March 2013

Hello, everyone, from Boston Ballet!  


An exciting year

I am excited to share that as of January, I decided to take advantage of one of McKinsey's flexibility programs, and I’m currently on a one-year secondment leave.  I am using this time to work at the Boston Ballet in a Strategy & Business Development role, and so far I can already tell that this is going to be a defining year in my professional career.  I also have to admit that as a former ballet dancer, it has been just plain cool to work in a building where half of the people walk around in tutus and pointe shoes—it feels like a childhood dream come true!


My Boston Ballet project

So, first, what am I doing? I spend about a third of my time helping the organization articulate their five-year strategy and pro forma, which means helping them think through “what are the 10 big things we want to do over the next five years to achieve our vision—and what are their financial implications?”  One question we want to figure out, for example, is which new ballets do we want to produce, when, and where?  What kind of capital investment will be required to fund those new productions?  Another example question might be, how can we diversify our audience base so we can reach a broader population and also drive ticket sales?  What kind of investment will be required to do so, and what kind of return would we expect?  I help the organization ask these kinds of questions, evaluate the financial impact of the answers, and then make strategic decisions.  My time at McKinsey has without a doubt enabled me to do this part of my job in a way that no other experience could.  In an environment where there are so many moving parts, and so many possible ways to focus my energy, my time at McKinsey has taught me to ask, “what matters the most?” and then direct my time and energy appropriately.
 

With Martin at "The Nutcracker"

Another third of my time is spent on organizational coaching, which I find extremely rewarding and impactful.  One big piece of coaching has been around clearly defining the problems we're trying to solve, and clearly articulating who is responsible for what.  One of my favorite meetings so far has been introducing the “RASCI” framework—which forces the organization to have a conversation about who is ultimately responsible for a project, who is a decision-maker, and who simply provides input.  My consulting experience taught me many of the tools I use in coaching, from the problem statement worksheet to the RASCI framework, and it has been inspirational to see it catch on and make a difference in people’s everyday lives.  

Finally, I spend my last third of time on a variety of specific strategic projects.  One of the most recent ones is thinking about how we can provide higher education opportunities to the dancers, and collaborating with local universities to craft a college program that works with their schedules.  This has also been incredibly rewarding to work on, as the future of the arts as an industry depends on the talent of its future leaders—who are very often former dancers.

All in all, I’m having a great time, and I’m deeply thankful for the opportunity to apply my skills in such a unique setting.  I look forward to writing again later this year to share more updates from the Boston Ballet. 

Thanks for reading, and until then,

Mary Winn