Phase One: Why?
- When we ask ‘why,’ it requires you to adjust the way you look at the world. There are three different ways to get into this mentality.
- First, step back and disengage. Taking a break will break up your routine and help inspiration strike.
- Next, challenge your assumptions. Whether they’re your assumptions or the assumptions of others, asking questions about your current process will help you find new avenues to explore.
- Finally, question the questions. Reframe a question to challenge the expected answer.
- Remember the five why’s. (Literally ask the question “why” five times in a row to get to the root understanding of the situation.)
Phase Two: Wondering “What If?”
- Get everybody (including yourself) to avoid thinking about specifics. Similar to phase one, there are a few practices you can implement:
- Combinatorial thinking is one method where you look at combining existing practices and how that combination can lead to new possibilities.
- Next, you can live with the question. We often try to answer questions in the moment, but that’s not usually necessary. Instead, take time to relax and distance yourself from a problem to view the situation with a fresh perspective.
- Finally, think of wrong ideas. It might seem counterproductive, but this process can help lead to the concept you need.
Phase Three: Determining How
- We want to jump to the “how” of a solution, but there’s a reason it’s the last stage. If you start there, you’re missing the critical time to go deeper into the question itself.
- Converge the ideas you’ve explored into one idea worth pursuing and share it for feedback.
- Give form to the ideas you’ve worked through. Before you go and ask others for feedback, bring the idea to life.
- In other industries, it might look like a prototype. In the sales space, write a summary, proposal, chart, or whatever would help people give the best feedback.
- Rapidly test and learn. If you have several potential solutions, run a quick test to see how the change affects your problem.
Bryan’s final takeaway:
- Instead of jumping to the “how,” first think about the “why.”
- To get in touch with Bryan, visit his website getstrokeofgenius.com or connect with him on LinkedIn.
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