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Clarify Your Desired Result.
Question #1 "What are we trying to do?" Whenever you become
frustrated with slow progress for any reason, step back and ask this
again and again, "What are we trying to do?"
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Analyze Your Current Methods.
Question #2 "How are we trying to do it?" If you are experiencing
resistance, perhaps your method is wrong. Be willing to objectively
analyze your approach by asking, "How are we trying to do it?" Is
this the right way? Could there be a better way? What if our method
was completely wrong? How else could we approach it?
Problem
Solving Strategies: 4 Levels
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Could You Be Wrong?
It requires
courage to face the possibility
that you may be wrong but it also leads to your seeing new
possibilities. The rule is: Always decide what's right before
worrying about who's right.
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Question Your Assumptions.
Another good question is, "What
are our assumptions? About the person, the product, the market,
the business? What are our assumptions? Could we be assuming
something that is incorrect?" Someone once said that "Errant
assumptions lie at the root of every failure". What if your unspoken
or implied assumptions were wrong? What would you have to do
differently?
Creative
Problem Solving: Reframing
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Put Past Decisions On Trial.
Another form of focused questioning is what I call "Zero based
thinking." This method requires that you put every past
decision on trial for its life regularly by asking, "If I had
not made this decision, knowing what I now know, would I make it?"
If I had not hired this person or gotten involved in this project,
knowing what I now know, would I do it over again?
If the answer is "NO" to one of these questions, then your aim should be
to get out of the decision as fast as possible. Be willing to "cut your
losses," and try something else.
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