In the business world, innovative ideas lead to new products and services, and new processes, saving time, labour, and costs. Frequently, good answers and ideas follow the right question. In this, how to ask creative questions spotlights crucial.
Putting a construction on, three Texas Instruments executives, Rod Canion, Bill Murto, and Jim Harris, met at a restaurant, for lunch, in 1981. Their discussion centered on a single question. How could we design an IBM-compatible computer that would fit into the overhead bin of an airplane? As their lunch ended, the three executives had agreed on all the major design requirements. The result was Compaq Computer Corporation, founded in February 1982. This company grew to over a billion in annual sales in less than four years, all on the strength of that one product.
Good to note, how to ask creative questions headlines.
1. The Right Question equips Us With Enough Constraint That Sharpens Our Focus Or Anchors our Thinking
Further, it stimulates us to fully explore a carefully defined subset of possibilities, not bounce around randomly. This structure helps us to fine-tune our initial ideas, into great ones. Illustrating with, here is a right question that provides structure, and steers our creativity fruitfully. How can I invent a new business not requiring any new technological inventions, but takes something that was emotionally powerful to me as a child, and translates it to a more exotic and expensive form for adults? This question is better than just asking an unstructured question like “how can I invent a new business?
2. On Purpose, The Right Question Starts Us Taking A Perspective Not Explored Before
If we keep repeating the same line of inquiry that drew success to us in the past, we will find it harder and harder to think of something new. In contrast, questions that stimulate us to a new perspective, reward us with better insights and ideas. This reward spotlights worthy, in spite of the temporary burden of intense start-up effort, accompanying it.
3. For Good, Creative Questions Do Not Lead To One Dominant Answer
They provide lots of attractive possibilities, as they are not so narrow that there is only one obvious and dominant answer. A severely narrow question shuts down people’s thinking, instead of enhancing it. In plain, the ideas behind how to ask creative questions help us unearth numerous prospects to explore.
4. As Well, Innovative Questions Immediately Make Us Think Of More Than One Intriguing Possibility
Of note, a dud question often fails to stimulate a single useful train of thought right away.
5. Constantly Ask Yourself About Perfection: Who Or What Does This Best In All The World, And How Can I adapt Their Practices To My Situation?
In 1985, during his freshman year at Harvard, David Berkoff asked himself, “why don’t we swim more like dolphins, the best swimmers on the planet?” He played around with fluttering his body, from side to side, like a dolphin, in a swimming pool. At the first opportunity to prove himself, he dove in and swan the first fifteen minutes completely under water. Under water, he kicked like a dolphin, with his entire lower body. Down the pool, he looked back and discovered that the rest of his competitors were behind. By refining his innovation, he went on to break the world record in the 100-meter backstroke at the 1988 Olympics in Seoul, South Korea. Clearly, how to ask creative questions that rewards, starts us focusing on mimicking perfection.
Similarly, in business, we can imagine perfection by asking ourselves, “if we had perfect information about our customers and their usage habits, our distribution, and so on, how would we do things differently? As a designer, to know more, at least about a subset of customers and their uses of the product, helps you to enhance your designs.
6. Where Do The Rules Provide More Flexibility That We Can Exploit And Which Rules Are Obsolete
As individuals, teams, companies, we often conduct our work by employing a set of standard operating procedures. This is a consequence of us not wanting to rethink a task every time we do it. Frequently, standard operating procedures might consist of government regulations, conventional wisdom or habits adopted voluntarily. Since the world changes all the time, and often makes the new situation unsuitable for the old standard operating procedures, such situations create an opportunity. We harness this opportunity by redefining or re-tailoring a product or process to better fit the specific circumstances of the new situation. In consequence, we lift our performance.
Also, reexamine the current rules to kick obsolete standard operating procedures, and stimulate more creativity. Moreover, ask yourself, “since we last redesigned our product, manufacturing or distribution process, which underlying technologies have changed.
7. Creative Questions Suggest Directions That Match Your Specific Current Needs
In a short-term cost reduction program, to discover ideas that can be implemented quickly and cheaply, that pays off in a short period of time, here is a good question to ask. How are we deviating from whatever are the most efficient ways of handling each step in our business process? This kind of question could help you identify problems linked to customers asking for special designs or special administrative procedures, that they are not willing to pay for.
Away from, here is a question that will not serve your current short-term purposes. Are the current personnel experiencing difficulty meeting the new standard dictated by changes in the technical requirements of certain jobs? Although the second question offers a higher payoff than the first, this payoff or solution may not fit your current specific short-term needs. Since you are conducting a short-term cost reduction program, time-consuming and expensive personnel replacements or training are unsuitable.
Conclusion
When we ask the right creative questions, we reap good ideas. More, how to ask creative questions boasts of ideas that ignites our curiosity and energy, for the better. The ideas start us forward in a new direction unexplored before. As we embrace new opportunities uncovered, we stimulate innovation and lift our performance.
