When assessing your options, this can be a useful penultimate consideration.

What has to be true for this to be right?

Whilst when it comes to making the final decision about which option to chose we prefer to talk about ‘good or bad’, rather than right or wrong, in selecting which options to include in the final review – identifying the source of truth informing each choice can be really helpful in narrowing the field. Ideas are everywhere.

Everyone has many ideas. Ideas are free. Developing ideas into frameworks, structures and processes that actually stand them up and bring them to life can be time consuming, resource intensive and expense. Idea selection is the craft.

Focusing on the source of data used to assess the validity, potential impact and development requirements of the idea are the tools the idea-craftsperson can call upon.

All of which require data. Data that is true.

Another way of using this is in regards to problem identification, before moving to the solution generation. Have we reached the truth of the root cause of the problem, in order to go on and generate the ‘right’ range of solution options.

So, when sorting and filtering the vast array of ideas you and your team have developed, try applying this main question, or one of the suggested variations below;

• What data points do we assume are true in order for this to be the right option for us to review?
• What feedback are we using as our source of truth as we judge which of our options are the best ones for us to progress with?
• Where are we getting our information that informs our choices?
• Have we assessed all possible sources of data before we developed these options?
• Where else can we go to confirm our data point selection so we can have surety that these options are the right ones?
• Are we basing these options on first-hand or third hand information?

As always, we hope this series of potential self or team based inquiries will be helpful.

See you soon for more in the Year of Better Questions.