Get yourself a business breakthrough using a simple 3-question formula…

It’s easy to admire the business success of Polaroid, Uber and Airbnb, but these are not just one-offs. With the right questions and the right ideas, this same business success could be yours as well.

What if you could create your own breakthrough idea? What if you could ask just one question that would transform the fortunes of your business?

In his book, A More Beautiful Question, Warren Berger’s research points to a simple 3-question formula that you and I can apply to our businesses, our products and our services.

So why not take yourself and your team away from the office, have some time-out and give the 3-question formula a go? What have you got to lose?

Here are 4 pointers to get you started:

1. Drag yourself away from the coalface. 

Stop being too busy being busy, doing everything that just needs doing to keep your business going. Step back and go problem finding.

It worked for Bette Nesmith Graham, the creator of ‘Liquid Paper’.

2. Create a whole series of WHY? questions and seek out a problem worth tackling in your business.

Remember, your team must know that every question will be considered. You can then fine-tune and filter the questions and focus on one or two issues worthy of further investigation.

3. Next, pose some WHAT IF? questions.

These questions will generate options, ideas, possibilities and alternatives, just as Joe Gebbia and Brian Chesky did when they set up Airbnb.

4. Make it happen with HOW? questions.

Having found the problem and created options, it’s time to work out HOW.

Prototype and test your ideas as fast as you can. Remember, innovation rarely happens overnight, and there can be several failures along the road to success. It took 5 years for Edwin Land to launch the first Polaroid camera, but he started fast and never let setbacks divert him from his ultimate goal.