Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn.

~

Benjamin Franklin

How many times have you sat in a meeting and been bored to tears on a 63 slide powerpoint? How many times have you sat there with your mind wandering to something more interesting? How many times have you just wished a consultant or colleague would just stop talking?  How many times have you got to the end of presentation and thought so what and why am I here?  

We have all been there haven’t we. Our ability as humans to over-complicate is immense.  It’s sometimes feels like more means more.  I go back to the helpful ‘dinner party question’ – What do you do?  Instead of offering up the laundry list that sometimes comes out of the communications industry I work in, the answer is simply problem solving through experience and great counsel. The best counsel is rooted in simplicity – how you strip everything back and focus on the critical issue.  Therefore, less is actually more.  

Recently, this happened to me, I was presented with the 63 powerpoint presentation. As the minutes ticked down, my question was where is the ‘money slide’.  It’s what I call the slide that distills everything down to clear, strategic thought and direction – a plan on a page.  That was the only slide that was relevant, and relevant to our client.

This simplicity, I believe, comes from listening as opposed to talking. Listening is a very under rated skill.  My very first boss taught me a great lesson.  Never take a powerpoint into a first meeting.  Always start the meeting with ‘how’s business’? You’ll get the information you’ll need and provide more powerful counsel and greater solutions for it. And the difference between counsel and great counsel is having the confidence to ask the questions that others wouldn’t  and the ability to listen for things that are not said. If you don’t understand the business or the ask at hand, your counsel will only ever be just that.

I also believe in the power of provocation over presentation when it comes to learning. Jeff Bezos banning powerpoint and instead, everyone sits silently for about 30 minutes to read a "six-page memo that's narratively structured with real sentences, topic sentences, verbs, and nouns." Provocative and different by its very format – involving and engaging humans to think about and solve a problem in a different and better way. 

Benjamin, got it right. Teach me and involve me and everyone is better off. 

At Manara Global we believe in the power of problem solving through great counsel.  We always start with listening. We challenge. We get to the heart of and issue. We always have a point of view. We help you get to solutions that matter and resonate. And we do it simply.