Problem-Solving Paralysis? Try Musical Chairs For A Breakthrough Solution

When you are leading a team that hits a creative roadblock, introducing them to Musical Chairs, a methodology that we created at Eureka! Ranch, will help them find solutions to seemingly intractable problems. Musical Chairs enables you to transcend organizational blind spots and get “unstuck” by changing your mental frame of reference. Like some of the other problem-solving methods we use, Musical Chairs is all about suspending your preconceived notions and looking at challenges with fresh eyes.

A Simple Way To Start 

The simple way to do Musical Chairs is to just embrace the mindset and thinking of someone else. Ask yourself:

• What would they do?
• What would they recommend?
• What is most important to them?
• What is least important to them?
• What would bring them the most joy?
• How might they address the problem?

For example, if you are looking for ideas about where to go on a family vacation, explore ideas from the perspective of every family member. Don’t quickly dismiss any point of view if it conflicts with your own. Embrace such viewpoints and think as they would think.

In a work setting, you might look for ideas from the perspective of your best customers, occasional customers, or former customers. Or consider how other employees or company departments might think about your challenge.

It’s important to think deeply about what the other person might think and why. First thoughts can be based on simple stereotypes. When you go deeper, more profound and impactful ideas are often generated.

Ask Why and Listen

An important way to tap into the impact of Musical Chairs is to LISTEN to what others think about your challenge. The most important question you can ask is “why.”

• Why do you feel that?
• Why do you do that?
• Why is that a big problem for you?

For example, Eureka! Ranch was asked to discover ideas for helping community college students who don’t have consistent access to food. The project took a leap forward when we spent time face-to-face, listening to students as well as nonprofits focused on helping the students.

As we listened to frontline staff at food pantries, it became clear that addressing their food challenges was about much more than simply food. A complex set of local, state, and federal rules made it challenging to act. In addition, a lack of cooking skills and equipment made the challenge even more complex.

We spent many days listening at multiple sites near two rural community colleges. I then wrote over 200 ideas or partial ideas, all inspired by the conversations. These ideas became the fuel for a session at each school with key stakeholders from the community, school faculty and administration, as well as students. The result was a collection of fresh ideas for addressing food insecurity on campus.

The Fastest and Easiest way to Leverage Musical Chairs Insights

Listening – and listening face-to-face – is invaluable in helping understand the problem from the perspective of others. The downside is it takes time. Another way to leverage Musical Chairs involves mentally adopting the mindset and even stereotypes of actors, athletes, politicians, historical figures, or even fictional characters from books, plays, TV, or movies.

In my case, I have several personal “heroes” that I often turn to for inspiration. they are people who have taught me a distinct way of thinking. Others are historical figures who I’ve not met but have read a good amount of their writings. A full list of the people who I leverage to create ideas would go well into the hundreds. Yes, hundreds. In fact, I’ve made it something of a hobby to collect the wisdom and mindset of distinctive thinkers.

Here’s a short list of some special people whose minds I leverage regularly. In each case I challenge myself to think, “What would they do?”

• What would Ben Franklin (American Founding Father) do?
• What would Dr. W. Edward Deming (Pioneer on System Thinking) do?
• What would Ross Love (VP of Marketing at P&G and mentor) do?
• What would Patty Giavara (disciplined engineer and deep thinker) do?
• What would Ken Grier or Eric Schultz (marketing wizards and mentors) do?

I’ve used these people as inspiration so often they have become my “alter egos.” As a result, it takes just seconds for me to look at an issue from the perspective of . . .

• Ben Franklin—maintain a sense of humor and mischievousness.
• Dr. Deming—take responsibility for long-term success.
• Ross Love—think global not national, regional, or local.
• Patty Giavara—think logically and confront reality.
• Ken Grier and Eric Schultz—break all the rules.

Why Musical Chairs Works  

Musical Chairs sparks new ideas by opening your mind and by reducing personal prejudices. As we live and experience life, we develop prejudices against certain foods, drinks, music, entertainment, and even ways of working. Personal prejudices are part of what makes each of us an individual. They are not useful, however, when it comes to opening our mind to new perspectives, insights, and ideas. By shifting your point of view to that of another, you give yourself permission to think differently. When you release your mind, you can see new ideas.

Barriers to Musical Chairs

The greatest barrier to Musical Chairs is not letting go of your personal prejudices. To be effective, you need to remove your personal judgment and adopt someone else’s mindset.

Sometimes our prejudices run deep. We may have lived with them since childhood. Giving them up, even for a few minutes of brainstorming, is not always easy. Focusing on “empathy and understanding” instead of “judgment” is useful.

However, even today, after more than 50 years of innovation, I still am amazed at my own “blind spots” when it comes to empathy and understanding. I still find myself in a conversation with someone when I realize I am not fully listening to and understanding what they are saying. Instead, I’m comparing and contrasting their thinking with my preconceived ideas, looking for validation or contradictions. When I notice, I make a conscious effort to listen more intently to what the other person believes and why. We can’t change who we are. However, one of the most effective means for bringing new ideas to the world is to listen to other people.

Musical Chairs is all about embracing how other people think. This includes people you agree with and, just as importantly, those you disagree with. It is about honoring every person’s perspective without prejudice or prejudgment. Curiosity is the secret. With curiosity you are guaranteed to become very smart as well as successful at creating ideas.

Written by Doug Hall.
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