Enlarge the problem space

I'm enjoying having a read through John Kuprenas' book 101 things I learned in Engineering School

It's a lovely hardcover edition and has plenty of great explanations of concepts applicable to normal life beyond engineering.

I'm no engineer, so I think there's something about how engineers, designers and architects think and problem solve that can be helpful to us, no matter the setting. 

One of John's 'things' is to 'Enlarge the problem space'. He says that "almost every problem is larger than it initially appears. Explore and enlarge it at the outset - not to make more work, but because the scope of the problem almost certainly will creep - it will grow larger - on its own. It's easier to reduce the problem space later in the process than to enlarge it after starting down a path toward an inadequate solution".


It's right in line with one of the creative and innovation tools I use in workshops which I call 'It's Bigger'.
I use the A4 visual I've shared with you this week to firstly write the issue, and then add in thoughts about what the bigger issue is, then the b-i-g-g-e-r issue ... and then the BIGGER issue.

From there you can come up with some totally new solutions.
The page is designed as a worksheet, great for thinking alone, in a group or mapping out some possibilities.

John Kuprenas say there is the problem, then the cause of the problem, then the cause of the cause of the problem and the cause of the cause of the cause... you get it! 

It's a process that let's you look at creativity, innovation and problem solving by making it bigger before you get your hands dirty.  And this is a tool I'll be using with a large retailer this week as we workshop some of their new ideas and initiatives. See, you don't need to build bridges or roads or machines to be an engineer!

Another way to handle all that talking

If you've wandered around my website and found many of the resources and templates or read my blog ... you will have seen me 'go on' about my Facilitator 4 Step. 

When you don't have a structure for a conversation, workshop or meeting, this model can really help you out. It can give the team focus and give you a place to go to guide you through the conversation. 

Yesterday in a workshop with a team, they wanted to 'workshop' a topic. What do you do? Just open it up and let things go wherever they go? Or follow a structure?

Well, I did a little of both. I outlined the structure - the Facilitator 4 Step, though I didn't call it that. I said "We'll talk about what we know, the facts... then hear your views and opinions... and then listen out for your ideas and suggestions."

I created three flip charts with headings for the first of the three steps, facts, opinions, ideas - we weren't doing the 'actions' step at this stage. That would come later. 

Then I opened up the discussion and just let it go on... and on. 

As the team talked for the next 20 or 30 minutes or more, I listened and scribed or noted their key points. 

If they said something that was fact based, I wrote it on the facts flip chart. 

If they were talking about their views and opinions, that point went on the opinions flip chart. 

And if they had a suggestion or idea for a solution, I wrote that on the ideas chart. 

I simply let the conversation go on and on, capturing and sorting as they talked. 

Yes, I was dancing and jumping from one chart to the next and back again - each time someone talked. This showed so clearly how our thinking and talking jumps from fact, to opinion to idea or solution - in just one sentence!

It's no wonder teams or groups in conversation can find it difficult to get to actions and commitments when all of this mixed content is happening. 

The flip charts and my sorting helped them see what they were talking about. It was a very efficient use of time. I didn't interrupt, I just let it go. 

The end result: they have a categorised capture of their evidence and facts; their opinions and views; their ideas and opportunities. 

Now they can go and prioritise and commit to action. 

This is just another way to use a model or structure. You can make the group follow it or you can listen and sort as you go. 

Try it out at your next meeting, workshop, strategy or planning session. 

If you scare people you won't get started

Last week I presented at the Agile Australia conference and also attended some brilliant sessions with people like Mary Poppendick, Dave Snowden of Cognitive Edge, and Bjarte Bogsnes author of 'Implementing Beyond Budgeting'.

Bjarte's session, thinking and message was around helping organisations perform to their highest potential. My visualisation of his presentation is here as well as below.

Bjarte delivered some clear messages:

• measurement alone changes nothing
• businesses cut costs because they're not addressing culture and
• if you scare people, you won't get started!

I enjoyed his metaphors of traffic lights vs roundabouts. He asked 'Which is most efficient?,  'Who is in control?' and 'Where are values most important?'

He doesn't want you to get rid of budgets; rather we need to change our mindsets around cost, KPIs and processes. Traditional leadership and management isn't working and the environments we work in are too complex. 

There's a similiar style of presentation from Bjarte here from 2012 if you'd like to see more. 

Leading Corporate Transformation

To lead organisations through significant change and transformation, you need broader and deeper thinking, and use more than emotion alone - so said Hans-Ulrich Maerki, former Chairman and General Manager of IBM in Europe.

He gave a presentation last week on how to lead transformative change.

He also referred to the book of Louise V Gerstner Jnr, former IBM Chairman and CEO : 'Who says elephants can't dance' which details how the fortunes of IBM were turned around. 

Above all he asked 'how closely are we living up to the values' of the organisation. 
 
My visualisation of his 20 minute presentation is this week's sip of information distilled from a presentation. 

Cough up that complexity furball

Go on ! *cough cough* Get it up... and out !

That furball of complexity that's lodged in your team's throat is disengaging, dull and not getting through to people across the business. 

But when you've got so much detailed information to get across to so many people - and you need to do it quickly, or you've lost them - it's no wonder we try for pages and pages and packs and packs and more and more... 

*cough*

I worked with a team recently, actually, four teams. They wondered how to present their four complex projects of work from the past months (and for some, years) of effort. 

How do you do that without losing some of the essence, the detail and depth that sits behind their key points?

These four visual storyboards did the trick!

*cough*

I created them on an ipad (using the app Brushes and my finger as a stylus). I have no artistic training by the way. It's about the thinking, not the drawing. The images were able to be printed out and laminated and 'spoken to' by the leaders of the projects. They could just as easily be projected on a screen.

Engaging, made-by-a-human, told-by-a-human and a sweet-as change from the hardcore digital stuff the leadership team had been pounded with up until now.

Now these visuals will go on a story tour around the business' offices and sites to share the message and the vision and so much more. 

• Sort through your thinking and your story.
• What does this audience really need to know?
• How can you deliver that in an engaging way? 
• And a final tip: you don't need a big-bucks agency to help you get closer to being a real human. 

 *cough*