Susan and I recently completed a project at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania in which we supported sixteen teams of students as they conducted communications audits for local entrepreneurs. We helped the students define the scope of their audits, advised them on research techniques, and helped them shape their recommendations and presentations. A few observations:
- It was great to see students from different countries all working together as teams. This is perhaps an unrecognized value of American higher education. Where else would these young people interact with their peers from around the world on a shared goal? Let's hope the spirit of cooperation we saw stays with them as they assume leadership positions in international business or government.
- For these young people using the Internet is as natural as breathing, but nothing beats good old fashion personal contact. Most of the teams conducted research via the web, and offered clients advice on web design and functionality. They are comfortable “on line,” but they also came to appreciate the importance of personal contact—with clients and customers. Technology is great, but business is about relationships and deep relationships with a customer demand personal contact.
- For a good presentation, energy is as important as content. We observed 16 presentations by the student teams. None of the teams had professional designers for their slides (though some came pretty close in their quality), and for many of the presenters English was a second language. And yet, many of these presentations surpassed others Susan and I have seen over the years—usually given by executives with years of experience. To us, the difference was the enthusiasm these students showed for their work and the passion they showed for their client's business challenges.
We completed this project at the Wharton School with a new appreciation for a group of young people at one of the country's great universities. And as is often the case, as teachers, we learned from our students.
