Good questions, good invitations.

If you are not clear on what the problem is, you cannot find the solution either.

I once asked a government organisation a simple question: who are we doing this for? Half the room said “the minister”. The other half said “the citizen”. That one question showed how much work there was still to do.

A question is also an invitation.

In every structure in my tools the first element is the invitation: the question you ask the group, and how you ask it. The same question can open a room or close it.

Five I keep coming back to.

1. What went well, and what do we want more of?

At least twice a year, a look back with my partner: what went well these past six months, and what do we want more of? The frame keeps the conversation open, and above all it makes us look forward in a positive way.

2. The sabotage question.

If we wanted this project to fail slowly while looking completely responsible, what would we do? Instead of asking people how to improve collaboration, ask them how they would destroy it. Then mark what already happens, and stop one thing this week. From The CIA guide to sabotaging companies.

3. What has to be true?

I use it mostly with scenarios and outcomes. For each possible outcome: what has to be true for this to work? It shows what is essential for success, and how feasible that really is.

The question comes from Roger Martin, who first used it in 1994 with a mining company and later built Playing to Win on it, with A.G. Lafley.

4. A rule that asks the question for you.

On YES-day there is one rule: if it gets too over-the-top, there is no YES-day next year. That single rule does the work. The kids ask themselves the question, so I don’t have to.

5. Is this a company problem or a project problem?

The first question in how I work. Most briefs mix the two. I play the question back in my own words until you nod, or correct me. Cheap now, expensive later.

All the questions I get asked most: What are you trying to do?

Roger Martin, The Evolution of the Strategic Choice Structuring Process. Invitation made with Midjourney.