Leadership Skills: Validating, Checking the Right Data

Not validating the right things is a trap. Henry Ford asked people what they wanted and they said a faster horse to get places faster. He validated the concept and created a product to meet that need. Rather than stick with a faster horse, he was able to reframe the situation into another paradigm.

Simon Sinek says to begin with why. Ask why people have a need and then validate that you can fill that need.

We rush to market with a product or service after spending a large amount of time developing the product or service, and find that people are not rushing in to purchase our brilliance.

What’s missing?

We might have asked the wrong questions and assumed that there was a go-forward strategy based on the answer received from a faulty question.

When facilitating group processes, it’s important to create the right questions for the group to answer. Sometimes the question in mind is a secondary question and the primary question is one level above or one step prior to the framing of the question first conceived. Also, when asking groups to brainstorm from a question, it’s very important to have the correct language when framing the question. Typically, changing one word can totally change the response to the question.

Here are my steps in qualifying what questions to ask to ensure that others can provide the right data for the important decisions ahead:

• Define the real issue: Like the story of Henry Ford illuminates, we can’t open up all options for people; we must narrow the framing by pointing to the real issue. All that people understood was horses. They didn’t have the concept of a motorcar in their awareness. The real issue wasn’t a faster horse…it was a different mode of transportation. They responded with what they knew. Ford was able to transfer that answer to his vision for a car. The real issue was a different mode of transportation.
• Ask others for perspective: Ford had a different paradigm. Many times leaders don’t have a perspective and need others to provide a different frame of reference or different polarity to the thinking. Asking a variety of different kinds of people who think differently helps to provide perspective. Perspective is not the final answer. It’s data to get to the final answer.
• Sleep on the question: Many entrepreneurs are independent thinkers who move into action. Moving to action instantly upon developing the inquiring questions doesn’t allow time for critical thinking. Time to reflect and time to think are priceless. It’s easier to revise the question before asking than going back for revised answers.