SCIPAB Your Way to a Successful Career in Tech

There is a super useful tool I have used and referenced so many times since I learned about it from Mandel Communications in the Cisco Sales Associate Program over 14 years ago. If you don't know about this effective model , then you could be losing out on opportunities to communicate with real impact. I want to share with you this SCIPAB model that you can use to structure PowerPoint presentations, open meetings, and even to start tough professional and personal conversations. However, there is much more that can be discussed around full crucial conversations that expands past the opening framework provided by SCIPAB. That would be a follow up to this lesson.

SCIPAB only works when you take action to try it. That is why I have a downloadable template below you can use to test it out yourself. Use the template or simply try applying it immediately to really experience the method first hand. You will find your message to be clear and simple while getting more parties on board with what you are positioning.

In fact, I just used the SCIPAB model to write this blog introduction that you just read! That is why you see the letter noted in parentheses throughout the paragraph, so let's break it down. This will help you improve what you say and how you say it.

S - Situation - What is the Situation? What do you know that is relevant to the discussion? These should be straight forward facts.

C - Complication - What complicates the situation? Critical issues (consequences, demands, political impact, etc). Good place for new or thought provoking information.

I - Implication - What is the implication of this situation and complication? Show the business or personal consequences if they fail to act on this information. This is a logical transition and adds a sense or urgency.

P - Position - What is your position or offer? Clearly and confidentially state your opinion on what needs to be done in this situation. Just a high level strategic statement.

A - Action - What is the action you want them to take or what do you plan to do as a result of what you positioned? Help the listener understand what they can do or what they need to think about.

B - Benefit - What are the key benefits of taking that action? Describe how this recommendation will address the problem and be the best solution for them.

Let’s look at that intro again and showcase how I used SCIPAB to create the opener.
(S) There is a super useful tool I have used and referenced so many times since I learned about it from Mandel Communications in the Cisco Sales Associate Program over 14 years ago. (C) If you don't know about this effective model , (I) then you could be losing out on opportunities to communicate with real impact. (P) I want to share with you this SCIPAB model that you can use to structure PowerPoint presentations, open meetings, and even to have tough professional and personal conversations. (A) It only works when you take action to try it. That is why I have a downloadable template below you can use to try it. Download it or simply try applying it immediately to really experience the method yourself. (B) You will find your message to be clear and simple while getting more parties on board with what you are positioning.

In my mission to spark tech diva success, I wanted to share some examples of SCIPAB in action. These are many ways that I have used this myself during my technology career as a Women in Technology, so here are a few strong use cases.

• Advancement - As you advance your career, the SCIPAB model can help you in career conversations.  Here is an example:

  • (S) As you know, I have been in this role for 4 years while getting consistently positive reviews. (C) I really want to make sure that  I am moving my career forward and working more closely with you to get a plan for my promotion. (I) If we don’t have a clear path for advancement, I might need to look for other roles at this company or possibly look for new opportunity at a different company. (P) I would like to collaborate with you on a career advancement plan. (A) I would like to set a biweekly meeting series to gain your mentorship in producing a plan, discussing any opportunities, and making sure I am operating at peak performance in my current role. (B) This will help me feel proactive and create a more fruitful career for me long term.

• Advocacy - As we grow social justice and equality in our workplace and in our communities, this is also a useful structure to use in those situations. It can also be used for serving as an ally for anyone in your organization who you feel is or was marginalized in a productive, solution based way. Here is an example:

  • (S) We have a conference coming up and there are no female speakers for any of the sessions. (C) This does not reflect some of the diversity we have in the company or represent our initiatives to promote more full spectrum diversity at our company. (I) We need our events to reflect the thought leadership and makeup of our teams. (P) I would be happy to volunteer some great female speakers or work with the event lead to see where we can offer a Women in Technology networking portion. (A) How can I help influence some change here and who should I work with? (B) I believe these changes will better highlight our inclusive culture, but also draw the right diverse audience that we want to take advantage of all the great event content.

• Technology Application - After over 15+ years in technology sales and strategic work in the channel, I also can see how this model can help with selling or positioning technology solutions. Here is one way how:

  • (S) IT projects today require security more than ever before as business depends on a reliable network protected from attacks and vulnerabilities. (C) Management of all the existing security vendors and also securing new deployments can be a daunting task. (I) The need for security that can reduce time to detection for the SecOps team while helping them easily secure the environment is critical. (P) The new Cisco Secure, that comes with all Cisco products, will help you secure your infrastructure while seamlessly integrating with NetOps and DevOps to make network security relevant to other silos of the business. (A) I encourage you to check out this new SecureX innovation and talk to your engineer or partner for a demo today. (B) This will allow you to connect Cisco's integrated security portfolio to your existing infrastructure for a consistent experience that unifies visibility, enables automation, and strengthens your security across network, endpoints, cloud, and applications.

Hope this was useful and I hope you bookmark this page for future reference. If you want to have a full training on this or other communication topics, I do highly recommend Mandel Communications.

Good luck using the SCIPAB to get clear on your communication and position your solution for many things in your life. I didn’t give an example, but I also use constantly with my friends and husband. Don’t limit yourself to this helpful strategy to have a better relationships in all aspects of your life.