1. Finding the Holistic view ▪ If you could describe this element or situation in one sentence what would it be? What
would you tell the CEO or ED if they walked in right now?
▪ Can you identify an analogous situation, how does the essence of that situation bear
relevance?
essence
The ability to cut
through complexity
Problem
structuring
▪ Can you break up the situation into pieces, some of which may be more important than
others?
▪ Is there a difference in the relative importance of different elements?
▪ Can you (re)combine the parts to tell an interesting story?
▪ Can you examine the situation one piece at a time?
to reveal the heart
of the matter
Focus ▪ What would you do differently tomorrow / what would you tell the client to do differently?
Identifying
relationships
The ability to discern
connections/linkages
Comparison
of individual
elements
▪ Are there any common themes or issues that groups of the elements touch on?
▪ Are some elements particularly different or inconsistent with the others (i.e., outliers)?
▪ Are some elements larger or smaller than others?
▪ Are there differences in the relative size of their impact?
between elements of
the problem
Links between
elements
▪ Are there some elements that are responsible for producing other elements?
▪ Do some elements come before other elements, either in time or logic?
Links to "rest ▪ Does the collection of elements here resemble elements in other situations?
of world"
Change your
point of view
Change
elements
of situation
Change
context
Constructing
multiple
perspectives
The ability to see a
problem and its
aspects from many
angles
Approach Application
▪ Can you consider the situation through the eyes of different parties (internal and external)?
▪ Can you place the situation in a broader context and widen the scope?
▪ What are the underlying assumptions and what happens if you remove them?
▪ Are there key elements of the situation that can be changed (e.g., what if)?
▪ Can you extend it to its extreme cases (e.g., go from macro to micro or vice-versa)?
▪ Are there elements that can be represented in a different way? Can the specific be made
general (or vice-versa)? Are there different ways of phrasing the same question?
▪ Are there alternative frameworks for thinking about the situation that you can use?
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2. Stay ahead/
step back
Stay ahead of
the problem
▪ Is the team working on the right issues (have new issues emerged?). Is there an
opportunity to eliminate or refocus?
▪ Is there a hypothesis for the answer? Is the team working to disprove / prove this
hypothesis?
▪ Is there a Week 1 answer? How is this changing as the study progresses?
▪ Does this change the assessment of what is most important?
▪ Are you developing a plan now to ensure the team’s solution is impactful? (including
capability building, mindset shifts, etc.)
▪ Are you locking yourself in a room everyday to think hard about the problem? (synthesizing
where you are, what you have learned, to develop a new iteration of the story and the
implications for workplanning). No Blackberry, no mobile phone, no interruptions!
The ability to think
ahead of the
team and simulta-
neously step back
from the problem
Challenge
rigor/logic
▪ Does the top line thinking make sense? Is this reflected in the results of analyses?
▪ Have ambiguous elements been identified and isolated? Has the answer been tested at
each end of the ambiguity spectrum?
Maintain
perspective
▪ What are the key success factors? (e.g. innovative, stretch for organization, creative
insight, meeting budget). How does the solution measure up against these?
▪ Does the solution stand up against: the initial problem definition, good judgment, client
aspirations?
▪ Do the puzzle pieces fit together across multiple workstreams? Is the emphasis right?
Own the
problem
▪ Do you as EM truly own the problem? Have you set a high bar e.g.. are you saying “that is
not quite good enough” often enough? Do you know what it takes to move the engagement
forward?
▪ Have you done a ‘reality check’ on the team’s thinking from the client’s perspective? Do
you know the potential flaws in the team’s logic and how to address them?
▪ Are you aware of your unique perspective? Have you internalized what that means in
terms of your role as EM?
Approach Application
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Pushing to a better answer – Distinctiveness Questions (2/2)