Purpose of Assignment
For this assignment, you will write an executive summary of either Part 3 or Part 5 of the Duarte textbook. You choose whether you want to summarize Part 3 or Part 5. You will synthesize the main points of what you read. Assume the audience is a class member who needs to understand the purpose and main points of that Part of the text.
The purpose of this assignment is to:
Using information delivered in class and shared materials (on Canvas):
Format:
Your Executive Summary should contain the following section headers:
You may refresh your memory with what an Executive Summary is:
http://www.umuc.edu/current-students/learning-resources/writing-center/writing-resources/executive-summaries/index.cfm (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.
and http://polaris.umuc.edu/ewc/web/exec_summary.html. You may review some “good” vs. “poor” examples of Executive Summaries here:
https://unilearning.uow.edu.au/report/4bi1.html (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.
You are required to use the standard executive summary format, which can be found on in the links shared above.
Section 3
Story
[Stories] are the currency of human contact.
—Robert McKee,
author of Story: Substance, Structure, Style, and the
Principles of Screenwriting
H5981.indb 61H5981.indb 61 7/16/12 9:05 AM7/16/12 9:05 AMDo
N
ot
Co
py
or
P
os
t
This document is authorized for educator review use only by Lisa Victoravich, University of Denver until October 2017. Copying or
posting is an infringement of copyright. Permissions@hbsp.harvard.edu or 617.783.7860
H5981.indb 62H5981.indb 62 7/16/12 9:05 AM7/16/12 9:05 AMDo
N
ot
Co
py
or
P
os
t
This document is authorized for educator review use only by Lisa Victoravich, University of Denver until October 2017. Copying or
posting is an infringement of copyright. Permissions@hbsp.harvard.edu or 617.783.7860
6363
Apply Storytelling
Principles
Stories have the power to win customers, align col-
leagues, and motivate employees. They’re the most com-
pelling platform we have for managing imaginations.
Those who master this art form can gain great infl uence
and an enduring legacy.
If you use stories in your presentation, the audience
can recall what they’ve learned from you and even spread
the word. Just as the plot of a compelling play, movie, or
novel makes a writer’s themes more vivid and memora-
ble, well-crafted stories can give your message real stay-
ing power, for two key reasons:
• Stories feature transformation: When people hear
a story, they root for the protagonist as she over-
comes obstacles and emerges changed in some
important way (perhaps a new outlook helps her
complete a diffi cult physical journey). It’s doubly
powerful to incorporate stories that demonstrate
how others have adopted the same beliefs and
H5981.indb 63H5981.indb 63 7/16/12 9:05 AM7/16/12 9:05 AMDo
N
ot
Co
py
or
P
os
t
This document is authorized for educator review use only by Lisa Victoravich, University of Denver until October 2017. Copying or
posting is an infringement of copyright. Permissions@hbsp.harvard.edu or 617.783.7860
Story
64
behaviors you’re proposing—that is, show others
going through a similar transformation that your
audience will go through. This will help you get
people to cross over from their everyday world into
the world of your ideas—and come back to their
world transformed, with new insights and tools
from your
presentation.
• Stories have a clear structure: All effective stories
adhere to the same basic three-part structure that
Aristotle pointed out ages ago: They have a begin-
ning, a middle, and an end. It makes them easy
to digest and retell—and it’s how audiences have
been conditioned for centuries to receive informa-
tion. Make sure your presentation—and any story
you tell within it—has all three parts, with clear
transitions between them.
In this section of the guide, you’ll learn how to use
storytelling principles to structure your presentation and
incorporate anecdotes that add emotional appeal.
H5981.indb 64H5981.indb 64 7/16/12 9:05 AM7/16/12 9:05 AMDo
N
ot
Co
py
or
P
os
t
This document is authorized for educator review use only by Lisa Victoravich, University of Denver until October 2017. Copying or
posting is an infringement of copyright. Permissions@hbsp.harvard.edu or 617.783.7860
6565
Create a Solid
Structure
All good presentations—like all good stories—convey
and resolve some kind of confl ict or imbalance. The sense
of discord is what makes audiences care enough to get on
board.
After gleaning story insights from fi lms and books,
studying hundreds of speeches, and spending 22 years
creating customized presentations for companies and
thought leaders, I’ve found that the most persuasive
communicators create confl ict by juxtaposing what is
with what could be. That is, they alternately build tension
and provide release by toggling back and forth between
the status quo and a better way—fi nally arriving at the
“new bliss” people will discover by adopting the proposed
beliefs and behaviors. That confl ict resolution plays
out within the basic beginning-middle-end storytelling
structure we all know and love (fi gure 3-1).
The tips in this section will help you weave confl ict
and resolution throughout the beginning, middle, and
end of your presentation.
H5981.indb 65H5981.indb 65 7/16/12 9:05 AM7/16/12 9:05 AMDo
N
ot
Co
py
or
P
os
t
This document is authorized for educator review use only by Lisa Victoravich, University of Denver until October 2017. Copying or
posting is an infringement of copyright. Permissions@hbsp.harvard.edu or 617.783.7860
Story
66
What
could be
What
could be
What
could be
New bliss
Call to
action
What is What is What is
What is
BEGINNING MIDDLE END
FIGURE 3-1
Persuasive story pattern
H5981.indb 66H5981.indb 66 7/16/12 9:05 AM7/16/12 9:05 AMDo
N
ot
Co
py
or
P
os
t
This document is authorized for educator review use only by Lisa Victoravich, University of Denver until October 2017. Copying or
posting is an infringement of copyright. Permissions@hbsp.harvard.edu or 617.783.7860
6767
Begin by describing life as the audience knows it. People
should be nodding their heads in recognition because
you’re articulating what they already understand. This
creates a bond between you and them and opens them
up to hear your ideas for
change.
After you set that baseline of what is, introduce your
ideas of what could be. The gap between the two will
throw the audience a bit off balance, and that’s a good
thing—because it creates tension that needs to be re-
solved (fi gure 3-2).
The
gap
What is
What
could be
Contrast the
commonplace
with the lofty.
FIGURE 3-2
Create dramatic tension
H5981.indb 67H5981.indb 67 7/16/12 9:05 AM7/16/12 9:05 AMDo
N
ot
Co
py
or
P
os
t
This document is authorized for educator review use only by Lisa Victoravich, University of Denver until October 2017. Copying or
posting is an infringement of copyright. Permissions@hbsp.harvard.edu or 617.783.7860
Story
68
If you proposed what could be without fi rst establish-
ing what is, you’d fail to connect with the audience before
swooping in with your ideas, and your message would
lose momentum.
The gap shouldn’t feel contrived—you wouldn’t say
“Okay, I’ve described what is. Now let’s move to what
could be.” Present it naturally so people will feel moved,
not manipulated. For instance:
What is: We’re fell short of our Q3 fi nancial goals
partly because we’re understaffed and everyone’s
spread too thin.
What could be: But what if we could solve the worst
of our problems by bringing in a couple of power-
house clients? Well, we can.
Here’s another example:
What is: Analysts have been placing our products at
the top of three out of fi ve categories. One competi-
tor just shook up the industry with the launch of its
T3xR—heralded as the most innovative product in
our space. Analysts predict that fi rms like ours will
have no future unless we license this technology from
our rival.
What could be: But we will not concede! In fact, we
will retain our lead. I’m pleased to tell you that fi ve
years ago we had the same product idea, but after
rapid prototyping we discovered a way to leapfrog
that generation of technology. So today, we’re launch-
H5981.indb 68H5981.indb 68 7/16/12 9:05 AM7/16/12 9:05 AMDo
N
ot
Co
py
or
P
os
t
This document is authorized for educator review use only by Lisa Victoravich, University of Denver until October 2017. Copying or
posting is an infringement of copyright. Permissions@hbsp.harvard.edu or 617.783.7860
Craft the Beginning
69
ing a product so revolutionary that we’ll gain a ten-
year lead in our industry.
Once you establish the gap between what is and
what could be, use the remainder of the presentation to
bridge it.
H5981.indb 69H5981.indb 69 7/16/12 9:05 AM7/16/12 9:05 AMDo
N
ot
Co
py
or
P
os
t
This document is authorized for educator review use only by Lisa Victoravich, University of Denver until October 2017. Copying or
posting is an infringement of copyright. Permissions@hbsp.harvard.edu or 617.783.7860
H5981.indb 70H5981.indb 70 7/16/12 9:05 AM7/16/12 9:05 AMDo
N
ot
Co
py
or
P
os
t
This document is authorized for educator review use only by Lisa Victoravich, University of Denver until October 2017. Copying or
posting is an infringement of copyright. Permissions@hbsp.harvard.edu or 617.783.7860
7171
Develop the
Middle
The middle is, in many ways, the most compelling part of
your presentation, because that’s where most of the “ac-
tion” takes place.
People in your audience now realize their world is
off-kilter—you’ve brought that to their attention and at
least hinted at a solution at the beginning of your presen-
tation. Now continue to emphasize the contrast between
what is and what could be, moving back and forth be-
tween them, and the audience will start to fi nd the for-
mer unappealing and the latter alluring.
Let’s go back to that Q3 fi nancial update example
from “Craft the Beginning.” Revenues are down, but you
want to motivate employees to make up for it. Table 3-1
shows one way you could approach the middle of your
presentation.
Earlier, you brainstormed around pairs of contrasting
themes (see “Amplify Your Message Through Contrast”
in the Message section). Try using one of those pairs—for
instance, sacrifi ce versus reward—to drum up material to
fl esh out this structure.
H5981.indb 71H5981.indb 71 7/16/12 9:05 AM7/16/12 9:05 AMDo
N
ot
Co
py
or
P
os
t
This document is authorized for educator review use only by Lisa Victoravich, University of Denver until October 2017. Copying or
posting is an infringement of copyright. Permissions@hbsp.harvard.edu or 617.783.7860
Story
72
TABLE 3-1
Creating “action” in the middle of your story
What is What could be
We missed our Q3 forecast by 15%. Q4 numbers must be strong for us
to pay out bonuses.
We have six new clients on our roster. Two of them have the potential to
bring in more revenue than our best
clients do now.
The new clients will require extensive
retooling in manufacturing.
We’ll be bringing in experts from
Germany to help.
H5981.indb 72H5981.indb 72 7/16/12 9:05 AM7/16/12 9:05 AMDo
N
ot
Co
py
or
P
os
t
This document is authorized for educator review use only by Lisa Victoravich, University of Denver until October 2017. Copying or
posting is an infringement of copyright. Permissions@hbsp.harvard.edu or 617.783.7860
7373
Make the Ending
Powerful
Your ending should leave people with a heightened sense
of what could be—and willingness to believe or do some-
thing new. Here’s where you describe how blissful their
world will be when they adopt your ideas.
Let’s return to our Q3 example from “Craft the Begin-
ning” and “Develop the Middle” in this section. You might
wrap up your presentation along the lines of fi gure 3-3.
New bliss
It will take extra work from
all departments to make Q4
numbers, but we can deliver
products to our important
new clients on time and
with no errors.
I know everyone’s running on
fumes—but hang in there. This
is our chance to pull together
like a championship team, and
things will get easier if we make
this work. The reward if we meet
our Q4 targets? Bonuses, plus
days off at the end of the year.
Call to action
FIGURE 3-3
Making the ending powerful
H5981.indb 73H5981.indb 73 7/16/12 9:05 AM7/16/12 9:05 AMDo
N
ot
Co
py
or
P
os
t
This document is authorized for educator review use only by Lisa Victoravich, University of Denver until October 2017. Copying or
posting is an infringement of copyright. Permissions@hbsp.harvard.edu or 617.783.7860
Story
74
Many presentations simply end with a list of action
items, but that isn’t exactly inspiring. You want the last
thing you say to move your audience to tackle those
items. You want people to feel ready to right the wrong,
to conquer the problem.
By skillfully defi ning future rewards, you compel peo-
ple to get on board with your ideas. Show them that tak-
ing action will be worth their effort. Highlight:
• Benefi ts to them: What needs of theirs will your
ideas meet? What freedoms will the audience
gain? How will your ideas give the audience
greater infl uence or status?
• Benefi ts to their “sphere”: How will your ideas
help the audience’s peers, direct reports, custom-
ers, students, or friends?
• Benefi ts to the world: How will your ideas help the
masses? How will they improve public health, for
instance, or help the environment?
In the example above, we’ve called out a key benefi t
to the organization (making up for Q3 revenue short-
fall), plus three benefi ts to employees (bonuses, time off,
and—probably most important—the promise of a saner
workload).
H5981.indb 74H5981.indb 74 7/16/12 9:05 AM7/16/12 9:05 AMDo
N
ot
Co
py
or
P
os
t
This document is authorized for educator review use only by Lisa Victoravich, University of Denver until October 2017. Copying or
posting is an infringement of copyright. Permissions@hbsp.harvard.edu or 617.783.7860
7575
Add Emotional
Texture
Now step back and review all your content so far. Do you
have the right mix of analysis and emotion? (See “Bal-
ance Analytical and Emotional Appeal” in the Message
section.) If you need more emotional impact, you can add
it with storytelling.
A message matters to people when it hits them in the
gut. Visceral response, not pure analysis, is what will
push your audience away from the status quo and toward
your perspective. Stories elicit that kind of response.
When we hear stories, our eyes dilate, our hearts race, we
feel chills. We laugh, clap, lean forward or back. These re-
actions are mostly involuntary, because they’re grounded
in emotion.
While you’re describing what is, tell a story that makes
people shudder, or guffaw at the ridiculousness of their
situation, or feel disappointment. While you’re describ-
ing what could be, tell a story that strikes a little awe or
fear into their hearts—something that inspires them to
change.
H5981.indb 75H5981.indb 75 7/16/12 9:05 AM7/16/12 9:05 AMDo
N
ot
Co
py
or
P
os
t
This document is authorized for educator review use only by Lisa Victoravich, University of Denver until October 2017. Copying or
posting is an infringement of copyright. Permissions@hbsp.harvard.edu or 617.783.7860
Story
76
Table 3-2 shows a template (with an example plugged
in) that can help you transform supporting information
into a story with emotional impact.
You may be thinking that people don’t go to work to
feel; they go to get stuff done. But by making them feel,
you move them to action—and help them get stuff done.
It’s not about issuing a gushing, weepy plea. It’s about
TABLE 3-2
Making an emotional impact with data
Point you want to make Every cross-divisional function could benefi t
from a steering committee.
Story about organizational change
Beginning When, who,
where
A few years ago, the sales
team tackled a cross-
divisional problem with
the help of a steering
committee.
Middle Context At the time, all sales groups
were independent.
Confl ict This means we were
confusing customers
with many diff erent rules,
processes, and formats.
Proposed
resolution
So we decided to create a
sales steering committee.
Complication You can imagine how hard it
was to reach agreement on
anything.
End Actual
resolution
But we agreed to meet every
two weeks to fi nd common
ground. Over the next year,
we standardized all our
processes and learned a
lot from each other. The
customers became much
happier with our service.
Source: Glenn Hughes, SMART as Hell.
H5981.indb 76H5981.indb 76 7/16/12 9:05 AM7/16/12 9:05 AMDo
N
ot
Co
py
or
P
os
t
This document is authorized for educator review use only by Lisa Victoravich, University of Denver until October 2017. Copying or
posting is an infringement of copyright. Permissions@hbsp.harvard.edu or 617.783.7860
77
adding emotional texture to the logical case you’ve built
with data, case studies, and other supporting evidence.
Personal stories told with conviction are the most ef-
fective ones in your arsenal. You can repeat stories you’ve
heard, but audiences feel more affection for presenters
who reveal their own challenges and vulnerability.
Use relevant stories that are appropriately dramatic,
or you may come across as manipulative or out of touch
with reality. When giving an update at a small staff meet-
ing on a project you’re leading, you wouldn’t tell a melo-
dramatic story about the “just-in-time delivery” of mul-
tiple vendors you managed at your daughter’s wedding.
It would waste everyone’s time.
But one U.S. government offi cial did effectively tell a
story about his daughter’s wedding—to get new remote-
communication technology adopted in his organization.
Many of his relatives couldn’t travel to the wedding, so he
used a commercial version of the technology to push the
wedding pictures quickly to the remote family members,
helping all feel more included in the event. He argued
that adopting the enterprise version of this technology
would similarly include distant employees in the devel-
opment of important agency initiatives. The senior ex-
ecutives not only understood this with their minds but
felt it in their hearts. They could relate this story about
a father doing his best to serve his family to their agency
doing its best to serve the citizenry.
Take out a notepad and start cataloging personal
stories and the emotions they summon. This exercise
takes time, but it will yield material you can draw on
again and again. Do your fi rst pass when you have an
H5981.indb 77H5981.indb 77 7/16/12 9:05 AM7/16/12 9:05 AMDo
N
ot
Co
py
or
P
os
t
This document is authorized for educator review use only by Lisa Victoravich, University of Denver until October 2017. Copying or
posting is an infringement of copyright. Permissions@hbsp.harvard.edu or 617.783.7860
Story
78
Inventory of Personal Stories
□ Important times in your life: Childhood, adoles-
cence, young adulthood, later years
□ Relatives: Parents, grandparents, siblings, chil-
dren, in-laws
□ Authority fi gures: Teachers, bosses, coaches, men-
tors, leaders, political fi gures, other infl uencers
□ Peers: Colleagues, social networks, club members,
friends, neighbors, teammates
□ Subordinates: Employees, mentees, trainees,
interns, volunteers, students
□ Enemies: Competitors, bullies, people with chal-
lenging personalities, people you’ve been hurt by,
people you’ve hurt
□ Important places: Offi ces, homes, schools, places
of worship, local hangouts, camps, vacation spots,
foreign lands
□ Things you cherish: Gifts, photos, certifi cates/
awards, keepsakes
□ Things that have injured you: Sharp objects, ani-
mal bites, spoiled food, allergens
uninterrupted hour or so to refl ect. You can use the
checklist that follows to trigger your memory. As you
recall past events, jot down how you felt when you ex-
perienced them.
H5981.indb 78H5981.indb 78 7/16/12 9:05 AM7/16/12 9:05 AMDo
N
ot
Co
py
or
P
os
t
This document is authorized for educator review use only by Lisa Victoravich, University of Denver until October 2017. Copying or
posting is an infringement of copyright. Permissions@hbsp.harvard.edu or 617.783.7860
Add Emotional Texture
79
Spending time with each item on this list, you’ll un-
earth many stories you’ve forgotten. Even after you’ve se-
lected stories for whatever presentation you’re currently
working on, save your notes and continue adding to them
here and there, as you fi nd time. They’ll come in handy
when you’re creating future presentations.
H5981.indb 79H5981.indb 79 7/16/12 9:05 AM7/16/12 9:05 AMDo
N
ot
Co
py
or
P
os
t
This document is authorized for educator review use only by Lisa Victoravich, University of Denver until October 2017. Copying or
posting is an infringement of copyright. Permissions@hbsp.harvard.edu or 617.783.7860
H5981.indb 80H5981.indb 80 7/16/12 9:05 AM7/16/12 9:05 AMDo
N
ot
Co
py
or
P
os
t
This document is authorized for educator review use only by Lisa Victoravich, University of Denver until October 2017. Copying or
posting is an infringement of copyright. Permissions@hbsp.harvard.edu or 617.783.7860
8181
Use Metaphors as
Your Glue
Metaphors are a powerful literary device. In Dr. Martin
Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech, about 20%
of what he said was metaphorical. For example, he lik-
ened his lack of freedom to a bad check that “America has
given the Negro people . . . a check which has come back
marked ‘insuffi cient funds.’” King introduced this meta-
phor three minutes into his 16-minute talk, and it was
the fi rst time the audience roared and clapped.
Presenters tend to overrely on tired visual metaphors
instead of using powerful words to stir hearts. King’s
speech would not have been nearly as beautiful if he’d
used slides with pictures of bad checks and piles of gold
symbolizing “freedom and the security of justice.”
For each point you make in your presentation, try
to come up with a metaphor to connect people’s minds
to the concept. You might even weave it like a thread
throughout the presentation.
When developing metaphors, reject overused themes
like racecars and sporting events—and avoid stock pho-
H5981.indb 81H5981.indb 81 7/16/12 9:05 AM7/16/12 9:05 AMDo
N
ot
Co
py
or
P
os
t
This document is authorized for educator review use only by Lisa Victoravich, University of Denver until October 2017. Copying or
posting is an infringement of copyright. Permissions@hbsp.harvard.edu or 617.783.7860
Story
82
tos along those lines. If you want to tell a story of tri-
umph, dig into one of your own stories for the right meta-
phor: Describe, for instance, how it felt to struggle to the
top of Yosemite’s Half Dome, run your fi rst marathon, or
win the citywide Boy Scout trophy. Identify metaphors
that will be meaningful to the audience.
H5981.indb 82H5981.indb 82 7/16/12 9:05 AM7/16/12 9:05 AMDo
N
ot
Co
py
or
P
os
t
This document is authorized for educator review use only by Lisa Victoravich, University of Denver until October 2017. Copying or
posting is an infringement of copyright. Permissions@hbsp.harvard.edu or 617.783.7860
8383
Create Something
They’ll Always
Remember
Place Something They’ll Always Remember—a climac-
tic S.T.A.R. moment—in your presentation to drive your
big idea home. That moment is what the audience will
chat (or tweet) about after your talk. It can also help your
message go viral through social media and news cover-
age. Use it to make people uncomfortable with what is or
to draw them toward what could be. Here are four ways
to create a S.T.A.R. moment that captivates your audi-
ence and generates buzz.
Shocking statistics
If statistics are shocking, don’t glide over them—amplify
them. For example, in his 2010 Consumer Electronics
Show presentation, Intel CEO Paul Otellini used star-
tling numbers to convey the speed and impact of the
company’s newest technology. “Today we have the indus-
try’s fi rst-shipping 32-nanometer process technology. A
H5981.indb 83H5981.indb 83 7/16/12 9:05 AM7/16/12 9:05 AMDo
N
ot
Co
py
or
P
os
t
This document is authorized for educator review use only by Lisa Victoravich, University of Denver until October 2017. Copying or
posting is an infringement of copyright. Permissions@hbsp.harvard.edu or 617.783.7860
Story
84
32-nanometer microprocessor is 5,000 times faster; its
transistors are 100,000 times cheaper than the 4004
processor that we began with. With all respect to our
friends in the auto industry, if their products had pro-
duced the same kind of innovation, cars today would go
470,000 miles per hour. They’d get 100,000 miles per
gallon, and they’d cost three cents.”
Evocative visuals
Audiences connect with emotionally potent visuals.
When asking donors to help raise $1.7 million, Conserva-
tion International contrasted dreamy, glistening, surreal
under-ocean images (captioned with phrases like “90%
of our oxygen” describing how dependent we are on the
ocean) with photos of grimy rubbish that washes up on
the beach (where “14 billion pounds of trash” roll in on
the waves). That approach tapped the power of evoca-
tive visuals and shocking stats—and people responded by
getting out their wallets.
Memorable dramatization
Bring your message to life by dramatizing it. As Bill Gates
spoke about the importance of malaria eradication at a
TED conference in 2009, he released a jar of mosquitoes
into the auditorium and said, “There is no reason only
poor people should be infected.” It got the audience’s
attention—and effectively made the point that we don’t
spend nearly enough money on fi ghting the disease. The
mosquitoes were malaria-free, but he let people squirm a
minute or two before he let them know that.
Consider another example. When Mirran Raphaely,
CEO of Dr. Hauschka Skin Care, presented to the cos-
H5981.indb 84H5981.indb 84 7/16/12 9:05 AM7/16/12 9:05 AMDo
N
ot
Co
py
or
P
os
t
This document is authorized for educator review use only by Lisa Victoravich, University of Denver until October 2017. Copying or
posting is an infringement of copyright. Permissions@hbsp.harvard.edu or 617.783.7860
Create Something They’ll Always Remember
85
metics industry, she wanted to draw a sharp contrast
between industrial agriculture and biodynamic farming
practices. She showed two photos side by side—a con-
tainer of chemicals and an herb called horsetail—and
compared the toxicity of the two substances. In indus-
trial agriculture, farmers rely on glyphosate, a synthetic
chemical linked to cancer in animals and humans. In bio-
dynamic agriculture, farmers treat crops with an extract
made from horsetail. Holding up two glasses—one fi lled
with the chemical weed killer, the other with the horse-
tail extract—she asked the audience, “Which one of these
would you want on the crops you consume?” After the
audience fi nished laughing, she took a sip of the biody-
namic solution.
Emotive anecdote
Sometimes S.T.A.R. moments are gripping personal sto-
ries (see “Add Emotional Texture” earlier in this section).
Here’s one such story, told by Symantec.cloud group
president Row an Trollope in May 2012, to encourage his
organization to innovate:
I went mountain climbing at Mount Laurel, in the
eastern Sierras, with two of my friends. I’m not very ex-
perienced, but both of them were even less experienced.
We’d been climbing for about 19 hours. We were up at
11,000 feet, and it was getting dark. Fast.
We needed to get down the side of this mountain . . .
and we needed to do it fast. Descending fi rst, I got to a
ledge and started to get our line ready.
Climbers carry two emergency pitons with them for
just this purpose. I’d never used them before, but I knew
H5981.indb 85H5981.indb 85 7/16/12 9:05 AM7/16/12 9:05 AMDo
N
ot
Co
py
or
P
os
t
This document is authorized for educator review use only by Lisa Victoravich, University of Denver until October 2017. Copying or
posting is an infringement of copyright. Permissions@hbsp.harvard.edu or 617.783.7860
Story
86
how they worked. I took out my hammer and started
hammering one into the rock. The books tell you that
you’ll hear the tone of the hammer strike change when
it’s “in.” I heard a loud ping with each strike of the
hammer and decided it was in “good enough.”
The books also tell you, though, to always use two, so
I used two. As I hammered in the second one, I heard a
sharp, high-pitched ping at the end, so I tied the knots
and got our line ready. By this time, my buddies had
reached the ledge, and I started to hook us in.
Something was bugging me. I looked at the knot
between the two pitons and it looked like this [prop:
climbing rope with two pitons]. The problem with a
knot like that is that if one piton fails, you’ll fall. You
need to tie it instead like this [prop: retie knot].
My buddies were all clipped in and wanted to get
going. It was getting darker. The way I tied the knot
seemed good enough, but something in the back of my
head told me to stop. So I did.
We all unclipped, and I retied the knot, and then we
clipped in again and started the climb down.
The moment I put weight on my line, the fi rst piton
popped out and hit me smack in the middle of the hel-
met. Had I not unclipped and retied the knot, I would
have died on that ledge. My life rushed through my
mind. And I suddenly and irrevocably got the danger
of “good enough.”
When I pounded in that fi rst piton, I decided it was
good enough.
When I tied the knot that fi rst time, I decided that it
wasn’t, so I did it again.
H5981.indb 86H5981.indb 86 7/16/12 9:05 AM7/16/12 9:05 AMDo
N
ot
Co
py
or
P
os
t
This document is authorized for educator review use only by Lisa Victoravich, University of Denver until October 2017. Copying or
posting is an infringement of copyright. Permissions@hbsp.harvard.edu or 617.783.7860
Create Something They’ll Always Remember
87
I still have that piton that popped out. I brought it
with me today because I thought you might like to see
it [prop: piton]. The other one? The one that saved my
life? It’s still in a crack on the Laurel Cliffs. Still doing
its job.
I came back to work, and everything had new mean-
ing for me. Retying my knots became a sort of meta-
phor. I realized that in every job I did, every project I
touched, I was making piton decisions every time. I
was deciding, with every one of those moves, whether
good enough was good enough for me.
I picked that story for today because I think we’re
facing a similar climb as a company. And we’re mak-
ing piton decisions every day. For my buddies and me,
there was nothing but sky beneath us. When you and I
look down, we see the PC business changing dramati-
cally. We can see physical things being driven into the
cloud, and we can agree that the Internet is not yet a
secure place.
Unfortunately, it will take more than one piton to
address these dangers. But I think it starts by reawak-
ening in our company some of the qualities that made
us great in the fi rst place. And to do that, I think we
need to change how we approach our work.
H5981.indb 87H5981.indb 87 7/16/12 9:05 AM7/16/12 9:05 AMDo
N
ot
Co
py
or
P
os
t
This document is authorized for educator review use only by Lisa Victoravich, University of Denver until October 2017. Copying or
posting is an infringement of copyright. Permissions@hbsp.harvard.edu or 617.783.7860
Craft the Beginning
Add Emotional Texture
We provide professional writing services to help you score straight A’s by submitting custom written assignments that mirror your guidelines.
Get result-oriented writing and never worry about grades anymore. We follow the highest quality standards to make sure that you get perfect assignments.
Our writers have experience in dealing with papers of every educational level. You can surely rely on the expertise of our qualified professionals.
Your deadline is our threshold for success and we take it very seriously. We make sure you receive your papers before your predefined time.
Someone from our customer support team is always here to respond to your questions. So, hit us up if you have got any ambiguity or concern.
Sit back and relax while we help you out with writing your papers. We have an ultimate policy for keeping your personal and order-related details a secret.
We assure you that your document will be thoroughly checked for plagiarism and grammatical errors as we use highly authentic and licit sources.
Still reluctant about placing an order? Our 100% Moneyback Guarantee backs you up on rare occasions where you aren’t satisfied with the writing.
You don’t have to wait for an update for hours; you can track the progress of your order any time you want. We share the status after each step.
Although you can leverage our expertise for any writing task, we have a knack for creating flawless papers for the following document types.
Although you can leverage our expertise for any writing task, we have a knack for creating flawless papers for the following document types.
From brainstorming your paper's outline to perfecting its grammar, we perform every step carefully to make your paper worthy of A grade.
Hire your preferred writer anytime. Simply specify if you want your preferred expert to write your paper and we’ll make that happen.
Get an elaborate and authentic grammar check report with your work to have the grammar goodness sealed in your document.
You can purchase this feature if you want our writers to sum up your paper in the form of a concise and well-articulated summary.
You don’t have to worry about plagiarism anymore. Get a plagiarism report to certify the uniqueness of your work.
Join us for the best experience while seeking writing assistance in your college life. A good grade is all you need to boost up your academic excellence and we are all about it.
We create perfect papers according to the guidelines.
We seamlessly edit out errors from your papers.
We thoroughly read your final draft to identify errors.
Work with ultimate peace of mind because we ensure that your academic work is our responsibility and your grades are a top concern for us!
Dedication. Quality. Commitment. Punctuality
Here is what we have achieved so far. These numbers are evidence that we go the extra mile to make your college journey successful.
We have the most intuitive and minimalistic process so that you can easily place an order. Just follow a few steps to unlock success.
We understand your guidelines first before delivering any writing service. You can discuss your writing needs and we will have them evaluated by our dedicated team.
We write your papers in a standardized way. We complete your work in such a way that it turns out to be a perfect description of your guidelines.
We promise you excellent grades and academic excellence that you always longed for. Our writers stay in touch with you via email.