Giving Unpresentations

A couple of weeks ago at a local business group, it was my turn to let people know more about what I do than I can fit into 60 seconds.

Most people give a presentation. Sometimes they have PowerPoint slides or a flip chart.

It was more interesting when a therapist brought some of the gadgets he uses and gave us a quick demonstration by giving a mini-treatment to a member who happens to be one of his clients. It meant more when we could see a little of what he does instead of only hearing about it.

Group members had repeatedly mentioned not clearly understanding what I do. I wanted them to comprehend, and to realize I can help small companies as well as large ones.

People often look at the big multinationals among my clientele and think my services must be beyond their means, but I’m working with a very small local manufacturer right now.

Talking about it wouldn’t do. I had to give an unpresentation.

For a few minutes the business group became a property management company. Three members became the big boss, the head of the office staff and the chief of the new maintenance department. Everyone else became part of the staff.

In our scenario, the firm originally tried to just substitute internal work orders for the purchase orders they used to send to maintenance firms and completed work orders where they used to get invoices for repairs done to properties. That was drowning them in paperwork. The new department had inventory of frequently needed parts, as well as other differences from the outside vendors.

We had (in theory) figured out the current workflow earlier. It had been drawn up while we all took a break, so we all had a copy in front of us. We went through an abbreviated version of figuring out what workflow the firm needed instead—and where data ought to be instead of where it is now. The result tells me what changes I need to orchestrate in the appropriate IT systems and how those IT systems should interact with what people are doing.

No good IT project can start with the computer systems. First it’s important to take a good look at what the business does and what it needs to do instead. Then the IT systems need to fit that. Otherwise, the business will end up distorted to accommodate the IT. That’s bad for business.

Over the weekend I’ll add a summary of my unpresentation to the Havenshire website. If you don’t understand what I do, maybe that will help.

Addendum: The example is now available by clicking here.