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A brilliant, easy way to find your best option

Tags: Be interesting | Meetings | Impact | Do more | Influencing

19th July

Do you like it when things get tricky?

Many people don’t.

But our lives are full of challenges we must overcome.

And the more successfully we can overcome them, the more successful our lives are.

But it can be hard to find brilliant, easy solutions.

So here's my favourite technique, to do so.

  1. Clarify the challenge/outcome – be clear what the challenge is, and what the ideal outcome is
  2. Identify 3+ solutions – list at least three – ideally, more – potential solutions to this challenge
  3. ‘Brilliant' grades – give each of #2's solutions a grade of A, B or C, for how brilliant it is. In other words, how likely it is to achieve #1's desired outcome
  4. ‘Easiness’ grades – similarly, for each of #2's options, grade A/B/C for how easy it is to do
  5. Do the (A, A) – now, review all your gradings. Your best, easiest option is the one that has – or is closest to – (A, A)

I know this technique sounds childishly simple. But it works better than how most people seek solutions, because:

  1. It's easy to know the problem; less easy to know your ideal outcome you want
  2. It's easy to think of 1-2 solutions, decide they’re both rubbish, and think there's nothing to be done. But identifying at least three solutions forces your brain to be more creative
  3. It's too easy to go with the first option we think of. Instead, we should choose the one that is most likely to work…
  4. …and easiest to do
  5. Which means we end up choosing the best option, not a rubbish one (or just doing nothing)

I've done versions of this exercise with hundreds of customers over tens of years. I know it works. It's also really quick. From start to end, it's just a few minutes. Which means…

Action Point

…identify your current biggest challenge. And use steps 1-5 above. You’re only a few minutes away from having a brilliant, easy solution!

Quick note: I’m now on a loooong summer holiday with the family. So you’ll receive your next Tip on 6th September. Have a great summer.

See you then,
Andy