To uncover the hidden traps of big new projects being considered, Jaleh Rezaei relies on the “black hat” technique, where you kick off new initiatives by asking a targeted tough question: “Let’s assume that it’s one year from now and we’ve failed at our goal. What went wrong?”
“This question creates a subtle shift from a very optimistic mindset to triggering the team’s problem-solving neurons. It points them in the direction of trying to articulate the things that we don’t know yet,” Rezaei says. “The aim here is that you want to get to a list of five to 10 major assumptions implicit in achieving the long term goal.”
But it’s not about just dwelling on the negativity. “The next step is flip the negative statements into positive ones and reframe them to include the key levers that will make the program work. These are your core assumptions that must be true for you to hit your long-term goal.”
Source: “Better Meetings Make for Better Days — 20 Tactical Ideas to Try Out With Your Team”
Original Publication: First Round Review
Subject: Management
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