I’ve been thinking about this lately and distilled 4 ways to push your thinking and get more insightful.

Change your shoes

This is all about changing your perspective. Looking at things from the outside can be daunting and unfamiliar. One approach is to put yourself in other stakeholders’ shoes.

Imagine yourself as the customer, business partner, colleague, etc. Think about struggles and challenges they face and what motivates them. Now that you’re wearing their shoes… what do you want? What excites you? What makes you mad?

Getting inside others’ heads can uncover overlooked motivations and opportunities.

Find parallels to things you know

Relate new scenarios to similar scenarios you understand well!

Maybe you’re trying to think of loyalty programs for enterprise software… Think about the loyalty program at your local sandwitch place. What about it works? What doesn’t? What are other products and services you’re loyal to?

Though parallels may seem dubious at first, even distant relationships can lead to surprising insight.

Ask ‘how’ and ‘why’ to dig deep

Wearing ‘new shoes’ and drawing parallels leads to early insights. Dig deeper by asking why. Ask over and over until the root causes of successes and set backs become clear.

How and why are also keys to understanding deep connections. Everything is connected – figure out those connections by asking how things are connected, how the connection works, and how it could be changed.

Get super specific

It’s easy to get into the habit of thinking the abstract. This lets you speed through lots of ideas, but when you catch something exciting – stop to make it real. Think about specifics of the implementation, specific actions required, and the implications of those. Go further to the secondary and tertiary implications.

Getting “real” can open up new avenues of curiosity and will ultimately make your insights more powerful and actionable.

Hope this was useful – please chime in with other ways to boost insight!

Instapaper is a “read later” service that has changed my life. It allows you to easily capture content from multiple sources and store it in the cloud so you can consume it at your leisure.

Simply click, “read later” across Instapaper’s many incarnations and the service comes through the internet to capture text and images from an article. That content is now available to read whenever and wherever you have some free-time.

It’s a ubiquitous and beautiful reading experience that I never knew I needed.

• You’ll find new time in your day
• It goes where you go

Read on to find out more, and check it out at instapaper.com.

You’ll find new time in your day

Like I said… HOURS per week – and I’m smarter, more amused, better informed as a result.

On the subway I pop open my phone and read an article or two from McKinsey Quarterly, WSJ, or the Times on the way to work so I can say smart things to clients.

Standing in lines or on the way home is a great time to catch up on articles from twitter, friends blogs, or the latest angst from href=”http://thoughtcatalog.com/”>Though Catalog.

Waiting for friends is still a great time for facebook and texting, but once that’s done… Instapaper! When waiting on chronically late comrades, I get way ahead of my intellectual article quota and have something interesting to talk about.

It goes where you go

On my iPhone, on my Kindle, and in my browswer… Instapaper is there, which means I never miss an opportunity to capture content or read it.

On my iPhone/iPad I have the Instapaper app, which lets me capture content from twitter, tumblr, and email by sending it right to the app. A simple copy-paste allows the phone to capture links and save them for later. Also, since the iPhone is always in my pocket, I can always squeeze in a quick read. (I don’t actually have an iPad -yet- but I imagine this still holds true)

On my Kindle. Instapaper sends daily updates of your “read later” queue to your Kindle. These articles arrive as a ‘periodical’ so they are easy to navigate… This allows me to catch up on articles from all-over within Kindle’s delightful reading experience.

In my browswer. The plug-ins available for browsers allow you to capture content from any website (including Google Reader, twitter, news sites, etc.) with a simple click. You can also navigate to Instapaper.com to read articles you’ve captured. The simple interface is charmingly devoid of ads and on-screen distractions.

Competitors and other uses?

I realize that Instapaper isn’t the only app like this. ReadItLater, Spool, Reading List, etc. all offer similar functionality. Do y’all have ideas about which is better or why I should switch? How about other ways to use Instapaper? Leave it in the comments!

• Learn before you hack
• Make it pretty
• Document everything

These three hints apply to lots of life’s endeavors,
but let’s talk about how they apply to Excel.

Learn before you hack

Excel is built so anyone can use it. Work-arounds do exist, which makes it tempting to hack and kludge your way to inelegant solutions. Avoid this!

Learn keyboard shortcuts. My Tao of shortcuts applies here, too. Invest in getting lightning-fast with keyboard shortcuts. Yes, you can point and click, but in the end all that clicking will take hours out of your life! (also on that note… go ahead and stop hiding from Excel 2007!)

Learn pivot tables. Pivot tables are the most valuable tool in Excel. If you can’t use them, you’re missing out. I won’t explain them in this post because many others already have, but learn them one way or another. Pivot tables let you perform cuts, filters, and sums on huge amounts of data with speed and grace. It’s the best way to get familiar with a dataset and do many analyses.

Learn functions. You know it’s time to learn a new function when you find yourself struggling to link lots of “if” statements together or manually re-typing data to get the format right. A function probably exits to solve your exact problem. Use Google, built-in help, or your friends to find the answer, but DO NOT do things the slow, hacky way. The elegant solution will solve the problem better and save you hours down the road when you have to do the same thing again!

Make it pretty

Spending time on the aesthetics has several benefits. Pretty Excel models inspire confidence in clients and coworkers and are easier to use and build.

Understand the ins and outs. Take time to identify key inputs and outputs. Ensure these are easy to find when you lay out the model. Next, list other inputs and outputs and sketch a plan for linking the two before starting. A planned model looks cleaner than an haphazard one and is easier to build!

Organize your tabs. Keep inputs, outputs, and data on separate tabs to help people find what they’re looking for. Also try organizing tabs into groups and color-coding them to reinforce the structure.

Use consistent colors. Settle on a single, non-hideous color scheme. This makes models easy to read and nice to look at! Plan the colors you’ll use in advance and stick to your plan.

Document everything

An elegant, beautiful model is no good if people can’t use it. Plus, you’ll never know your model as well as the day you build it. For those reasons, document! Your boss will think you’re a superhero, and you’ll significantly reduce the number of emails asking for explanations!

Summarize and give instruction. There should be two tabs at the beginning of any Excel model. One summarizes what it’s for, why it was built, when, and by whom. The other gives instructions on key inputs and outputs, what users can change, and what they should leave alone.

Record your assumptions. Let me say that again… Record your assumptions! It’s a shame this is last on the list because it’s the most important. If you make an assumption, DOCUMENT IT. Every sheet with calculations or inputs should have an “assumptions” column. Total stranger should be able to explain your model… This helps catch mistakes, gets your thinking crystal clear, and gives you bulletproof answers to the age-old question “what’s happening in this cell?”

Epilogue

If you commit to making elegant, beautiful, well-document models, you’ll be ahead of most… Of course, there are countless other best practices I didn’t mention. What are yours?

I came home from a weekend trip to Atlanta to find my apartment swarming with fruit flies. Luckily, I’ve done battle with these little bastards before… (I keep fresh fruit and don’t spend much time at home) By the next morning all the fruit flies were gone. Here’s how I did it.

1. Build the trap
2. Hide the prize

1. Build the trap

The trap alone is SUPER effective at eliminating flies (the trap pictured above had been on my counter for about an hour – those are flies inside).

You’ll need:

• red wine and/or apple-cider vinegar
• a tall glass
• paper
• tape

Pour about 1/2 an inch of bait into the glass. I find 50% apple cider vinegar 50% red wine works the best, but flies will go for either one alone, too. Next, roll a sheet of paper into a funnel with a hole slightly larger than a fruit fly and use tape to secure it. Finally, put the funnel into the glass pointy-side-down and use tape to ensure a tight seal around the rim of the glass.

The top of the funnel should be an inch or two from the liquid in the bottom of the glass. The flies smell the bait, fly in through the funnel and can’t find their way out… stupid flies!

I release the flies outside if they opt for the trap; otherwise I clap them to death with great relish… A first in this particular battle was when killed 2 flies with 1 clap! I rule!

2. Hide the prize

While it’s nice to have bananas, avocados, and kiwis out to ripen you have to make sacrifices in war…

Take out the trash, wipe down counters and the stove/range to remove any crumbs or oil remnants, and put all the fruit in the fridge overnight – cold kills any eggs and hiding other food drives flies toward the trap.

Finally, pour a little bleach to make key areas especially inhospitable:

• In sink drains
• In toilet bowls
• In bottoms of trash cans

Epilogue

Getting rid of other food and setting up “the trap” should leave you fruit-fly-free in 6-12 hours. I use this trick a few times every year!

A proactive habit I get into in the summer is having a “peels” trash bag and a “trash” trash bag. The “peels” go out every morning while “trash” goes out when it’s full… this helps keep the fruit flies from coming back.

Charts are better than nothing, but you really want to have the numbers in Excel or Matlab so you can do analysis and get big insights (or at least make a nicer-looking chart).

The answer is Plot Digitizer

Below is a short tutorial on using this tool to go from chart to data faster and more accurately than simply “eye-balling” it.

Using Plot Digitizer

Step 1. Download Plot Digitizer. Then unzip the files to someplace safe (e.g., Program Files, Applications, etc.).

Step 2. Get the chart. Save a .png file of the graph you’d like to digitize (.png files work best because they use loss-less compression and Plot Digitizer can read them). A screenshot is usually the easiest way to grab the chart. (simple tutorial on screenshots). Also, remember to zoom in before taking the screenshot so it’s nice and big.

Step 3. Start up. Run PlotDigitzer (just double-click the .exe) and open the .png image.

Step 4. Calibrate the axes. You’ll jump right into calibration when you open the image. The cursor becomes a cross-hairs, and instructions appear at the bottom of the screen. Start by clicking the far left side of the x axis, and entering the value when prompted. Remember to click where the data is defined (e.g., click in the center of first bar in the example below).

Continue calibrating by clicking the far-right end of the x axis, both extremes of the y axis, and labeling both axes.

Step 5. Digitize. Click on each datapoint in the chart that you’d like to capture. You can do this multiple times if the chart has multiple data series (e.g., in a multi-line line chart or a bar chart with split bars). Try to click as close as possible to the true spot on the chart. If you miss a point you can always undo clicks with the button at the top.

When you finish, click “Done” at the far right of the second toolbar.

Step 6. Export the data. Either select the cells in the output windows and paste the data into Excel, or go to “File->Save As” to save a .csv file.

Use that data

And there you have it! You now have (almost) the exact data used to generate the chart. If you’ve got any other tricks to extract data from onerous sources, let us know in the comments!

Shortcuts, macros, and toolbars all speed up the brainless parts of slide-making. Here’s the 5 that everyone should know and use… They’ll get you 80% of the way there with minimal effort. If you want more, just ask. I’ve got a million of these!

The Tao of keyboard shortucts

Before I tell you my secrets, I want to to appreciate them! Here is the basic philosophy for getting the most out of shortcuts:

They don’t work if you don’t use them – learning them without using them is a waste!
Learning them is an investment – and it pays huge dividends in time saved later on.
Don’t touch your mouse – think as it of a game, practice makes you faster.

Bonus: on-lookers will be impressed and terrified by your skills, and you’ll and save your wrists by becoming a key-ninja (mixed metaphor with the whole Tao thing, I know)

Your 6 shortcuts for speeding up Powerpoint

Even if you already know these shortcuts… remember the Tao. You’re probably not using them enough! Make an effort to use these instead of your mouse.

1. CTRL+enter selects the slide title of a page, and inserts a new page if you press it again (or if the title was already selected) – you can use this to quickly make a ‘storyline’ deck with only the titles filled in – I know you consultants hear me!

2. F2 toggles between “edit object” and “edit text” – use it to edit the words in text boxes rather than trying to click on the text itself.

3. ALT+arrow keys changes the focus between selected objects – first make sure the “object” is selected, not the text-box (use F2), then use ALT-arrow to change the focus to another object on the page. Use CTRL+enter (above) to select the title if nothing on the page is selected yet.

4. CTRL+arrow keys changes order and indent-level of bulleted text in text boxes. Very handy when you’re deciding on the relative importance and nesting of all the brilliant points you just thought of.

5. CTRL+shift+’=’ makes selected text superscript – very useful for adding footnotes^†.

6. Between CTRL and ALT on your right hand is probably a “right click” button. This can speed up lots of menus including the one that gives you corrections for misspelled words.

Bonus tips

Always have “snap to grid” on. The first thing I do when I open a document is press ALT, V, I to open the “Grid and Guides” dialog followed by “ALT+G” to turn snap on. This makes ‘nudging’ objects with the arrow keys much faster. If you need the added control of a micro-nudge, use CTRL+arrow.

Use CTRL/SHIFT+click & drag to copy and move objects. Holding CTRL while you click & drag copies an object. Holding SHIFT restricts you to move the object in straight lines. You can use them together!

Ask me about the BA toolbar. If you’re a McKinsey-ite I can send you a toolbar that’ll change your life. For those non-McK’s out there… sorry, we gotta keep the competitive advantage ; )

What shortcuts did I leave out?

† I love footnotes

Instead, I brought the gym into my apartment and re-vamped my workout so that I can take it anywhere. I’ll outline a workout strategy to get a kickass workout in 15 minutes with or without gear.

Basically: Use your whole body, work where you sleep, and do it hard.

The strategy

If you’re too busy or lazy (in my case both) do dedicate more than 15 minutes to a workout, then it had better be legit. This is what works for me.

Use your whole body. Exercies that engage your whole body improve coordination, build functional strength, and get your workout done faster. Many whole-body exercises can be done anywhere with no equipment – pushups, pullups, situps, and sprints to name a few. (more on exercises below)

Do it hard. The Tabata protocol (named after a Japanese scientist) says:

• Work like crazy for 20 sec.
• Take a 10 sec. break.
• Do that 8 times.

One cycle takes 4 min. I was skeptical at first, but I’ve never been so sore from a 4 min. workout! Tabata is also nicely timed to do 3 or 4 workouts in 15 min., and most exercises work great with Tabata timing. The trick is to really push during those 20 sec. bursts!

I use an iPhone app to keep time. There are also websites and timers. Having something to keep time is important – if you do it yourself you’ll either mess up or cheat!

Do it where you sleep. I find it easiest to do a workout first-thing when I wake up. It keeps me from making excuses later in the day, and I’m always pretty alert after my first 20 pushups! Working out in my room also saves me the time of putting on shorts and treking to a gym. (…don’t think about me working out naked.)

The gear

I bought some gear when I decided work out exclusively in my apartment, and I’ve got a few tricks for improvising on the road. It’s surprising how little you need, and the whole thing cost me less than 1 months gym membership!

Pullup bar. The kind that hangs in a door-frame. It’s got 3 grips for 5 kinds of exercise. I use it all the time – even when I’m not “working out” I still bust out a couple of pullups whenever I pass the bar!

Kettle bells. These are old-school Russian body-building weights that are starting to make a comeback into the mainstream. They are big iron balls with a handle on top (they look a bit like tea kettles). They are good for several whole-body exercises (below) that will wear you the hell out! I started out with 30 and 45 pound bells and may buy a 60 pound-er soon.

That’s it for “real” equipment… but, what about travel?

Luggage/furniture. Suitcases, laptop bags, chairs, and ottomans make great workout equipment in a hotel room. I can be found hoisting a well-packed rollerboard, ThinkPad, or hotel ottoman at 7am in hotels across the world!

The exercises

I do a variety of exercises with no real rhyme or reason. (If someone has a scientific way to choose exercises, let me know… bonus if it rhymes!)

Many of these exercises are also staples of CrossFit or P90X… my approach is just a lot less structured. I try to keep lots of variety and make sure every muscle group gets worked at least once per week.

Exercises you know are a big part of my workout. They’re famous because they’re great!

• Running (focus on sprints)
• Pushups (try different hand-positions)
• Rows (from a desk, chair or stool)
• Pullups (again, hand positions)
• Crunches (bicycle crunches kill)
• Lunges/squats (hoist that luggage!)

Exercises you may not know but that I do all the time include:

• Kettlebell swings
• Kettlebell clean & jerk
• (Normal and upright rows)
• French press
• Tuck jumps
• Cat pukes and myotic crunches

Exercises that I don’t know… I’d like to know them. Please share your favorites!

]]> http://www.shawnlankton.com/2011/03/homemade-muscles/feed/ 3 http://www.shawnlankton.com/2011/03/homemade-muscles/ http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ShawnLankton/~3/4KGXFU5DSIA/ http://www.shawnlankton.com/2011/02/become-a-super-packer/#comments Sun, 20 Feb 2011 18:04:38 +0000 Shawn Lankton http://www.shawnlankton.com/?p=957 Being a consultant is not like being James Bond… but I pretend it is! When I find out I’ve got two hours to make the red-eye to Bucharest, I order another beer before I head out – I know packing will take 10 minutes, tops.

These are a few tips, tricks, and time-savers that I’ve learned that have made packing an afterthought instead of a project…

What to buy

If you’re going to do this, you may as well do it right. Pick up a few essentials and invest some time up-front.

Start with a sturdy rolling carry-on. Bags are like shoes – If you go all cheap, you’ll regret it later. Some features you want to look for: big wheels and a tall handle. The little bitty casters are handy, but they break fast. As for the tall handle, nothing is worse than catching your ankle while you run for a plane.

I recently bought a Victorinox NXT and I love it. Aparently, it’s also elephant proof.

Consider buying flat workout shoes. I talked about Vibram five fingers in an earlier post. I work out in these while I’m on the road. Running in them feels amazing, and not having to pack normal (gigantic) running shoes saves a ton of space.

Double up on stuff you always take. There is some stuff you take every time you travel (toiletries, workout gear, chargers). Leaving it in your suitcase ensures you don’t forget anything and saves the time normally spent hunting for all of it each time you pack.

Pick up these other essentials as well: earplugs and an eye mask (sleep is too valuable to risk), nail clippers (useful for nails and great as a multi-purpose tool), and a sewing kit (wardrobe malfunctions happen).

What to do

Make a packing list and stick to it. It’s a short time investment up-front but saves a lot of headache down the road. If I try to pack all hap-hazard, I bring too much AND forget something! Here’s my go-to list for a business trip.

Learn to fold properly. I could do a whole post on folding (and I might), but here’s the short version: Fold suit jackets like this. Lay t-shirts on top of dress-shirts and pants before you fold them to reduce creasing. When you get to your hotel, hang everything up in the bathroom and run a VERY hot shower. Done.

Ignore security precautions. Unless you have a LOT of liquids in your carry-on, they don’t stop you if you just leave it in your bag. One less thing to worry about.

Share your tips. I know lots of you reading this are pretty jet-set yourselves. Let’s hear your tips in the comments!

]]> http://www.shawnlankton.com/2011/02/become-a-super-packer/feed/ 1 http://www.shawnlankton.com/2011/02/become-a-super-packer/ http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ShawnLankton/~3/rXkeMdEC6ow/ http://www.shawnlankton.com/2011/02/question-data-action/#comments Mon, 14 Feb 2011 02:13:10 +0000 Shawn Lankton http://www.shawnlankton.com/?p=932 As I’ve transformed into a consultant over the last year I’ve started structuring everything… The trick always finding the right structure. Here’s a great one!

I recently worked with a colleague who uses a work-planning structure that breaks big, wide-open questions into actionable next-steps. The Question-Data-Action framework is thorough, thought provoking, and easy to communicate with 4 simple steps:


1. Define key questions
2. Refine to sub-questions
3. Determine what data is needed
4. Identify actions to get the data

Each step gets you closer to an actionable workplan that will make your life easier and help you communicate timing and deliverables with clients and colleagues.

The 4 steps

1. Defining key questions is the first step of any pursuit. These should be the questions that sum up what are you trying to learn or accomplish. They may come from a manager or client, but ultimately defining and agreeing on a written set of key questions ensures everyone is aligned and prevents scope-creep as the project gets under-way.

2. Refining to sub-questions may or may not be necessary depending on the complexity of your key questions. Create sub questions by asking what you would need to know to answer each key question. Iterate until you’re at a set of answerable sub- (or sub-sub-) questions. You end with a tree of increasingly-specific questions. Check the tree by working your way back up. Make up answers to each question and think, “if I had the answer to each of these sub-questions, could I answer the question above?” If not, revise your questions or add new ones!

3. Determining data/analyses needed to answer each question will depend on your resources (i.e., what data/analyses will be easy), your level of rigor (i.e., how thorough do you need to be?), and your judgement (i.e., what will really help you answer the question?). Again check the needs by asking, “If I had this data (or completed this analysis), would I be able to answer the question?”

4. Identifying actions to get the data or do the analysis is the critical last-step that gives you an actionable work-plan. For each necessary piece of data or analysis, think about next steps to get it or create it. This could mean conducting primary research and analysis, searching online, tapping friends/clients/colleagues, or a host of other techniques to get your hands on what you need! Take the time here to think how long getting each piece will take.

Tips on communication

Building a workplan with this structure eases communication with your managers, direct reports, and clients because each engages at a different level.

Everyone involved in the project will benefit from the clearly defined objectives and scope that result from articulating and agreeing on key questions.

Managers and clients can engage on key-questions and sub-questions to feel confident that the team is bringing a valuable answer with an approach that makes sense. The presence of actionable next-steps and a hierarchy of questions gives the ability to predict timelines with more accuracy.

Direct reports can engage on sub-questions, data, and next steps. Sub-questions inform work-streams and facilitate delegation of work. Direct reports can then create a first-draft of the data/analysis needs and next-steps. As a manager, you can then suggest improvements and ensure the level of rigor matches available resources.

Examples

Here is a quick example answering the key question, “Where should my friends and I go to dinner?”


How will you use this? Have you had success with it, or can you suggest improvements? Put it in the comments!

]]> http://www.shawnlankton.com/2011/02/question-data-action/feed/ 1 http://www.shawnlankton.com/2011/02/question-data-action/ http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ShawnLankton/~3/mg2zXudLozQ/ http://www.shawnlankton.com/2009/08/getting-a-consulting-job-0/#comments Sat, 01 Aug 2009 12:03:14 +0000 Shawn Lankton http://www.shawnlankton.com/?p=755 In this three-part series I’ll give you a how-to for getting an interview, preparing for it, and dazzling the interviewers once you’re across the table. These are the main topics we’ll cover:
• Part 1: Branding Yourself and Making Making a “Wow” Resume
• Part 2: Preparing for Your Case Interview to Get Bulletproof
• Part 3: Talking about Your Experience and Sounding like a Bad-ass

Leaving academia and joining consulting firms is a something many PhD students (myself included) are getting interested in. Firms like McKinsey & Company, Boston Consulting Group (BCG), and Bain & Associates once hired mostly MBAs but are now branching out to hire MDs, lawyers, and PhDs.

I wanted to make a big impact with the skill I learned during my PhD. I got excited when I heard about consulting because it promises just that. In the next three parts, I’ll take you through the big lessons I learned while preparing and interviewing: How to get an interview, how to nail the case, and how to dazzle them with your experience.

Part 1: Branding Yourself and Making Making a “Wow” Resume gives you pointers to polish that scruffy science look off your C.V. and generally control your “personal brand” so that interviewers are impressed with you long before you walk in the door.

Part 2: Preparing for Your Case Interview to Get Bulletproof talks about how to approach the case and how to practice so that you can shine while others look dull. I’ll give you some simple exercises that will improve the structure and creativity of the “case” portion of your interview.

Part 3: Talking about Your Experience and Sounding like a Bad-ass covers an important and often overlooked portion of a consulting interview… talking about yourself! I know you have some amazing stories to tell. This sections shows how to make your stories say the right things about you.

Please enjoy!

Disclaimer: I recently went through the application and interview process with a top firm, came out with an offer, and signed it! In this series, I share my experience and give some ideas for people on a similar path. However, at the time of writing (July 2009), I do not have any inside information on how any company conducts their hiring. These are just my thoughts!

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