks after I make the pitch, I'm going to present. 24 00:02:07.000 --> 00:02:14.000 So, that's the difference between a pitch which starts the project and a presentation which then presents it to the team. 25 00:02:14.000 --> 00:02:20.000 Once you've gone through that part of the checklist, does everybody know how to do a thin slice? 26 00:02:20.000 --> 00:02:23.000 And to remind you again, that's got four components. 27 00:02:23.000 --> 00:02:28.000 Setting up a thin slice pitch for your team involves four things. 28 00:02:28.000 --> 00:02:30.000 Number one, setting boundaries. 29 00:02:30.000 --> 00:02:34.000 And we've given in the worksheets exactly what this looks like. 30 00:02:34.000 --> 00:02:38.000 Now, when we talk about setting boundaries, we start with the appetite. 31 00:02:38.000 --> 00:02:41.000 We don't start with an estimate of how long it will take. 32 00:02:41.000 --> 00:02:44.000 We start with and say I have two deep work sessions. 33 00:02:44.000 --> 00:02:46.000 I have three deep work sessions. 34 00:02:46.000 --> 00:02:53.000 And we think the unit of work here is how many deep work sessions will it take. 35 00:02:53.000 --> 00:02:55.000 So, we set the appetite first. 36 00:02:55.000 --> 00:03:00.000 And then the question is what's the minimum usable project? 37 00:03:00.000 --> 00:03:04.000 What's the thinnest slice I can take but that's actually usable? 38 00:03:04.000 --> 00:03:12.000 But sometimes those slices are so thin they're just about discovering what I need to know to start a project. 39 00:03:12.000 --> 00:03:13.000 You know, who's doing this? 40 00:03:13.000 --> 00:03:14.000 What are the best practices? 41 00:03:14.000 --> 00:03:19.000 So, your thin slice can be to find out exactly what it will take. 42 00:03:19.000 --> 00:03:28.000 So, my suggestion is that everybody who's doing their first pitch ever should use an appetite of one deep work. 43 00:03:28.000 --> 00:03:29.000 Why? 44 00:03:29.000 --> 00:03:33.000 Because you need to have a very quick success experience. 45 00:03:33.000 --> 00:03:34.000 We all want that. 46 00:03:34.000 --> 00:03:38.000 And once you've done it once and you've gone through the cycle of putting together a pitch, 47 00:03:38.000 --> 00:03:45.000 pitching it to your team, one deep work session, i.e. one week later, in most cases, you're presenting what you found. 48 00:03:45.000 --> 00:03:50.000 Once you've done that cycle once, then you can keep pitching and doing presentations. 49 00:03:50.000 --> 00:03:56.000 And this is how we get every single person in the organization to do pitches. 50 00:03:56.000 --> 00:04:01.000 So, it doesn't matter where in the organization you are, you get to innovate. 51 00:04:01.000 --> 00:04:08.000 You know, whether it's accounting, product design, customer service, sales, whatever it is, 52 00:04:08.000 --> 00:04:15.000 every aspect of the entire business goes through a constant pitching and presentation mode. 53 00:04:15.000 --> 00:04:21.000 So, the question here is we said, okay, then ask yourself as part of setting the boundaries, what's the appetite? 54 00:04:21.000 --> 00:04:22.000 What's included? 55 00:04:22.000 --> 00:04:24.000 What is not included? 56 00:04:24.000 --> 00:04:25.000 That's really important. 57 00:04:25.000 --> 00:04:30.000 So, you're saying what you're not going to do is as important as saying what you are. 58 00:04:30.000 --> 00:04:33.000 That really sets expectations for the team. 59 00:04:33.000 --> 00:04:38.000 The second part, setting boundaries, second part is what we call a high level or a fat marker design. 60 00:04:38.000 --> 00:04:44.000 If it's a physical, you know, just drawing a little box and some squiggles and showing where the data is going to flow 61 00:04:44.000 --> 00:04:48.000 or whatever the idea is, we want to put that together in a very simple way. 62 00:04:48.000 --> 00:04:55.000 So, we're not solving the problem, but you're just giving a very high level idea of what it is you're going to do. 63 00:04:55.000 --> 00:04:58.000 The third section is the risk and rabbit holes. 64 00:04:58.000 --> 00:05:00.000 This is where we're asking, 65 00:05:00.000 --> 00:05:02.960 in the question, how could I get stuck? 66 00:05:02.960 --> 00:05:06.520 And if it goes well, what extra stuff could I add? 67 00:05:06.520 --> 00:05:09.720 If it doesn't go so well, what things can I cut out? 68 00:05:09.720 --> 00:05:12.280 So what we're doing is we're planning upfront 69 00:05:12.280 --> 00:05:15.520 that we never deliver, we never get to a presentation 70 00:05:15.520 --> 00:05:16.780 and say, I'm not ready. 71 00:05:17.720 --> 00:05:19.300 So we're gonna get to that in a second. 72 00:05:19.300 --> 00:05:22.080 So then what this fourth section is, 73 00:05:22.080 --> 00:05:23.480 we put the pitch together. 74 00:05:23.480 --> 00:05:26.320 Now, by the way, the pitch is not a separate worksheet. 75 00:05:26.320 --> 00:05:28.840 You just take exactly the same worksheet 76 00:05:28.840 --> 00:05:31.160 you just filled out for those three steps 77 00:05:31.160 --> 00:05:32.400 and present it to the team. 78 00:05:32.400 --> 00:05:33.600 That's what step four is. 79 00:05:33.600 --> 00:05:36.760 Step four, pitching, is simply presenting 80 00:05:36.760 --> 00:05:38.960 the first three steps, setting the boundaries, 81 00:05:38.960 --> 00:05:40.840 the high-level design, and going through 82 00:05:40.840 --> 00:05:42.840 the risks and rabbit holes. 83 00:05:42.840 --> 00:05:46.520 So that's all that is, it's very, very straightforward. 84 00:05:46.520 --> 00:05:50.840 Now, here's the thing, why we taught 85 00:05:50.840 --> 00:05:54.080 and implemented deep work was so that you know 86 00:05:54.080 --> 00:05:57.300 you have the time to do it, and you never get 87 00:05:57.300 --> 00:06:00.660 to a position where it comes day to present 88 00:06:00.660 --> 00:06:02.780 and you didn't have time because you know 89 00:06:02.780 --> 00:06:04.580 you had deep work, so you did them. 90 00:06:04.580 --> 00:06:06.940 And secondly, if you had to cut things out, 91 00:06:06.940 --> 00:06:09.060 you already told the team what you might cut out. 92 00:06:09.060 --> 00:06:11.300 If you added extra, you already told the team 93 00:06:11.300 --> 00:06:13.260 what extra you're gonna add. 94 00:06:13.260 --> 00:06:15.540 Now, here is the amazing thing. 95 00:06:15.540 --> 00:06:20.100 Your reputation is directly related 96 00:06:20.100 --> 00:06:22.840 to your track record of creating value. 97 00:06:23.800 --> 00:06:26.560 Your reputation is directly related 98 00:06:26.560 --> 00:06:30.160 to the track record of creating value. 99 00:06:30.160 --> 00:06:34.520 It's also directly related to you being able 100 00:06:34.520 --> 00:06:38.000 to do what you said you will do when you said you will do it. 101 00:06:38.000 --> 00:06:40.880 Now, imagine if that's not just a personal thing, 102 00:06:40.880 --> 00:06:42.840 but what if we do that as a culture? 103 00:06:42.840 --> 00:06:46.240 Now we're creating a high-performance, 104 00:06:46.240 --> 00:06:49.360 innovation team of leaders culture. 105 00:06:49.360 --> 00:06:52.440 That's a culture where everybody's doing pitches 106 00:06:53.040 --> 00:06:56.000 and presentations and nobody's an hour late. 107 00:06:56.000 --> 00:06:59.360 What would that do to your organization if that existed? 108 00:06:59.360 --> 00:07:02.840 By the way, ordinary people can do this. 109 00:07:02.840 --> 00:07:05.960 This is just a matter of a little bit of practice. 110 00:07:05.960 --> 00:07:08.840 So by doing this and everybody's involved, 111 00:07:08.840 --> 00:07:10.720 here's the cool side benefit. 112 00:07:10.720 --> 00:07:15.080 Now we all know what contribution everybody's making 113 00:07:15.080 --> 00:07:16.240 in the organization. 114 00:07:16.240 --> 00:07:19.040 We can much more accurately value you 115 00:07:19.040 --> 00:07:21.360 and value your contribution 116 00:07:21.360 --> 00:07:23.000 because we've heard your pitches 117 00:07:23.000 --> 00:07:24.880 and we've watched you make presentations 118 00:07:24.880 --> 00:07:26.420 when you completed them. 119 00:07:26.420 --> 00:07:28.440 So this is the most powerful idea. 120 00:07:28.440 --> 00:07:30.840 It's not about getting the best pitch, 121 00:07:30.840 --> 00:07:32.680 thinking it out thoroughly, 122 00:07:32.680 --> 00:07:35.280 going to do all the research beforehand 123 00:07:35.280 --> 00:07:36.400 before you present to the team. 124 00:07:36.400 --> 00:07:38.240 No one has time for that. 125 00:07:38.240 --> 00:07:41.240 So the idea of a pitch, 20 minutes, 126 00:07:41.240 --> 00:07:43.560 filling those three big things, 127 00:07:43.560 --> 00:07:46.280 and then the fourth thing is presented to the team. 128 00:07:46.280 --> 00:07:48.720 So it's very, very straightforward. 129 00:07:48.720 --> 00:07:52.760 And the idea of this is as we cycle this a few times, 130 00:07:52.760 --> 00:07:54.240 we all get into the habit. 131 00:07:54.240 --> 00:07:55.760 In our organization, 132 00:07:55.760 --> 00:07:59.800 everybody must do at least one pitch per month. 133 00:07:59.800 --> 00:08:01.640 So that gives you time 134 00:08:01.640 --> 00:08:03.920 to really get on those bigger projects. 135 00:08:03.920 --> 00:08:06.240 So I'd like to caution you and say, 136 00:08:06.240 --> 00:08:09.520 never do projects that are too long. 137 00:08:09.520 --> 00:08:12.740 Six weeks should be the maximum amount of time 138 00:08:12.740 --> 00:08:13.680 you do any project. 139 00:08:13.680 --> 00:08:16.480 That's actually a very substantive project 140 00:08:16.480 --> 00:08:19.080 and probably you should be breaking that up 141 00:08:19.080 --> 00:08:20.980 to even thinner slices. 142 00:08:20.980 --> 00:08:23.480 So we're constantly taking thin slices 143 00:08:23.480 --> 00:08:27.680 because thin slices has a very high learning curve 144 00:08:27.680 --> 00:08:28.840 because now we're learning, 145 00:08:28.840 --> 00:08:30.160 this is what the business needs. 146 00:08:30.160 --> 00:08:32.440 Oh, I thought the project would require that, 147 00:08:32.440 --> 00:08:34.280 but now that I've done this thin slice, 148 00:08:34.280 --> 00:08:37.600 it's now obvious what the next thin slice should be. 149 00:08:37.600 --> 00:08:41.120 And by putting ourselves on those sequence of thin slices, 150 00:08:41.120 --> 00:08:45.080 we bring huge value and we build an incredible reputation 151 00:08:45.120 --> 00:08:48.120 as somebody who brings real value to the organization. 152 00:08:48.120 --> 00:08:51.840 So I hope you really enjoy being that kind of innovator 153 00:08:51.840 --> 00:08:54.320 and being a team of innovators. 154 00:08:54.320 --> 00:08:55.360 Thanks for listening.