Hi, we’re a marketing company that specializes in creative collaboration. During this time, we know many of you are working remotely. Those silos that have separated us in our offices are now more physical than ever. Yet, now is when we desperately need to feel connected.
Yes, we’re using video chats and other collaborative softwares. But one of the biggest challenges is generating ideas together or creative solutions to problems. It’s hard to capture the spirit of being in the room together.
Over the next few months as we navigate this new era of WFH, we’d like to share some tips on how to help your team get connected and spark ideas. These are exercises we’ve been using with clients big and small for six years. In person and remotely.
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What is a beautiful question?
A beautiful question is a provocative, open-ended question that helps us create empathy for the consumer and better understand the value of a product. They open up our thinking and give us new avenues to explore. All to create more novel ideas and make more interesting decisions.
How can I create one?
Your question should be inspired by a problem that you’re currently working on. For example:
- If you’re trying to market a product that fits really well, you might ask: What does it feel like to try to “fit in” versus being yourself?
- If you help smart devices communicate with people better, you might ask: If all your things could talk, what would be super helpful things they could say?
- You make any plain question like “What’s 5 + 5?” beautiful. Example: What are two things you can add together to equal 10?
The beautiful question has an infinite number of answers, each with their own rabbit hole to explore.
When should I use it?
Right at the beginning of your idea generation. Come up with 3–5 ahead of time, and challenge your group to come up with as many answers as they can. Then identify the most interesting answers, and see what novel paths those lead you down.
If you’d like us to help facilitate your next remote brainstorm, please get in touch: [email protected]