Comments on: A3 by PowerPoint

By: Brian

Brian — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 15:02:58 +0000

It would seem to me that if you stick with the “correct” way to construct an A3 and use best practice thinking on how to present visual information (Tufte, Stephen Few, Beyond Bullet points,etc.), that you should be able to give an A3 presentation in PowerPoint. PowerPoint itself is not the problem, poor presentation and teaching skills are.

By: Mark

Mark — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 03:12:54 +0000

Ryan -
Absolutely!
I consider a PowerPoint approach the absolute last resort. It is probably the least effective medium for problem solving.

But if I can’t get the thinking framed within any other medium, doing it with PowerPoint at least lets the thinking structure get introduced without people getting distracted by the medium of presentation.

THANKS for the comment.

By: Ryan

Ryan — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 13:59:00 +0000

We have tried hand drawing the A3 on a really big sheet torn off from a giant roll of paper and posted on the projector screen. It seems to be more interactive than Powerpoint, and presents everything in the same format on “one slide”. It also forces you to carefully choose what goes on the paper instead of cramming everything into it. My $0.02.

By: Kevin Hartford

Kevin Hartford — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 03:17:53 +0000

Yes, I am a purist of the white background…no more than three bullet PowerPoint. Unfortunately, I work in a world where colors seem to captivate senior management and we get paid by the quantity of words on the slide.

By: Management Improvement Carnival #46 | Lean Six Sigma Academy

Management Improvement Carnival #46 | Lean Six Sigma Academy — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 16:26:29 +0000

[...] I’ve recently started to follow and quite enjoy is The Lean Thinker. Be sure to check out A3 by PowerPoint for an example of what I [...]

By: Mark

Mark — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 04:16:29 +0000

Sure – if the leaders will accept it on a single slide, that is even better, since it is closer to the ultimate goal.

I guess I was working with groups that need to be eased into the concept. The structure of the thinking is more important than the presentation, so my message is don’t get TOO hung up on the structure. That can follow.

By: stampf

stampf — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 14:51:52 +0000

Hmm, Why not use the A3 format on just one powerpoint slide? That’s what I do.

We’re lucky enough to have A3 printers on our floor so I can print them and show them to the management, along with the very same thing projected. Projection allows you to fingerpoint during your explanations.

And since you’re sending some small text on a wall, it gets its size increased, so legibility is not a problem…

By: Mark

Mark — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 03:15:35 +0000

As several of you have mentioned, the key to making this work is not so much the format, but the interaction between people. Each should be willing to challenge the other’s thinking.

But, like in my early post in “the chalk circle” this isn’t about how to format the answers, as much as it is learning to ask the right questions.

It is the questions that draw out the thinking.

By: Miguel Hernandez

Miguel Hernandez — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 01:51:57 +0000

I love the simplicity of the one pager approach to reporting. Thanks!

By: Greg Burnworth

Greg Burnworth — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 21:35:22 +0000

Totally agree. Powerpoint and electronic formats for that matter are staged, riddled with wasteful information, worse yet window dressing.

Some of the most inspirational and effective a3s I’ve seen have been filled out in pencil. I heard our sensei say to me once, if you can’t tell the story visually and concisely in 10 mintues, you’re wasting people’s time. Much learning is done when someone lean thinker or manager goes through the rigour of the thinking on paper and pencil, or whiteboard or in any lowtech way. The statement “why can’t you get that scribble into a nice electronic format” should be replaced with “I’m beginning to understand your thinking in your sketched diagram.” So think twice before using so much fluff in a ppt.