Blog

What if? A question that kick-starts innovation

question-mark-1872634_1920.jpg

When winds of change blow, some people build walls, others build windmills.

A Chinese proverb


As external forces keep stressing the market, many companies are looking for the news ways to deliver their business and stay in the game. Times of change are full of opportunities but seizing them can be challenging. One simple technique can help overcome barriers of inertia and path-dependence, a ‘What if’ question.

Questioning in itself is a powerful approach that can be captured by a myriad of methods, 5 Whys the Golden Circle  and so on. However, ‘What if’ is a very special question because it is powerful and kind at the same time. It speaks to the inner child through curiosity, exploration and play. As if Alice in Wonderland getting “curiouser and curiouser!”  it captivates and tempts us to look for new and unexplored. It bears no judgement and celebrates all possibilities. It is gentle on the mind as it allows us to imagine the future and imposes no limits on what it could look like. It is powerful as it helps to turn that thought into a reality, and it is all down to the the working of our mental imagery.  

Mental imagery is a known technique in psychology  and education.  Cognitive therapists use mental imagery to create new behaviours and help break away from old habits. As a part of their training curriculum, future surgeons imagine themselves perform operations and young footballers learn by envisaging scoring goals. Both, a surgeon and a footballer imagine every detail important for their success, they envisage their bodily moves, emotions, responses, conversations and even the sensual input (what they see, hear, smell and taste). The granularity of imagery prepares the mind to consider an imagined act as truthful and believable. The level of detail is essential for creating a believable mental experience so that our mind creates a record of it as if we have had an experience itself. 

The innovative potential of the ‘What if’ question emerges exactly out of the process of mental imagery and the level of detail of our creative journey. By engaging with imagery, we visualise, verbalise, discuss and pursue any possible scenario. In so doing, we then expand out referential cognitive basis, and as a result increase the probability of our future emotional, cognitive and behavioural response. In this way, ‘What if’ helps to break away from the status quo and start living the future experiences as soon as they are imagined, and in so doing it makes the desired future an actual reality. By wrestling with a ‘What if’ question with the level of depth, joy and playfulness it deserves, we create an impetus for action, and that is exactly what is required to make innovation happen. 

***

For inspiration, check out some What If stories from the past, present and future: