Innovation- Ask Question

Step 1 : Ask Questions

Scott Berkun’s first step in innovation

The easiest place to start is with things you do every day. Simply ask: Who else does this, and how do they do it differently?

If you only know one way to do something, you’re making a big assumption. You’re betting that of the infinite ways there are to do it, the single one you know is the best. I’m a gambling man myself, but I wouldn’t make that bet, as those odds, one against infinity, are embarrassingly bad.

Even simple things like washing dishes or tying shoelaces have dozens or hundreds of alternative approaches in use by different people around the world. Those methods are all potential innovations for you and everyone you know. The problem is that someone has to go out of their way to find those alternatives and bring them back.

Not sure how to start? It’s with more questions. Useful questions for innovators include:

• Why is it done this way?

• Who started it and why?

• What alternatives did they consider, and what idea did their new idea replace?

• What are my, or my friend’s, biggest complaints with how we do this thing, and what changes might make it better?

• How is this done in other towns, countries, cultures, or eras of time?

• What different assumptions did they make or constraints did they have?

• How can I apply any of the above to what I do?

Many great innovators asked better questions than everyone else, and that’s part of why they were successful. It wasn’t genius, whatever that means, special top-secret brain exercises they did every morning, or even how much money they had. It was through the dedicated pursuit of answers to simple questions that they found ideas already in the world that might be of use.

Isaac Newton asked how could the force of gravity affect apples as well as the moon? And by framing the question that way, he made observations and developed mathematics related to gravity, something no one else had done to his level of satisfaction.

Many of Leonardo da Vinci’s inventions started with him asking the question: “How does water flow?” It was his many studies of rivers, streams, and the way water moved that led to his inventions for water-powered wheels, ways to move water in aqueducts and canals, and pumps for wells. Without asking questions and looking around, even at obvious everyday things like water and gravity, Newton’s and da Vinci’s creative talents would never have had a chance to surface.

Step 2: Try Things Yourself