Project “Soul Searching”
In our jobs, working for the LDS Church, we work on projects that do not generate financial income. This is very different than the corporate world that I’m used to, but also a very good thing. The projects we work on do not generate income, but they do use financial resources of the Church, and the bar is set very high to use those resources in the most effective way possible. This environment requires an extra level of vigilance and “project soul searching” that may not happen (although it probably should) in the corporate world. In this quest for meaning, I’ve been bombarded with questions. The process of questioning doesn’t always get to the answer. In fact, if you’ve got all the answers, the chances are that you don’t really understand the problem. The purpose of questioning is to gain a better understanding of the problem, where your solution fits in, and what effect it will really have on your customers and end users.
- What am I doing?
- Why am I doing it?
- Who am I doing it for?
- Why do they need it?
- Is it really an issue for them, or is it for me?
- Is what I am doing useful?
- Is it necessary?
- Am I really hungry already?
- What is the Issue?
- Why is it an Issue?
- How important is the Issue?
- What would happen if I didn’t try to solve the issue?
- Are there other options for addressing the issue?
- Is there already a solution that addresses the issue?
- Has the existing solution been implemented?
- If so, why hasn’t that fixed the issue?
- What is this isn’t really the issue?
- Is there an issue bigger than the issue I think I’m trying to solve?
- Where am I going to go for lunch?
- Is there a smaller, more focused issue that I haven’t thought of that would be easier to solve?
- What is the proposed solution?
- Why is that a solution and not a new problem?
- What is the objective of that solution?
- Who is going to use that solution?
- Why are they going to use it?
- What is the solution going to change?
- How are you going to know that it will really change?
- How important is that solutions, really?
- Is that solution possible?
- Are you sure that it is not possible?
- How much money do I have for lunch?
- Do you have the resources (time, money) to implement the solution?
- Do you really want to implement the solution?
- Are there situations or circumstances where the solution won’t work like you expect it to?
- Are there other solutions that this new solution will replace?
- Are there new solutions that must be developed because of this solution?
- Is it lunch time yet?
Andy Rutledge makes some good points on this also in his article “Seek Understading, Not Answers”