Does your team ever experience “Brain Freeze?” You ask your team to think with you about all the items essential to the “Success” of the BIG GOAL/PROJECT you are working on and suddenly it appears that the whole team has just drank an “ICEE” way too fast!
Here is a question that will “Melt” that “Brain Freeze” and turn that “ICEE” into a “Hot Drink:”
How can we do this in a way that will “Guarantee It’s Failure?”
You will see your team come alive! They will love your question! They may all begin talking at once! You will quickly have a long list of all the ways to “Guarantee the Failure” of your BIG GOAL/PROJECT!
Next Question: So if we now know what it will take to “Guarantee the Failure” of our BIG GOAL/PROJECT what do we have to do to “Guarantee the Success?”
It really is the “same list” isn’t it? For example if “Never ask our customers for input” will “Guarantee it’s Failure” then “Asking our customers for their input” would help “Guarantee its Success!”
You also get Two BONUSES:
When might be your first opportunity to use “How can we do this is a way that will ‘Guarantee it’s Failure?'” to thaw the brains of your team?
Will you please do me a favor? Will you please report back how it worked?
Which of your friends would thank you if you forwarded this post to them?
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Great question! I was having a brainstorming time with my team this morning and we got to a point where even our verbal processors were quiet so I asked this question.
It was great to see the look of surprise on their faces and then hear “failure? Oh, we can tell you about failure…” and the conversation was off once again. We were able to hit on, not only some new ideas but more importantly, barriers that we often have in the execution of our ideas. This helped us to identify “how” we need to do things differently, not just “what” to do differently to see more full-time laborers join with us. Thanks Bob!
Bonnie – Love It! – Thanks so much for coming back to share your experience from this morning! You are a terrific Leader!