Getting Your Ideas Approved

Internal Quiz

Question 1 of 11

Which step of the process will cause you to iterate more than others?

• define the question

• select analyses

• create the story

• discuss and refine the story

discuss and refine the story

Question 2 of 11

You should immediately start manipulating data at the beginning of this process.

• TRUE

• FALSE

FALSE

Question 3 of 11

Poor communication leads to lengthy, inefficient process. You end up doing excess, irrelevant analysis and the result is weak, convoluted communications. When this happens, there’s a lack of _ for your ideas. You’ll also lose _ as a thought leader.

• excitement; salary

• color; schedule opportunities

• support; credibility

• linear path; clients

support; credibility

Question 4 of 11

A hypothesis is something taken to be true for the sake of argument.

• TRUE

• FALSE

TRUE

Question 5 of 11

You should choose your architecture based upon your audience.

• TRUE

• FALSE

FALSE

Question 6 of 11

You can never combine a layer architecture with a column architecture.

• TRUE

• FALSE

FALSE

Question 7 of 11

A column architecture can have more than three columns

• TRUE

• FALSE

TRUE

Question 8 of 11

You should spend a lot of time perfecting your story at this stage.

• TRUE

• FALSE

FALSE

Question 9 of 11

When discussing and refining your story, you should get input from many stakeholders

• TRUE

• FALSE

FALSE

Question 10 of 11

You should never try to disprove your hypothesis.

• TRUE

• FALSE

FALSE

Question 11 of 11

You should choose your communication vehicle based upon _.

• your preference

• what your boss likes

• how many people are in the room

• your audience

your audience

Final Exam

Question 1 of 17

When transforming a layer architecture to a story, you should _.

• invert it

• start with the core idea

• wordsmith it

• do an analysis

a) invert it

Question 2 of 17

A story based on a column architecture starts with a _.

• what’s changed

• background

• core idea

• hypothesis

c) core idea

Question 3 of 17

At what point should you wordsmith your story?

• when finalizing the communication

• when you build your architecture

• when you write the core idea

• when you first draft the story

a) when finalizing the communication

Question 4 of 17

A good architecture is both distinct and _.

• complete

• logical

• interesting

• short

a) complete

Question 5 of 17

When converting a column architecture to a story, what comes first in the story?

• column 2

• the core idea

• column 3

• column 1

b) the core idea

Question 6 of 17

How many analyses should you conduct to prove your case?

• as many as you can possibly think of

• as many as are required to prove the architecture

• as few as you can get away with

• six

b) as many as are required to prove the architecture

Question 7 of 17

What attributes should the elements of your architecture possess?

• linked and nested

• full and forthright

• compelling and direct

• distinct and complete

d) distinct and complete

Question 8 of 17

A well-defined question consists of a what” and a _.”

• how

• why

• where

• when

b) why

Question 9 of 17

What goes at the bottom of a layer architecture?

• hypothesis

• background

• what’s changed

• core idea

b) background

Question 10 of 17

What is the button?

• the key analysis that your entire argument rests upon

• the link between the layer and column architecture

• the first element of your core idea

• the objective function your stakeholder cares about most

d) the objective function your stakeholder cares about most

Question 11 of 17

What is the benefit of structuring your communications?

• clearer communications

• efficient fact gathering

• less rework

• all of these answers

d) all of these answers

Question 12 of 17

What tells you which facts to include or exclude from your recommendation?

• architecture

• analysis

• background

• stakeholders

a) architecture

Question 13 of 17

If you disprove your hypothesis, what should you do?

• change the question you’re trying to answer

• change the analysis to prove the hypothesis

• go home and give up

• evaluate your next-best hypothesis

d) evaluate your next-best hypothesis

Question 14 of 17

Which of these are benefits of a good architecture?

• prevents rambling communications

• avoid irrelevant analysis

• audience arrives at your conclusion

• all of these answers

d) all of these answers

Question 15 of 17

Why should you get input from stakeholders when refining your story?

• to get them to do the analysis

• to know what concerns to avoid

• to build support for your idea

• to keep them from stealing your idea

c) to build support for your idea

Question 16 of 17

Which of the following is NOT part of the core idea?

• why

• question

• button

• what

b) question

Question 17 of 17

Your presentation title should be based upon _.

• stakeholder preference

• market research

• your core idea

• a column architecture

c) your core idea