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How To Use The 'Questions Brainstorming' Method In Your Organization
Supervisor's Guide To Quality & Excellence, April 2, 2001

“Organizations and management processes often shy away from asking questions because they are perceived as antagonistic, confrontational challenges to authority,” says Perry Ludy, author of “Profit Building” (Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc.).

“However, questions can be an important part of finding creative solutions and should be encouraged at all times and within all levels of an organization.

“’Questions Brainstorming’ is a new approach that stimulates creativity and fuels continual improvement. The traditional practice of brainstorming for answers generates fewer ideas and consequently, fewer solutions. Brainstorming question, on the other hand, allows teams to be more creative when exploring a topic.”

Below, Ludy president of LUDYCO, a Woodbridge, Conn.-based consulting firm that helps organizations develop creative approaches to building profits, discusses the benefits of Questions Brainstorming and reveals how it works.

A Look At The Benefits Of Questions Brainstorming

  • Clear Objectives. “Managers are able to brainstorm questions until they are satisfied that they have a true understanding of the objectives and solutions, rather than attempting to generate quick answers in areas where they may be inexperienced,” says Ludy.
  • More Participation. “Everyone is asking questions because they don’t have to come up with answers,” says Ludy. “Indeed, asking questions is more natural to most people than trying to generate answers.
    “Think of a child who continues to ask her or his parents, ‘Why? Why? Why?’ The parents eventually get frustrated because the child is forcing then to become more creative with their answers. The process of Questions Brainstorming eliminates this drawback because it demands no answers, only endless questions.”
  • Better Questions. “The ease of the process facilitates creative thinking, leading to better questions and ultimately, better solutions,” says Ludy.

    • How It Works

    “The Group keeps asking questions until they have exhausted the topic,” says Ludy. “Only when all of the questions have been asked is it time to start looking for answers.

    ”The questions are prioritized and each is assigned to an individual to seek answers. The process of thinking about questions provides the framework for the answers, and these in turn help construct the action items.”

    Questions Brainstorming Vs. Traditional Brainstorming

  • Traditional Brainstorming. Suppose employees from various departments form a team to develop action steps to reduce costs and improve profits via traditional brainstorming. The flip chart might have suggestion items such as: increase revenue, improve marketing, reduce labor costs, reduce benefits costs, eliminate unnecessary departments, improve productivity, reduce utility costs and so on.
  • Questions Brainstorming. This flip chart looks very different. It might include questions such as: How is revenue generated? What new revenue generation activities have been tried? Why do we need this cost? What are some alternatives to what we’ve been doing? Can we outsource this activity? How do we know whether our price is competitive?

    • Facilitation: Begin With Jump-Start Questions

    ”Until teams become familiar with the Questions Brainstorming process, a facilitator can use jump-start questions to stimulate the group’s thinking,” says Ludy. “As the team becomes more familiar with the process, they will begin to generate their own questions.

    ”Once enough questions have been generated, the facilitator can help the team prioritize by focusing on questions with the most impact. After the top-ranking questions are addressed, the team can move down the list.

    ”The prioritized questions undergo a filtering process. Addressing each question, ask: ‘Who?’ ‘What?’ ‘When?’ ‘Where?’ ‘How?’ and ‘Why?’ Team members who are assigned to research an answer further may do so by checking with various departments and outside agencies.

    ”If you ask all of the questions, you will discover that in most situations, there is more than one right answer,” says Ludy. “But whatever answer to a filter question is ultimately chosen, it will serve as the point of departure for action items.”

    Rules For Running A Successful Meeting

    Here are some guidelines to keep your meetings on track.
    1. Lead don’t impede. Listen, keep things moving and help the discussion along.
    2. Consider yourself a master of ceremonies. Focus on one topic at a time. If the discussion wanders, bring it back on track.
    3. Use the meting to problem solve. Get participants involved by asking question.
    4. Make sure you take specific action on each agenda item, even if it means tabling a topic or assigning it to a committee.
    5. Follow up on unresolved issues from prior meetings.
    6. Too much time on one item takes time from others. Assign a timekeeper to signal when allotted time is up on an issue.
    7. End when you say you’ll end.

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