Different questions get you different answers

Stuck? Banging your head against the wall coming up with the same answers to the same questions? I’ve been doing market research for over 17 years and one of the things we always talk about before going into focus groups or interviews with customers and consumers is how important asking the rights will be to getting the answers we need. Not necessarily the right answers since we don’t know what we don’t know but asking questions that help us uncover the truth. It’s like putting on a different pair of glasses and seeing the room from through a different lens each time.

I think this applies to everyday life, both personally and professionally. We need to put on many different glasses to get to the right solution. If we have a problem big or small, from what to make for dinner to how to present the information to our boss, we have a tendency to look at it from the same perspective, asking the same questions over and over again. Hhhmmmm….no wonder we get the same, unhelpful answer.

This Monday, shake it up. Take that challenge and tackle it from a million different perspectives. OK, sometimes easier said than done so I’m going to help you out. I have a secret weapon called the Problem Solving Cootie Catcher and when I am turning in circles I go to it for a shift in perspective. Notice, I am not going to it for the answer, but for a way to ask a different question that will get me to a new answer.
We can do that right now with any challenge, problem or issue departing the text (thank you Berkeley Breathed for that phrase!).

First, write down your challenge. Make sure you start your sentence with, “How do I….?” The mind is more receptive to how versus why questions.

Second, go through the list and answer your challenge from the perspectives below. Think of it as putting on a new set of glasses each time.

1. How would a 5 year old solve this challenge?
2. What would your favorite TV character do?
3. If the challenge went away, where would it go?
4. What would a coach of a major football team do?
5. How do you know when the challenge is solved?
6. If you had the opposite challenge what would it look like?
7. If the challenge were a person, what would it tell you is holding it back?
8. What does your shadow think is the right thing to do?

At this point you should have some new thinking in front of you. You may have the answer or you may have some great clues that will get you there. Either way, you now have new perspectives and new thinking at your fingertips.

Dream big. Dream often. Think like a kid!

Tags: brainstorming, building creativity, creative tools, creativity, expand thinking, fun creativity, ideation, imaginative games, imaginibbles, innovation, innovative thinking, moderating ideation, right brain exercises, right brain tools, solving problems, tamara kleinberg, unleashing creativity, unleashing imagination

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