I decided to focus this post on identifying the constraints I have in shipping Project 14: Teaching Others. I have started to think about what this event will look like and feel that looking at the constraints for this project will help me explore it deeper and give me more confidence as I put it together and get ready to ship.
For my event to teach others, I am planning to invite my colleagues within my current division at work. The audience will include sales representatives, customer service representatives, and sales support teams. I have determined that a TED Talk style will work best for my audience and me.
What are the current constraints? What are the limits?
- Time:
- Ship by 10/17 – Time is my favorite constraint! I love deadlines!
- I have decided on the TED Talk style for this event. This will limit me to around 18 minutes to convey my message and leave an impact.
- Limited persuasion:
- If I am able to persuade the division leader to allow me to hold my event during business hours, I am likely to have more participation. His hesitancy to allow this will revolve around taking the sales team away from selling. However, he is a fan of Seth Godin, so that may work to my advantage.
- Method:
- This must be a speaking event and not a written article. I can’t hide behind a computer. I have to formulate my thoughts and delivery and practice, practice, practice.
- I am not a speaker. Speaking to a group scares me. I was able to identify the source of this fear a few years ago…the lack of preparation. I can’t let this fear hold me back. In Seth Godin’s ShipIt Journal overview he said, “Anxiety is merely experiencing failure in advance.” This really resonated with me.
- Resources:
- Through altMBA, I was introduced to Prezi. I plan to use this for a more engaging presentation. I will need to learn this application, but don’t anticipate it being an issue.
In A Beautiful Constraint, authors, Adam Morgan and Mark Barden talk about identifying ambitions in addition to constraints. I decided to include my ambitions as well. These ambitions are fueling my excitement for Project 14.
Ambitions:
- Impact: I want this event to impact my co-workers. It can’t be trivial. I need to tell them something that will propel them forward. I know at least a few of them are hungry for something like this.
- Quality: I believe my co-workers will have a high expectation of me. I need to deliver!
- Experience: I want to deliver an experience they remember. I’m the quiet, shy, introvert sitting in an office tucked away in a corner. I want to shock them. Not in my knowledge, but in my delivery. I want to push the boundaries of how I am perceived.
How can I shift my constraints to make my event BETTER?
- Time:
- I was originally thinking about holding a 60-minute presentation, but as I was jotting notes in preparation for tonight’s project, I determined a TED Talk style would be better suited to my audience and me.
- Limited Persuasion:
- Not being able to host my event during business hours is not a deal breaker. I can hold my event during the lunch hour and bring in pizza as a thank you to those attending for giving up their time. I could also hold my event after work, although I predict participation would fall below my goal of 10 people.
- Limited Persuasion/Resources:
- If I held my event during lunch it could be a bring your own lunch event, but that may be more distracting to me than pizza. I could have the pizza delivered after the presentation. I could get a colleague outside my division to help with the delivery to the conference room.
- If I hold my event outside of business hours (lunch or after hours), I can (and should) open it up to other friends within my company. That may be too many for pizza at a lunch event, but maybe a $3 cost to offset the pizza for those who wish to eat afterwards?
- Resources:
- I have a laptop that can be connected to the conference room, but I should see if there is a presentation clicker I can use to make the presentation more seamless.
As expected, this exercise in relation to Project 14: Teach Others has been very helpful and inspiring. I’m definitely more excited about this event then I was a few hours ago. I still have a long way to go within the next couple of weeks to be able to ship Project 14, but I’m already giving myself an A!