This Slideshare presentation is a partial preview of the full business document. To view and download the full document, please go here: http://flevy.com/browse/business-document/boosting-your-teams-clarity-discipline-253 So many of our clients tell us that they want their teams to use structured thinking disciplines, but don't know how to make it happen. They introduce the principles to their new hires and expect them to use the techniques going forward, but find that in the rush to get documents to their clients the teams forget what they have been taught. This pack outlines simple and proven techniques that you can apply either as a whole. or one at a time, to boost the discipline around your team's focus on clarity. If you see your teams applying any of the techniques listed below, you will know this pack is for you: * Spreading all of the pages created during a project over the boardroom table and then walking around cherry picking key ones and then putting them barely changed into the final pack * Building the pack one page at a time during the project and then "whooshing the titles together" to create a contents page * Describing the work the team did rather than clearly articulating a cohesive set of recommendations * Team leaders - partners included - accepting that they will have to redo the pack at the eleventh hour as this is easier than getting the team to do it themselves This pack has been prepared by a team of communication specialists who are passionate about helping their clients create clarity in their problem solving and communication more easily and more often. Trained in these disciplines as communication specialsits at McKinsey & Company, they now coach and train consultants and strategy teams on a range of communication issues primarily across Australia and the Asia Pacific.

1. Helping your team consistently create clear
communication is easier than you think
Clarity 101 for team leaders

2. Robust techniques for embedding structured
thinking disciplines
How can we help everyone
understand the value and
purpose of structured problem
solving and communication?
How can you
create long term
sustainable
impact through
better and easier
application of
structured
thinking in your
team?
How can we ensure staff have
the skills to use structured
thinking techniques in their
work?
How can we provide clear role
models for your people to
follow?
What systems and processes
do we need to implement to
encourage the consistent use
of structured thinking
techniques?
Structuredthinkingisatickettothe
gameinconsulting,howeverfewer
andfewerfirmsareskilledenoughto
benefitfromittoday.

3. How can we ensure staff have the
skills to use structured thinking
techniques in their work?
• Include structured thinking in
standard new hire training
• Identify people who are really good
at structured thinking and nominate
them as mentors
• Hold semi-regular „brown bag
lunches‟ to collaborate on boosting
the structuring of specific pieces of
work while also building skills
• Offer coaching for team members
with potential
• Provide access to online learning
tools as a reinforcement mechanism
• Build a library of structurally
excellent examples from successful
projects for people to refer to
How can we help everyone
understand the value and
purpose of structured problem
solving and communication?
How can you
create long term
sustainable
impact through
better and easier
application of
structured
thinking in your
team?
How can we provide clear role
models for your people to follow?
What systems and processes do
we need to implement to
encourage the consistent use of
structured thinking techniques?
Robust techniques for embedding structured
thinking disciplines

4. • Ensure all communication from
leaders in your organisation is
structurally sound (even the small
stuff: see aclient‟s gastro warning
at the back of this pack …)
• Don‟t be afraid to parody
structured storytelling techniques
in your inhouse comms (we saw a
very funny Christmas party invite
in this vein last year)
• Personally acknowledge
“champions” from Chair, CEO,
Office Managers
• Build Library of best examples –
Hall of Fame
• Communicate all wins actively
across the entire firm
• Sign your team up The Big Idea
for free at www.claritysecret.com
How can we help everyone
understand the value and
purpose of structured problem
solving and communication?
How can you
create long term
sustainable
impact through
better and easier
application of
structured
thinking in your
team?
How can we ensure staff have the
skills to use structured thinking
techniques in their work?
How can we provide clear role
models for your people to follow?
What systems and processes do
we need to implement to
encourage the consistent use of
structured thinking techniques?
Robust techniques for embedding structured
thinking disciplines

5. Use storylines to drive clarity around decision making and
communication
Situation
Complication
Question
Today‟s fast pace of decision making poses risks to businesses that we are all to familiar with.
Some of these risks can be mitigated by consistently applying some simple structured and logical techniques
early in our decision making processes.
What simple and structured techniques would underpin fast and effective decision making?
Combine mind mapping with Aristotle’s narrative structures and logic to clarify your thinking before you
make decisions and communicate your recommendations.
Use structured mind maps, or
storylines, to clarify your main ideas
before you communicate
Using a storyline makes it easier to
• Focus on the big picture
• Check if you are telling the right story for
your circumstance
• Clarify your ideas quickly
• Check whether you are still clarifying your
thinking for yourself or whether you are
ready to communicate your
recommendation
• Collaborate with others to confirm your
ideas before preparing your
communication
Adopt Aristotle’s narrative techniques
to begin powerfully
Aristotle‟s ideas help today‟s people as
much as they helped the ancients by
teaching that simple and persuasive
communication must
• Start in the right spot, with a clearly
articulated situation to establish the right
scope
• Focus around a trigger, or a complication
to ensure the author‟s thinking progresses
in the right direction
• Answer just one single question to drive
clarity and logical rigor
Implement logical principles to
confirm and defend your ideas
• Two forms of logic underpin clear
thinking: induction and deduction
• These two forms can be represented
visually in a logical storyline to help you
quickly and rigorously test your ideas
before you communicate
• Once the storyline is ready, it is easy to
convert it into a range of communication
forms from short emails to long reports
with neosi (www.neosi.co)

6. Where to go if you would like to learn more
Websites
• www.claritysecret.com (sign up for our (free) elearning academy to receive occasional tips for getting the
most out of structured thinking disciplines
• www.neosi.co (sign up for a free trial and you will be able to create storylines with great ease and then
export each storyline to any one of a number of Word and PowerPoint document types)
• Rhetoric and Poetics by Aristotle (available on (www.amazon.com)
• The Miniature Guide to Critical Thinking Concepts and Tools by Dr Linda Elder and Dr Richard Paul (free
on www.amazon.com)
• Logic, Inductive and Deductive by William Minto (available on www.amazon.com)
• The Power of Logic in Problem Solving and Communication by Linda Long (available at www.scc-
llong.com in both textbook and workbook form)
• The McKinsey Engagement by Paul Friga
• Say it with Presentations by Gene Zelazny (available from www.zelazny.com)
• Problem Solving 101: a simple book for smart people by Ken Watanabe (available from
www.amazon.com)
• The Minto Pyramid Principle by Barbara Minto (available as a book from www.barbaraminto.com and as
an app at the Apple App store)
Other sources
• Oxford University school of continuing education podcast series on logic and reasoning
• YouTube (search inductive and deductive reasoning … start with this one (it‟s even entertaining …)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AiUrSFAIktY&list=PLA121EF8990EA9C48

7. 1
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