It’s happened again.
You’re stumped.
Maybe by a strategic question, such as whether to launch into a new market.
Or maybe it’s an HR question, such as how to have a challenging conversation.
Whatever it is, you’re stumped and keep mulling the question over and over…and coming up with the same few answers.
And that answer is “I don’t know how to solve this problem.”
I don’t know about you, but it happens to me more often than I’d like to admit.
During those times, I find that recasting the question helps.
For example, I might find myself saying “I don’t know which market(s) to target or how to reach them effectively.”
At that point, I often acknowledge that I don’t know the answer, then reframe the question: “I know I don’t know the answer, but what would I do if I did know the answer”
That almost always unlocks a path I hadn’t seen before.
“If I did know the answer,” I might say to myself, “I’d know all the data there is to know about that market.”
But, I don’t let myself stop there. I’d ask “what else?” and try to come up with 2-3 other things I’d do if I knew the answer…
“I’d figure out which databases would be most likely to have the most up to date data.” And, “I’d figure out which trade journals people in that segment value.” And, “I’d figure out whether those trade journals are expensive to advertise” or “I’d see if there are other channels that might be more valuable.”
You get the idea.
Asking a slightly different question opens doors to different options and alternatives.
Which, upon further exploration, will generally point in a direction.
At which point, you get to make a decision.
