Trigger Question #114:
Have you ever sat staring at your screen and tried to solve a problem? Have you ever stared at a textbook (calculus, anyone?) and tried to make sense of it? What about staring at a piece of blank paper waiting for words to flow from your pen?
Well, your trying was wrong. You were staring at the problem head-on. One view, one angle, one perspective.
Next time you’re stuck with a problem, try this trick. Write the problem on a whiteboard. Or on a piece of paper which you can tape to the wall.
- Now walk away and face the board or paper head-on. Consider the problem.
- Take a step to your left. Consider the problem. Step back to the center.
- Take a step to your right. Consider the problem. Step back to the center.
- Take three steps to your left. Consider the problem. Step back to the center.
- Take three steps to the right. Consider the problem. Step back to the center.
- And so on, increasing your viewing angle as you consider the problem.
What are you doing? Yes, you are looking at the problem from different angles. But doing so physically, not just mentally, by stepping away to create angles. This tricks your brain into “seeing” it differently, from different perspectives.
What if your team is in a meeting, around a table, facing a whiteboard? Bingo! Every person is already looking at the board from a different angle. That angle is their unique perspective. Now all you need to do is get them to share what their angle, their point of view, reveals.
When solving problems, your angle makes all the difference. And the more angles you have, the more potential solutions will pop up.
But why do angles work? Because you are angling. You are fishing for ideas, for solutions.
Welcome to my side of the nonsense divide.
. . .