How Might We: Guiding your journey from Problem to Outcomes!
Innovation Series: Unleashing the Power of "How Might We" to Transform Challenges Problems into Opportunities. If you have not tried this simple approach, do it in your next meeting or workshop.
“After all a problem is never as permanent as its solution!”
In a constantly evolving world, problems emerge in various forms, affecting us personally and collectively. Recognising these challenges and finding effective solutions is crucial for progress. This blog explores the potential of using "How Might We" (HMW) as a tool to guide us from identifying problems to creating impactful solutions.
As an innovation facilitator, the faster we get out of the “problem space” and into co-creation, the better. We all understand that a problem on its own can seem daunting. By using HMW, we can rephrase the problems into a question which I have found is a breakthrough moment in switching the team's focus from panic mode to solution mode, it’s literally like flipping an innovation switch!
A guide to HMWs
Introduce the need to move from problem space to co-creation of outcomes using HMW statements to rephrase our problems into a question - The parameters I will leave to you, and it will depend on how you started sharing problems.
I like to give a working example of a HMW from what the group has been discussing, for example:
Problem:
“I heard Taylor say that customers find it challenging to find our products on the website.”
How Might We statement:
“Now, on a post-it note, capture your How Might We, you start by writing “HMW” and then your statement, which could be like this, for example:
HMW make it easier for our customers to search on our website and find the right product for them?
Now you don’t want this too broad, and you are billing the ocean, and if you go too narrow, you will significantly reduce or omit really great options, examples of these could be:
Too Broad - HMW connect customers with our products.
Too Narrow - HMW support our customers when coming to our Products page on our website with a Live Chat AI solution that instantly tells them which product they need”
Now let them rephrase problems in the same way.
Get them to focus on the largest problems, the ones they think if we solve this, we will create the most impact and value for our business and customers. Then, as a group, narrow it down again by voting on the HMWs they think are the most important.
I will provide more facilitator tools here, and if you need a facilitator to support you and your teams, check out my services here or click on the button to contact me.