Of killer phrases and knockout arguments
Last week I had some craftsman as guests! I was planning on having some work done around the house. After the first cup of coffee and an inspection of my flat, it quickly became obvious which aspects were not compatible with my vision: namely, pretty much all the work that had prompted me to invite the craftsmen in the first place. It was a strangely familiar feeling, because in my former job at the Innovation Hub I encounter similar situations fairly often. As soon as I have voiced an idea or addressed a suggestion, it just bubbles out of my counterpart that it all doesn’t work the way I had imagined. However, what I would really be interested in, is WHY it doesn’t work or WHAT I would have to do to get it to work! Instead, the classics: we’ve tried it all before, nobody’s going to buy it, or (one of my favourite sentence starters) yes, but…! When a sentence starts like that, you can be almost sure that the words that follow will get you absolutely nowhere.
If someone ever presents you with a whacky idea, I therefore recommend the “that only works if” approach, and here is a little tutorial for it:
1.) pause for a moment and start the answer with “that’s only possible if…”.
2.) suppress the impulse to add “hell freezes over” (important!)
3.) then formulate a subordinate clause that would make the idea possible from your perspective. Even if the technology is not yet available, the solution would cost an insane amount of money or your approach does not seem possible for other reasons. Just go for it and let it out.
You’ll see that your partners in crime can build on your ideas, so you can all shimmy your way to an actionable idea, step by step.
If you are on the other side and looking for a little inspiration to put your idea into practice, simply ask your colleagues, friends and acquaintances to start their answer with a “that only works if” and don’t offer any chance for killer phrases and knockout arguments.
