Imagine a Headline from the Future
Learning Objectives
After completing this unit, you’ll be able to:
- Translate problem statements into a “How might we ...?” proposition.
- Lead a Headlines exercise.
- Describe the aspiration of your innovation project.
How Might We Flip Orthodoxies into Opportunities?
Coming out of the exercise in the last unit, it’s understandable if your team is a bit riled up with frustration over the consequences of so many orthodoxies. Before a feeling of doom and gloom overtakes the room, flip the conversation with a flip in language. Renowned teacher and researcher Min Basadur used the question “How might we?” as a way to engage in problem-solving and innovation discussions in an optimistic way.
How suggests that the problem can be solved.
Might allows us to imagine or explore possibilities without committing to them.
We acknowledges it’s going to take a collaborative effort.
Here’s how to transform a problem statement into a “how might we” statement.
| Problem Statement | How Might We |
|---|---|
| Aqua Blue is losing customers, and we need to do something different or our business and brand will suffer. | How might we create a customer experience that is so effortless and delightful that guests don’t want to stay anywhere else? |
Reorienting the business problem in this way expands the scope of possibility for the solution. Next, we’ll walk you through an exercise that stretches your team’s ambitions to help you design for tomorrow and not just today.
Headline from the Future Exercise
Display 5–10 copies of business magazines around the room with provocative covers. Ask your team, “By choosing to innovate around this topic today, what should we aspire to achieve in five years? What would the headline say on the cover of any of these magazines?”
This exercise is an important moment in your brainstorming efforts in which you want to change the direction of ideation. Provoke the team to aim higher, think wackier, and view the opportunity from all angles. During a lull in conversation, throw out a provocative notion like, what if a startup could reinvent this experience from the ground up? What benefits to the customer could they offer to instantly differentiate their company?
Your goal is to elevate the level of thinking and ideas away from what’s possible today to opportunities that feel uncomfortably exciting because they feel far away in the future.
A provocative headline for Aqua Blue Properties could read:
What does this headline signal? It indicates a vision for Aqua Blue that involves delivering a guest experience that’s driven by cutting-edge technology meant to offer the utmost convenience at a price that is accessible to the masses.
At this stage, you’re not focused on how you’ll get it done. Instead, you’re defining a dream—a target to aim your innovation efforts at.
Tips for Common Pitfalls
Focus on possibilities—Avoid addressing limitations. Instead focus on possibilities, and remind folks to suspend disbelief to maximize creativity.
Focus on thinking boldly—Some literal-types in the group might say, “We don’t care about headlines. This isn’t about press!” While that might be true, remind your team that the intent of this exercise is to encourage bold thinking. The idea is to ensure that you’re aiming for something that’s new and useful enough that attracts attention at scale. Also make it a results-oriented goal that can be easily summed up in a brief headline.
Focus on the message, not the language—It’s okay if your team members aren’t creative writers. Usually, one or two folks excel at coming up with catchy messaging. (They probably use 140 characters on social media.) You can always take time after the session to get the language right.