We are trained to be solution-finders. In school, we are given questions and graded on the quality of our solutions. As we develop in our careers, management examines the solutions that we propose, not the questions that we have asked. For annual reviews, “performance” is usually defined as creating and implementing solutions rather than finding the best problems to tackle. We become wonderfully efficient at solving problems, even if they are the wrong ones to solve. Few kudos come from asking the right question.
Yet the right question is often the key to breakthrough business success. With a properly-framed question, finding an elegant answer becomes almost straightforward.
Bank of America has had a massive win with its “Keep the Change” program that rounds up customers’ debit card purchases to the next highest dollar, sweeping the difference to a personal savings account. The patented program is breathtakingly simple, for both the bank and the customer. The question might be something like: “How can customers save money without thinking, planning, or clearly foregoing consumption?”
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