Hey, happy Monday,
What is the most interesting thing you are going to do this week?
Really, I’m curious, I want to get to know you better. To understand who’s on the other side.
I could have asked, “How are you?” but that is not a question, it is an interchange. We ask it automatically so much we’re fine with any answer. Because we don’t care. We give any answer when they ask us anyway. So that, that’s not a question.
We designers, on the other hand, love to ask questions. It’s in our nature. Not because we particularly like to stick our noses into other people’s business. But because the quality of our work depends on it. Better questions. Better answers. Better results. That’s all.
Management by Expectation (a bad thing)
Our customers, our managers, don’t like questions.
For them, questions increase that annoying distance between command and action. “But instead of asking these things, why don’t you get to work?”
For them, questions are dangerous, they challenge the hierarchy. “Of course I had thought about it too, that’s why I’m telling you that you have to do it this way…”
The brief is clear. They, the solution expect them in the design. How many times have you heard feedback like, “It seemed obvious to me that this should have been there, how come I don’t see it?” or, “It’s obvious it should have worked this way, right?”
You can’t do Management by Expectation.
If you manage projects expecting that things will be done a certain way, you will certainly be disappointed with the result. I assure you.
The most important questions
There are two questions I ask all the time that have super power, which is often difficult to control if you are not prepared to handle the answer, so use them at your own risk…
Make or break. Literally. The brief could change. The project might change. You may be in question.
But if you are good, these two questions will give you superpowers too. They will flip the table. They will put you in control of operations.
The first question is strategic. The second is tactical.
The first is vision. The second is action.
Okay, I’ll stop, I had gotten a taste for it….
Question no. 1. What does success look like?
In the most optimistic scenario, what do you expect to happen if everything goes right?
Defining the success of the initiative is most important to ensure that everyone is pushing in the same direction without leaving anything to chance by avoiding possible deviations from what management really thinks is important.
It is critical to understand the impacts that a successful project generates in all areas of the organization that will be affected, directly and indirectly.
Why is this question so powerful?
For one thing, it allows everyone to be clear about the ultimate goal, the direction to which to aim and the motivation to achieve it.
Secondly, it allows for the exploration of solutions different from the initial request by allowing everyone to contribute by generating completely new design possibilities.
Ultimately it allows you to ask an implicit question: what could stand in the way of our success? Representing the future immediately gives you the ability to imagine what could go wrong and, by-design, solve problems in advance.
If you survived this question you are ready for the second one.
Question no. 2. How do we measure it?
I don’t want to beat around the bush too much about being data-driven, which can be dangerous at times, but you can’t do a project and not have a set of metrics allow you all to see if you are going in the right direction.
Innovation is not a linear path, and one must be prepared to change course quickly and often with sudden changes of direction. Sometimes it is even necessary to abandon the project itself.
But what do you need to measure? With the answer to Question #1, you have the opportunity to go and imagine what numbers are generated under the new conditions of success. Not just “positive” numbers, such as increased leads or revenue, but also “negative” numbers, such as inquiries to customer care. Do a quick table run and score everything you can measure right now and get organized to get the data that is definitely missing.
Here’s a tip for choosing the only metrics you need: choose only those that, as they change, also change your behavior.
The greatest benefit of using these questions is to finally have the ability to be able to manage projects objectively and no longer subjectively. To stop negotiating “likes” with “works.” To finally align Design, Business and Technology.
That’s all. I hope this note was helpful to you.
If you have time and inclination write me what you think. I enjoy reading and always reply to everyone when I can.
Good work!
Make yourself heard.
