Slides and Audio From “Leading A Team of Experts” at PMI-SV Sep-17-12

Slides and Audio From “Forming Leading A Team of Experts” at Project Management Institute of Silicon Valley on Sep-17-2012. Audio includes a lively discussion.

Recap of Forming And Leading A Team of Experts

Audio

Or download directly from “Forming and Leading a Team of Experts [PMI-SV Sep-17-2012] (MP3)

It was a great audience and a lively discussion around the issues that the talk explored.

Slides: Forming & Leading A Team of Experts

Presentation for Project Management Institute, Silicon Valley (PMI-SV)
by Sean Murphy, SKMurphy Inc. (Sept. 17, 2012)

Overview

  1. How To Spot An Expert
  2. Forming a Team of Experts
  3. Team Decision Making
    • Blending Expertise
    • Managing Tradeoffs and Constraints

How To Spot An Expert

  • Can Make High Quality Judgments From Small Amount of Data In a
    Short Time
  • Knows Key Questions
  • Can Spot What’s Missing Or Does Not Fit
  • Can Predict Outcomes

Question For The Audience: How Do You Recognize An Expert?

Challenges of Individual Expertise

  • Accumulated Over A Decade or More
  • Often Exhibits Unconscious Competence
  • Insights May Not Be Available to Introspection
  • “I’ll Know It When I See It”
  • Examples
    • Reading A Pap Smear
    • A Gestalt: Whole Is More Than Sum Of Parts
    • A Key Detail You See That Others Overlook

Example Of Expertise: Engineer

  1. Facts / Observations: Customer Symptoms
  2. Hypotheses: Root Cause
  3. Validate / Differentials (Sensitivity Analysis)
  4. Confirm/Disconfirm (Fault Tree Model)
  5. Propose Solution
  6. Outline Benefits (Likely Outcomes)
  7. Track Outcomes to Refine Rules & Models (Deliberate Practice)

Example Of Expertise: Physician

  1. Elicit Symptoms (May Include Tests)
  2. Offer a Diagnosis (Root Cause Analysis)
  3. Explain Differentials (Sensitivity Analysis)
  4. Suggest a Prescription (Course of Action)
  5. Outline Prognosis (Likely Outcomes)
  6. Use Outcomes to Refine Rules & Models Deliberate Practice

Expertise: Personal Mastery

  • Master Not Only The Technical
    • But Also Emotional Aspects Of a Problem
    • Self-Debugging
  • Deliberate Practice
    • Predict Outcomes of a Decision & Follow-Up
    • 10,000 Hour Rule (Ericsson)
  • “They Can Because They Think They Can” Virgil

Recap: What Is Expertise?

  • Ability To Make Quality Judgments From
    • A Small Amount of Data
    • Answers to Key Questions
    • In A Short Time Frame
  • Pattern Recognition From Key Details
  • Deliberate Practice
    • Predict Results
    • Track Outcome & Reconcile With Prediction

Overview

  1. [x] How To Spot An Expert
  2. Forming a Team of Experts
  3. Team Decision Making
    • Blending Expertise
    • Managing Tradeoffs and Constraints

When the Problem Is Bigger Than One Person

  • You Need a Team
  • Often With Several Experts
  • Shared Mission

Forming A Team of Experts

  • A Common Mission or Desired End
  • Metrics For Measuring Progress
  • Shared Situational Awareness
  • Each Member Can Link Their Actions to Goals
  • Goals -> Roles -> Process -> Relationships

Product Team Example

  • One Table / Two-Pizza Meeting
  • Need Different Engineering Experts: Power, Mechanical, Software, …
  • Engineering Is About Tradeoffs: Cost, Performance, Development Time

Individual Expertise vs. Team Decision Making

  • Two Key Differences
    • Trust
    • Shared Situational Awareness
  • New Challenge: Blending Expertise On A Team

Shared Situational Awareness

  • Requires Active Communication
  • Requires Tools and For Shared Memory
  • Questions For The Audience:
    • How You Foster Active Communication?
    • What Tools Do You Use For Team Memory?

Recap: Forming A Team of Experts

  • A Common Mission or Desired End
  • Challenge is Large Enough To Foster Collaboration
  • Goals -> Roles -> Process -> Relationships
  • Foster Shared Situational Awareness
    • Processes for Active Communication
    • Tools For A Common Team Memory

Overview

  1. [x] How To Spot An Expert
  2. [x] Forming a Team of Experts
  3. Team Decision Making
    • Blending Expertise
    • Managing Tradeoffs and Constraints

Tradeoffs and Constraints

  • Budget
  • Time
  • Performance
  • Risk

Tradeoff and Constraints Example

  • Board Level Design 1982-2012
    • Analog and Digital Electronics
    • Complex Parts -> PAL – > FPGA/ASIC
    • Software
    • Timing Megahertz -> Gigahertz
    • Thermal: Forced Air Convection -> Liquid Cool
  • Each Domain Needs an Expert And The Ability to Negotiate Tradeoffs

Tradeoff and Constraints Stories

  • Transform Domain Specific Representation to Common Language For Analysis
  • Written Code Specification vs. Mockup
  • Isometric Drawing vs. 3D Cardboard Model

Question For Audience

  • What Crises Has Your Team Managed?
    • Who Were The Experts Around The Table?
    • What Constraints Were The Most Important?
    • What Constraints Were The Least Important?

Story: Losing Touch With The “Facts on the Ground” at the Customer

  • Expertise Is No Good Without Facts
  • Major Customer Sends New RFP
    • With No Warning
    • Due In Two Weeks
  • Exec Team Left Largest Account on Autopilot
    • Account Team Talked to Old Contacts
    • But Customer Had A New Leadership Team
  • Always “Go and See”

Questions For Audience

  • Have You Even Been On a Team That Lost Touch With The
    “Facts On The Ground” ?
  • When Your Map/Dashboard No Longer Matched What Was Happening?
  • How Did You Realize It?
  • How Did You Address It?

Story: Experts Always Have 3 Plans

  • A Novice Follows a Recipe
  • A Journeyman Knows a Method & Variations
  • An Expert Knows Many Ways
    • Mental Model of Unfolding Situation
    • Defer Decisions Until “Last Possible Moment” When Deferring is a Decision
    • Avoid Irreversible Changes When Fixing Crisis
    • Start on Slow Sure Expensive Path to Fix & Work to Improve

Recap: Team Decision Making

  • Common Language and Understanding
    • For Constraints
    • For Trade-offs
  • Every Major Decision Should Document
    • How Will We Tell If This Works
    • When Will We Know?
    • What Will We Do If It Doesn’t?

Questions For Audience

  • What Project Plans Have You Helped to Create That
    Included Backup Plans?
  • Plan B if Plan A Does Not Work
  • What About a Plan for Unexpected Success?

Overview

  1. [x] How To Spot An Expert
  2. [x] Forming a Team of Experts
  3. [x] Team Decision Making
    • Blending Expertise
    • Managing Tradeoffs and Constraints

Final Recap:

  • Experts Can Make Quality Judgments with a Small Amount of Data in a Short Time
  • Experts Engage in Deliberate Practice:
    • They Make Predictions & Update Based on Results
  • A Team of Experts Requires
    • A Challenge Big Enough To Foster Collaboration
    • Goals -> Roles -> Process -> Relationships
    • Shared Situational Awareness

About SKMurphy

  • We Offer Customer Development Services
    • New Technology Introduction
    • Our Focus: Early Customers & Early Revenue
  • We Assist On Strategic Decisions
    • Niche Identification and Selection
    • Pricing
    • Negotiation Sequence and Framework

SKMurphy also offers the
Book Club For Business Impact

Thanks For Your Time


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