BrainStorming/QuestionStorming

Fragments from imaginary dialogues

“Which career path should I take?”

“Start with BrainStorming (BStorming).

What are your perceived options?

You can do it with mind-mapping. Write ‘Career’ in the middle of the page, and branch out in all directions.

Continue with QuestionStorming [link; medium length] (QStorming).

You can do it using two pages – one for mind-mapping, and one for questions.”

“Why not just one for questions?”

“The essence of any question can be captured in a few words – it’s essentially a model. You can reverse-engineer the process by starting with the models, and using it to generate questions.

Something like this:

As you come up with a relevant model, add it to the mind-map.

Using the map, start generating questions.

It might look something like this:

Which option is the most meaningful?
Which is the most aligned with your purpose?
Which is the most aligned with your highest aspirations?

Which does your gut guide you toward?
Which makes you feel most expansive?

Which is the most exciting?

Which offers the most growth potential?

Which can you learn most from?
Which has the highest learning-density potential?

Which allows you to develop future-proof skills?
Which allows you to develop transferable skills?

Which would you most like to do if you weren’t afraid?
Which is the least comfortable?
Which is farthest outside your comfort zone?

Which is the most painful in the short-term?
Which is the most painful in the long-term?
Which is the most pleasurable in the short-term?
Which is the most pleasurable in the long-term?

Which offers the highest potential ROI (Return On Investment)?
Which has the highest life-stacking potential?

Which would Future-You be most grateful for?

…

You get the point.

And you can invert all of them – to practice Inversion [link; medium].”

Advertisement