360 Degree Thinking

This is a call to arms: no more silos. No more solving problems from one viewpoint without any regard to what’s happening around you. No more single-line-logic that leads to answering the question at hand, and only the question at hand.It’s time to think more holistically.

No doubt you will recognize this fact when you read it: the better questions you ask, the better answers you’ll get. So, what’s the best question you could ask to lead to the best question you could get? (And, is that even the best question!?)

I hope GEMites would offer this question up as a key to the puzzle: “What does this mean?” Seemingly innocuous, asking the meaning of things leads to a whole host of better questions:

How do we define “this?”
Are we defining “this” correctly
Mean to whom?
Where?
When?
Why?
How?
In what context?

The list goes on. When we practice 360 Degree Thinking (Chris’ term, not mine – so let’s consider that my citation), we think holistically about the meaning in what we’re doing. What does this image mean for the client? For the target customer? Does it mean the same thing in the Fall that it does in the Winter? Does it mean the same thing to one who is familiar with the brand versus one who is unfamiliar? The list goes on.

Asking simple but powerful questions can change the way a team operates; the way an advertisement reads; the way an audience reacts. Encourage your own team to ask meaningful questions, and you’ll get well-thought-out, effective, meaningful answers.

So, all things considered, what does this post mean? Excellent question!

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