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The Art of Asking the Right Question
If you want to solve a problem, begin by framing it wisely
As a long-time facilitator of the creative process, I continue to be astounded by how common it is for individuals, teams, and entire organizations to enter into a brainstorming or problem-solving mode before clearly identifying the question they are attempting to solve for.
Bottom line, people rush into solution-finding before clearly articulating the problem or challenge they are trying to figure out.
“It’s not that they can’t see the solution. They can’t see the problem.” — G.K. Chesterton
And it is this fuzziness on the front end of the creative process that leads to tons of wheel spinning, frustration and wasted time.
If YOU have a problem you are struggling with, I invite you to pause and make the effort to articulate your challenge as a question beginning with the words “How can I?” or, if you are working with a team, “How can we?”
Framing your challenge as a question is the first step towards solving it.
