Jean McKay PuttyCove , Inc.

1. An introduction to Jean McKayPuttyCove, Inc. High Cost of Doing Nothing 4/18/2012

2. About Jean McKay, PMP, PMRMP, MSCIS • Jean is an experienced professional with a proven track record over 20 years. • She currently holds numerous professional certifications in both Project Management and IT, focuses on Disaster Recovery Planning, Business Continuity Planning, Risk Assessment, and Technical Training. • Jean is a certified Project Management Professional (PMP)®, and Risk Management Professional PMP-RMP, with a Master of Science in Computer Information Systems. • Jean currently resides in Phoenix, Arizona, and is an active member of the PMI Phoenix Chapter, BPW, and Infragard.

3. Background for this work • Fifteen years of development at Stanford University • Observations or interviews with 225 executives • 25 longitudinal studies of executives • In 2007, 55 formal interviews in 9 industries • In-depth study of PQ+A in two global companies • Cypress Semiconductor, 1996 to 2004 • Microsoft, 1995 to 2004 - 3 -

4. Four deep trends • Information overload • Higher levels of complexity • Complexity is dynamic • Increased time crunch The pressure to improve discussion Time  The efficiency of typicalbusiness meetings - 4 -

5. Two factors • Two factors make it difficult to manage complexity and overload in meetings • Answers that destroy focus • Questions that lack focus - 5 -

6. When answers lack focus • Not clear • Not crisp • Not concise - 6 -

7. What’s going wrong? • She asks a precise question • “What are the unit sales for the urban and suburban segments?” • He hears a generic question • “Give me an update.” • He believes he’s helping the discussion by providing “valuable context” - 7 -

8. Precision Answering solves the problem • The basics of PA • Answer the question that was asked • Start with the core • Keep it short • The benefits of PA • Better focus • Greater efficiency - 8 -

9. When questions lack focus • Low efficiency • No depth - 9 -

10. What’s going wrong? • We shouldn’t be asking this: • What do the lines show us? • If the question in our mind is this: • At the end of the quarter, what was the rate at which sales were decreasing? • Is the rate of decrease slowing down or speeding up? - 10 -

11. Precision Questioning solves the problem • The basics of PQ • Be precise • Get to the heart of the matter • The benefits of PQ • Greater efficiency • Better analysis - 11 -

12. Precision Questioning

13. Drill-down questions fall into seven categories - 13 -

14. The seven categories Our customersare spending more time on social networking sites. - 14 -

15. The seven categories Our business needs to start doing better security of our data. - 15 -

16. Let’s Practice • We will use your issue to practice thecategories one at a time • Real PQ ismore fluid - 16 -

17. Practice: Write down an issue like one or the other of these • Use a real issue fromyour work • Write legibly ___ is taking more ___ [time, resources, etc.] than expected. ___ is more complexthan expected. - 17 -

18. Instructions for two-minute drills • Find a partner to practice with. • Decide roles • One person presents issue & answers questions • Other person asks questions • Don’t change roles until instructed to • These are practice drills for the questioner; this will not be a fluid discussion. Real PQ ismore fluid than this. • Answers should be short, honest, and realistic • Please wait to begin - 18 -

19. Establish the big picture 2 minute limit • Presenter starts • Show partner the written statement • Give an overview of your issue (about 30 seconds) • Then questioner asks • Ask questions that help you understand the big picture (about 60 seconds) • Big picture questions are mostly clarifications so you understand the topic • Do not worry about the categories for now • 2 minute limit - 19 -

20. Go/NoGo questions guide energy and focus • Setting up a good meeting • Who should participate? • Goal? • How much time? • Who should tee up the issue? • Shaping the direction once the meeting begins • Are we focused on the right thing? • Are we asking the right questions? • Should we take this off-line? - 20 -

21. Reminder: these are not Go/NoGo questions • How do you track resources? • What do you mean by “complex?” • What seems to be causing it? • For now – focus only one Go/No Go questions - 21 -

22. Examples of Go/NoGo questions • OK • Who should attend? • Better • Who knows more about this, Ellen or Bill? • OK • What would be the goal of the meeting? • Better • Is a half-hour enough time to both review the data and figure out the underlying causes of the problem? - 22 -

23. Practice Go/NoGoquestions 2 minute limit • Ask questions thatwould help them set upa real meeting to discuss this issue ___ is taking more ___ [time, resources, etc.] than expected. ___ is more complexthan expected. - 23 -

24. Clarification questions sharpen the meaning • By “clarification” we mean clarification of the meaning of words and sentences • Three main types of clarification • Clarifying slippery words • Asking graph questions • Asking pivot table questions - 24 -

25. Clarification of slippery words • A “slippery” word means one thing to one person and something different to another person • OK • What do you mean by “complex”? • Better • Complex in what ways? • Do you mean complex with respect to number of parts? • Complex with respect to number of dependencies? The project has become more complex than we expected. - 25 -

26. Reminder: these are not clarification questions • Do you have data on your use of resources? • What seems to be causing it? • If you don’t change anything, what would be the consequences? • For now – focus on Clarifying slippery word questions - 26 -

27. Practice clarifying slippery words 2 minute limit • Clarify words that mightmean something different to the presenterthan to you. ___ is taking more ___ [time, resources, etc.] than expected. ___ is more complexthan expected. - 27 -

28. Clarification through graph questions • “Draw the graph” with questions • When did the schedule first slip? • How far have you fallen behind the original projections? • Are you losing ground or gaining ground? The project is taking more timethan expected. - 28 -

29. Clarification through pivot table questions • Pivot table questioning • Picture the parts • Question the parts • Examples • Show it to me by ___ (gender, age, location). • Where has morale been the most difficult to improve? • Where has morale been easiest to improve? Improving morale is turning out to be more difficult than weexpected. - 29 -

30. Practice graph/pivot table clarification 2 minute limit • Graph questions • Pivot table questions ___ is taking more ___ [time, resources, etc.] than expected. ___ is more complexthan expected. - 30 -

31. Assumption questions go deep • An assumption is something that must be true in order for the statement to be true • The difficulty: assumptions are in what is not said • Useful tip: phrase your questions this way • Are you assuming…? • Are you assuming…? - 31 -

32. Common categories of assumptions • “I’m looking for the solution to the problem of…” • Existence • Are you assuming a problem exists? • Uniqueness • Are you assuming there’s only one problem? • Measurement • Are you assuming you can measure improvement? • Value • Are you assuming it’s bad? • Time, Constancy • Are you assuming the problem isn’t changing over time? - 32 -

33. Practice assumption questions 2 minute limit • Are you assuming...? • Are you assuming...? • Are you assuming...? ___ is taking more ___ [time, resources, etc.] than expected. ___ is more complexthan expected. - 33 -

34. BCQs ask for evidence • Two main types of BCQs • Questions about the validity of the data • Questions about the credibility of the sources of information - 34 -

35. BCQ: questions about the validity of DATA • Not • How do you know that’s true? • OK • What’s the data? • Better • How complete is the data? • How accurate is the data? • Is the sample representative of the population? • Is the sample large enough? - 35 -

36. Practice DATA questions 2 minute limit • Ask questions about the validity of their data ___ is taking more ___ [time, resources, etc.] than expected. ___ is more complexthan expected. - 36 -

37. BCQ: questions about the credibility of the SOURCESof information • OK • Where did you hear this? • Better • Did you hear it from somebody who was on the project at the beginning? • Do you have 100% confidence in what they are telling you? • Should you check with other people who were on the project at the beginning? - 37 -

38. Practice SOURCE questions 2 minute limit • Ask questions about the credibility of theirsources of information ___ is taking more ___ [time, resources, etc.] than expected. ___ is more complexthan expected. - 38 -

39. Establish the big picture – switch roles 2 minute limit • New presenter • Show your written statement(about 30 seconds) • New questioner • Ask questions that help you understand the big picture (about 60 seconds) • Big picture questions are mostly clarifications • Don’t worry about categories, this is so you understand the topic - 39 -

40. BCQs ask for evidence • Two main types of BCQs • Questions about the validity of the data • Questions about the credibility of the sources of information - 40 -

41. Practice BCQs – DATA and/or SOURCE 2 minute limit • Ask about validityof data • Ask about credibility ofsources of information ___ is taking more ___ [time, resources, etc.] than expected. ___ is more complexthan expected. - 41 -

42. Cause Questions • Questions about causes help us control • Here are five precise why’s • What triggered this (an event)? • Is there a root cause (a condition of vulnerability)? • What is the mechanism (how does it work)? • What are the drivers (pushes)? • What are the inhibitors (pulls)? - 42 -

43. Cause questions • OK • Why were our initial expectations so unrealistic? • Better • Was the root cause that fact that this was a different type of problem than we have seen in the past? • OK • Why is it becoming more complex? • Better • What are the main drivers of complexity? - 43 -

44. Practice cause questions 2 minute limit • Root cause? Trigger? • Drivers? Inhibitors? • Mechanism? ___ is taking more ___ [time, resources, etc.] than expected. ___ is more complexthan expected. - 44 -

45. Questions about Effects help us predict • When thinking about the future, we tend to oversimplify • This 3x3 matrix helps us be more precise - 45 -

46. Effects questions • OK • How long will it take? • Better • Worst case, how long will it take? • OK • What will be the result? • Better • What will the long-term consequences be? - 46 -

47. Practice effect questions 2 minute limit • Ask questions like this: • Suppose you don’t change anything.In the ___ term, what’s the ___ case for ___? ___ is taking more ___ [time, resources, etc.] than expected. ___ is more complexthan expected. - 47 -

48. Questions about Action • There are many more options than “what should we do about it?” • What is our strategy? • What tactics will we use to enact our strategy? • What is our plan for the coming week? • Is our goal a root cause fix? Or is it just containment? - 48 -

49. Practice action questions 2 minute limit • Ask questions like these: • Can you do a root-causefix on this? • Should you just try tocontain it? ___ is taking more ___ [time, resources, etc.] than expected. ___ is more complexthan expected. - 49 -

50. Benefit of PQ • What is the benefit of making our questions more precise? • It helps us analyze our work in new ways • Our meetings become more efficient • The level of critical thinking goes up - 50 -