Blog | Brainzooming

Strategic Thinking: Asking a Different Type of Question

Written by Mike Brown | Feb 19, 2014 10:50:43 AM

Designing a strategy planning session, a client expressed frustration that the leadership team never challenged itself with big enough strategic thinking for the organization's future.  

As a result, we incorporated a set of extreme creativity questions into the strategic planning session.

These strategic thinking questions are designed to drive bigger, bolder creative ideas. They provide, in effect, a detour around conventional thinking.

In this instance, faced with a different type of question to answer, the leadership team members didn't miss a beat and started delivering the unusually challenging ideas they had never articulated previously.

The difference was simply having the leadership team answer new types of questions than it had previously. The group was very open to responding to the strategic thinking questions we posed and could respond appropriately to questions intended to drive bolder ideas.

Asking a Different Type of Question to Drive New Strategic Thinking

It’s clear that the intent behind the questions you ask makes a huge difference in the strategic thinking a group does. Depending on what type of thinking you need from your team, consider these sets of questions.

Remember – if you’re not getting the right types of answers, it could likely be it’s because you aren’t asking the types of strategic thinking questions you really need. – Mike Brown

If you enjoyed this article, subscribe to the free Brainzooming email updates.

The Brainzooming Group helps make smart organizations more successful by rapidly expanding their strategic options and creating innovative plans they can efficiently implement. Email us at info@brainzooming.com or call us at 816-509-5320 to learn how we can help you in creating strategic impact for your organization.