An article published in 2020 as part of the Drucker Forum’s “shape the debate” series raised some interesting perspectives about leadership and making breakthrough improvements.
The simple premise shared by consultant and author John Hagel is that “questions” are the answer.
“The most effective leaders of the future will be those who have the most powerful and inspiring questions,” Hagel said. “…and who are willing to acknowledge they don’t have the answers, and that they need and want help in finding the answers. It’s in sharp contrast to the conventional view of leaders as the ones who have the answers to all the questions.”
This view aligns nicely with ours, as we’ve found that posing questions of and involving team members or customers is the shortest path to the largest gains.
After all, where do new ideas that lead to lasting solutions come from?
They come from people… that is, if those people are asked.
Here are three different approaches to identifying new ideas and solutions along with some of the questions we might ask the right people while seeking to improve your processes:
- Classic brainstorming. When studying the current situation and causes does not lead directly to identifying lasting solutions, you need to elicit a number of different ideas from your team by asking questions that stimulate creativity. How can we increase our productivity by 10 percent? What are the most common obstacles causing the process to stall? What is the most difficult aspect…”
Before you launch into your brainstorming, make sure you have convened a diverse group of people with some knowledge or interest in the problem at hand. Keep in mind that it is always easier for people to “think outside the box” when they come from outside the box.
The classic rules for brainstorming are:- No criticism of ideas—no idea is too crazy
- Go for quantity of ideas and worry about quality later
- Brainstorm individually first and then read the ideas out round robin style it is okay to pass
- Build on positive aspects of other ideas to create new ideas
- Capture the ideas on flip charts or on large Post-Its that everyone can see and read
- Tools such as the Six Thinking Hats and Heuristic Discovery, which systematically change one’s perspective to open-up new possibilities for solving problems.
- First, state the problem in terms of an opportunity or goal. For example, a keyboard refurbishing operation needed to increase throughput, so they would ask: “How to we double our daily throughput of refurbished keyboards?”
- Second, create a picture or map of the problem as part of the system, labeling each of the significant components.
- Third, describe the impact of each component as it impacts the goal. Use a question format. For example:
- What tools might we use to increase throughput?
- How can we make sure that people’s skills are sufficient to double the throughput?
- How can we make sure that people’s speed is sufficient to double the throughput?
- How can we ensure the workspace layout enhances throughput?
- Fourth, Prioritize these and generate ideas for solutions to the component problems that are most likely to impact
- Imagineering perfection, which helps you surface possibilities to leap past incremental improvements…
- “What would this process look like if everything were right?”
- What would it mean if the input we need always arrives on time and exactly the way we need and want it—no delays, no expediting, no rework?
- What if every step of the work process were to go exactly as it should with no waste, no rework?
- What if our work produced exactly what the customer needs, on time, exactly as they require it all the time? What would this look like?
- What exactly does the customer need for perfection?