So What? Who Cares? Why You?

Tool Tip Time

For those of you who missed my newsletter last week, here's a taste of what's included. If you would like to get future newsletters, hop over to my web site and sign up www.wendykennedy.com

Here are 5 key takeaways to get the most out of the toolsets that make up So what? who cares? why you?:

1. “Don’t try this alone!” The So what? who cares? why you?™ tools come to life in a team.  Try to assemble a group of 3-5 people – include research or development team members who’ve got experience with the idea. These individuals bring a different perspective and new thinking about customers and opportunities will unfold.  It’s a good idea to include someone who can play the role of “devil’s advocate”.

2.      Appoint a ‘designated driver’– you need participants as well as someone to drive and focus the discussion. Appoint one person to facilitate and drive the discussion.  Back seat drivers are always annoying and dangerous in these situations.

3.      Flipcharts work best – They are in your face and promote open dialogue among the team. If you want to kick-start the exercise, give people post-it-notes to label their own ideas on the Market Fishbone. But don’t let the exercise become “pin the post-it-note on the tool”.  What you want is a lot of discussion and sharing of ideas around the table.   

4.      Don’t evaluate ‘on the fly’ - Avoid the temptation to critique as you go – let the ideas flow.

5.      Experiment – The most useful tools are full of notations, side-bar notes, and call-outs.  As the tools evolve, they begin to look cluttered, messy and disorganized to a passerby. But to participants, it captures the essence of the exercise.  Be open to trying different combinations and derivatives.  Don’t look for the “right” answer out of the gate.  Be patient as you work through the process.

That's it...

Enjoy your journey!

Wendy
author/advisor/lady with the flipcharts!
www.wendykennedy.com

The Power of a Flipchart!

Last week I was lucky enough to spend a few days with a bunch of energetic folks conducting So what? who cares? why you? workshops in Atlantic Canada.  It was hosted by an organization called Springboard Atlantic.  Not only was it a great few days filled with passion and energy of those participating, but 3M would be pleased to know that we supported their cause by eating through a pile of flipchart paper!!

I've posted a few pictures from the workshop here to share with you a friendly reminder of the power of a flipchart!:

I love this one...a market fishbone in the making!  They've even drawn the outline to resemble a fish! It's great...

and then there's this one....do you see what's happening?

Here's one more....

Notice where people are focused - on the discussion on the flipchart.

I've said many times that using the So what? who cares? why you? tools on a flipchart is a key success factor for a team.  A flipchart can unite a group of people around a discussion and in many cases helps to ensure that everyone is on the same page - in the world of emerging science and technology ideas, gaining clarity among the team about what they are trying to accomplish is often half the battle.  Quite often, individuals on the team have their own "take" on why they designed this 'new thing', and very often these 'shades of grey' come out at the most inappropriate times (like in front of investors!.

More important, the art of open discussion and debate among a team of researchers, scientists and/or engineers is not often the norm, so the flipchart has the ability to draw out even the most reserved of participants. 

So now...over to you....Get yourself a pad of sticky flipchart paper today and start having these interactive discussions - seeing is believing-- often we talk a lot about our ideas but we don't articulate the outcomes in a visual or in writing.  Use one of my So what? who cares? why you? tools to scope and frame the discussion - look in the archives for information on these tools. 

Force the discussion onto a flipchart - and get the flipchart up on a wall that is visible to many - the team,their peers, etc.  The tools will help to answer the question "so what are we trying to accomplish?"  and the flipchart will help to put the pinpoint accuracy on the answer.

Flipcharts are active - PowerPoint is passive....go for it!

Enjoy Your Journey!

Wendy
author/advisor/lady with the flipcharts!
www.wendykennedy.com