Tip #30: Screw brainstorming. Try question-storming.

Two weeks ago, I wrote about how I feel about brainstorming .?

This week I’m going to talk about brainstorming’s lesser-known, and way more useful counterpart, question-storming.

How many times have you come up with an idea only to find out it’s already been done??

This tells us two things:

1. We’re all solving similar problems.
2. We’re all asking the same questions.?

If you want a more creative answer, you have to ask a more creative question.

“Discovering problems actually requires just as much creativity as discovering solutions. There are many ways to look at any problem, and realizing a problem is often the first step toward a creative solution," Myths of Innovation, Scott Berkun.

I think this is where many creative briefs fall short. They focus so much on what the solution might be. A lot of briefs nowadays even have thought-starter ideas, but as creatives, we’ll be more inspired by a compelling problem that needs solving, than a few half-baked answers.

“A problem well-stated is a problem half-solved,” Charles Kettering

As I’m sure you've guessed, question-storming is coming up with questions instead of ideas. It’s a great exercise when you’re feeling stuck or feeling as sharp as Keanu Reeves. Just come up with a bunch of questions and when you’re in a more creative zone, start answering them.

It’s something you can do as a group (instead of brainstorming) or on your own as a way to spice up solo concepting.

Coming up with questions is how we come up with ideas anyway. Those Aha! moments come after asking ourselves a question, or a series of questions. But when we’re concepting, we don’t do this deliberately. We’re just in our own minds doing what we do.

By shifting from finding the right answer to finding the right question, it can also alleviate some pressure. According to neuroscience, it tricks your jerkface inner critic (my words). She gets all confused because she doesn’t think you’re trying to solve the problem, gets bored and takes a nap. Little does jerkface know, you are concepting.

I’ll workshop this to demonstrate how I might use it. Let’s say the problem we’re trying to solve is: We need people to wear more masks to stop the spread of this ****ing virus.?

I’ll just start listing questions:

• Why don’t people want to wear masks?
• What are all of the possible things they could be afraid of?
• Are there other things people wear on their faces but eventually get used to?
• What are other uncomfortable things people wear every single day but we accept and don’t feel the same way about??Tight jeans? High heels?
• Is there a certain demographic in particular who resists wearing masks?
• Can we find someone who said this was "just the flu" but nearly died and use them as an example/influencer for others?
• What are the potential downsides of wearing masks?
• What are the potential downsides of not wearing a mask?
• What are the potential benefits of wearing a mask?
• Are there any benefits of not wearing a mask? Do the benefits outweigh the risks for some?
• Are we wearing these masks to protect ourselves or to protect others? What does it feel like?
• Do people touch their faces more when they wear a mask??
• What's more annoying than wearing a mask??
• What’s more uncomfortable than wearing a mask?
• What could we design or write on masks to make them less scary? How about more scary?
• What could we design or write on masks to make them less weird? Or more weird?
• How can we normalize wearing a mask?
• What can we say to help people feel more optimistic??
• What are these masks made of? What element/fabric is protecting us??
• Are there any mask hacks? How can I stop my glasses from fogging up? What if I have bad breath?
• What would an angry person say to someone who isn’t wearing a mask?
• What would a compassionate person say to someone who isn’t wearing a mask?
• What would healthcare workers and other essential workers say to these people?
• What would grandparents say to these people??
• What would someone who has only months to live say to people who are struggling with wearing a mask?
• Can we reward/celebrate people who are wearing masks instead of shaming those who don’t?
• How can we be more compassionate and understanding toward people who are choosing not to wear one or are being defiant or angry?
• What would someone who has lost a parent or loved one say to someone who refuses to wear a mask?
• What would that deceased person say to someone now if they could? What advice would they give?
• What are some mask do’s and don’ts? And also, could I make some fun ones up??
• What are some truths or observations around this pandemic in general? (List as many as you can.)
• What are my brutally honest feelings around wearing a mask? Have they changed since this started?
• What are my true feelings around my son having to wear a mask?
• What do I hate about wearing a mask??
• What do I hate about this stupid fuc*ing pandemic? How am I feeling? How am I REALLY feeling?

You can even create buckets featuring different kinds of questions. You could have a bucket for Weird?/ Crazy / Harsh / Stupid / Smart / Compassionate Questions and see where they lead you.?

Example:

WEIRD QUESTIONS:

• Do superheroes have any advice on wearing masks over a long period of time? How do they do it??
• What would COVID-19 say if it could speak?
• If animals can pass this virus on, shouldn’t they wear masks? What about fish? Why do fish have it so easy?
• If I were to write a book about wearing masks, what would the title be?

I just spent 15 minutes on this but you could easily spend an hour and have a ton of interesting questions to explore. These questions will now act as starting points for when I start writing headlines or coming up with ideas/answers. I’ll just go through and start answering and pondering each one. Just from this list, I could end up with 50+ headline options.

Oh, and when you’re spitting out questions, don’t stop to answer each one as you go. The whole point, just like brainstorming, is to get a lot down on the page without judgment and to keep the momentum going. Just let them flow. If you get ideas, jot them down but stay in the curious questioning zone. Don’t start trying to craft them into ads or headlines. Don’t cross the streams.

Go down a rabbit hole.?

Another way you can use questions, is to just drill into a single question and keep heading down one singular, focused line of thinking.?

Question. Answer. Question. Answer. Just keep digging into it. When you get to a question that sparks something, stop and explore it.

Example:

• How do we get people to wear masks? We have to get them over whatever is stopping them. What’s stopping them from wearing masks? They think this is just the flu. They think the whole thing is a conspiracy. They think it’s uncomfortable.?(ding ding!) What’s more uncomfortable than wearing a mask??

Answers:

• Having COVID-19
• Wearing a ventilator.
• Breathing in shards of glass.
• Getting a 6” inch swab up your nose.
• Having to call someone to tell them you may have given them COVID.
• Calling a grandparent to tell them you may have given them COVID-19.
• Being responsible for someone dying from COVID-19.
• Bedsores from being bed-ridden in ICU for 2 weeks.
• Quarantine and zero human contact.
• Extending this damn pandemic.

You can even start back at the top with this one, “How do we get people to wear masks?” but make your first answer different and you’ll end up somewhere completely different. Rinse and repeat.

Learning to ask better questions is a skill. You can practice it in your daily life. You can start with subtle shifts. So instead of “How’s work?” ask someone “How are you feeling about work these days?". Instead of “How’s it going?” ask someone, “How are you feeling these days?” These simple shifts will inspire more interesting and engaged responses, which will probably lead you to another more interesting question and a closer connection.

“Questions are your pickaxes. Good questions are what open people up, open new doors, and create new opportunities.” Tim Ferris

I’m Dan. I share content for creatives. Follow or send an invite to connect.?And of course, ask any questions if you got em.