Ask Powerful Questions

Another great practice for individuals, teams and companies to unlock creative potential is to ask powerful questions. The more clear and engaging the question, the easier it will be to address creatively.

For example, imagine you were on a marketing team and the marketing director said, “We need to drive more sales.” This is not a question, but a statement. Statements provoke the imagination much less than questions. Also, needing to “drive more sales” is an ambiguous goal.

Consider instead, if the marketing director said, “Let’s come up with 3 ways we can increase sales by 15% over the next two quarters.” This question invites a clear challenge – 3 ways, 15%, two quarters. Limitations, believe it or not, support creativity and innovation because it requires us to trim down the often overwhelming amount of possibilities and thus encourages more distilled focus.