Fundamental Questions
"Q: What type of questions don't get asked early or often enough in innovation projects?
A : There are two kinds. First, the fundamental ones. Why are we doing this? What do people care about?..."- Warren Berger, Inc. article
As someone who manages projects for a living I can really appreciate Warren's first type of question.
It clearly lays out one of the biggest mistake that companies make. They fall in love with doing something.
Long time ago I worked with a young Project Engineer. He had a very unusual skill. He can take any project that was given to him and determine why it did not need to be done. In other words he asked fundamental questions. Often times the questions lead him to wants and not needs. He even got promoted because he managed to save the company a lot of money by killing projects.
I have always believed in defining the customer need and providing vision. The vision I provide is to not only give them a solution that could solve their problem but also future ones that they might not even be aware. In other words I always lean on the side of doing more with a project instead of killing the project. Maybe I need to ask more fundamental questions?
Today's question is:
"How might we do this job differently?"
"Q: What type of questions don't get asked early or often enough in innovation projects?
A : There are two kinds. First, the fundamental ones. Why are we doing this? What do people care about?..."- Warren Berger, Inc. article
As someone who manages projects for a living I can really appreciate Warren's first type of question.
It clearly lays out one of the biggest mistake that companies make. They fall in love with doing something.
Long time ago I worked with a young Project Engineer. He had a very unusual skill. He can take any project that was given to him and determine why it did not need to be done. In other words he asked fundamental questions. Often times the questions lead him to wants and not needs. He even got promoted because he managed to save the company a lot of money by killing projects.
I have always believed in defining the customer need and providing vision. The vision I provide is to not only give them a solution that could solve their problem but also future ones that they might not even be aware. In other words I always lean on the side of doing more with a project instead of killing the project. Maybe I need to ask more fundamental questions?
Today's question is:
"How might we do this job differently?"
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