What is the most successful executive-level artifact you have ever authored and presented?

Remember to fully explain the business value of the artifact you authored and presented. While a visually pleasing artifact may have an aesthetic "wow" factor, it is not as valuable as one that can help executives make a critical investment or operational decisions. If possible, highlight the reuse of the artifact you created. Interviewers appreciate examples of documentation that was reused, scaled appropriately, and delivered value continuously.

"I was asked to lead the analysis efforts for a project focused on identifying operational efficiencies and collaboration opportunities across an entire organization. This project required that I document all of the systems, the actors, the major inputs, workflows, and outputs of the business groups that used them.

I compiled a report that contained a description of each of the systems and a context diagram. I highlighted the quick-hit and strategic opportunities for each system and each group. This document received a gasp when I placed it on the table for the executives. However, it was not feasible for them to read the document because it was too long and detailed. I offered it to give a sense of the scale and demonstrate that we had the detail we needed to assess the tactical impact of the decisions the group needed to make.

I then presented a high-level enterprise-wide information systems context diagram that I had printed out on the plotter. It showed the entire technology footprint and how everything was related. They loved it. We used that single document as a go-to for strategy discussions for the next three years while we worked to integrate and streamline disparate solutions. I kept it up to date as we went along, and it was easy to see the downstream impact of our work. The end result was much easier to understand the ecosystem that was properly integrated."