What If? Day 7 for Y and Z

We are often our biggest barriers for breakthroughs. Our doubts and fears get in the way and manage to stop many of us in our tracks. I find it helpful to ask a lot of "what if?" questions. Here is a portion of the email I sent to teams Y and Z:

The Theme for Day 7 is What if?

To create more ideas, angles, ways, perspectives, possibilities, and approaches, ask at least a dozen what if questions.

What if time was not an issue?
What if I knew _______?
What if I cleared my calendar today?
What if I am talking to the wrong people?
What if I viewed this from the customer’s perspective?
What if I partnered with someone? Who would he or she be? What would I say? What would it mean?
What if I need to create a support structure, how might I do this?
What if today were really 2 years from now - how have things changed?
What if technology X takes off?
What if I asked for exactly what I want?
What if I am barking up the wrong tree?
What if my goal were achieved, how would I feel? What would things look like?
What if the answer is right in front of me?

Ask 2 friends or online buddies to help you brainstorm what if questions. And the answers.

What if you have the opportunity to have a breakthrough today? What could you do to ensure you are breakthrough enabled?

Comments

[Sebastian]

What if I approached the writers of the two blogs I read most? What if I read them because the writers combine PR and social media perfectly, something I wish to accomplish myself?
I devised a set of questions (dealing with my goal - to work time-efficiently) and asked them if they would take the time to answer them. And they agreed!
Now I just need to find someone who is a real techwiz when it comes to blogs...
Thanks Lisa.

[Sebastian]

I did my writing today and yesterday, had to, because I had an internal presentation today, explaining weblogs to my colleagues. It went quite well, got some good comments and ideas for other concepts.

[Lisa Haneberg]

Sebastian - great stuff. I am constantly amazed how eager many people are to share ideas and contribute to our goals.

[Rob]

I was flagging a bit yesterday, but a couple of my requests really paid off - the most useful was a really comprehensive email from someone who already works in the usability field, which was a big boost.

I got a lot of advice about the business side of it, which is the big thing for me - I can do the work, I just need to set up the support structure that enables me to do it!

[Lisa Haneberg]

Rob: all it takes is a couple granted requests to get the momentum going. Getting your context aligned to help you achieve your goal, like a support structure is critical. Great progress!