One thing I’ve learned in The Bootstrapper’s Workshop is to let go of preconceived notions. Or at least to try. It’s amazing when presented with a straightforward problem just how hard it is to do this. But there is real magic in going through this process of exploration and stretching the way you think about something.
Say for example something isn’t going well at work or at home. Typically we come at the problem from what have we done before. What didn’t work. But we don’t take enough time to understand why. We also don’t take enough time to move beyond this into the realm of discovery.
Instead you could ask something like “what would it look like if this succeeded?” Or “what is the real problem I’m trying to solve?” Or “who else might be having this problem. Are they having success?”
Leading questions like this get us to think outside the confines of our ingrained patterns and habits. And writing out our thoughts long form is a great way to examine just what’s going on.
We do this at work all the time. The STAR method. What was the situation? What were the tasks involved? What actions did you take? And what was the result? Write it all out. Be detailed. Then let someone else read it and provide some insight or follow up questions. Then write some more. And get some more comments.
You’d be surprised how many times the answer to your problems is right there in what you’ve written about what didn’t work before.
Give it a try and let me know your thoughts!
