The Anti-Problem and other cool tools

Posted by Jon
Whilst the candidates sat their APMP Foundation exam yesterday during a course I was running in our Utrecht office, I raided the bookshelves of my Dutch colleagues.
One very cool volume was “Gamestorming”, by Gray, Brown & Macanufo. I particularly liked their concept of “The Anti-Problem”: ask the team to solve the problem that is the exact opposite to the challenge that they’re currently facing. I can see lots of applications:

• describe the worst possible solution and supplier
• if we wanted to persuade the client not to choose us, what would we say in the proposal?
• to develop proposals in our organisation in the least efficient and effective way, what would we do?

I also loved “Brainwriting”. Identify the topic you want to solve (”Improving our proposal capabilities”, perhaps). Give each participant a large blank card on which to write an idea relating to the matter at hand. Get them to pass the card to the person on their right – and ask each individual to add an idea to the card that they have just received, to enhance or build on what they have just read. And keep on circulating and adding to the cards. (If you use paper instead, the authors suggesting passing the sheets on by turning them into paper aeroplanes…!)

A couple more: conduct a “Pre-Mortem” – rather than “what are the risks?”, ask “how did this end in disaster?” and work backwards. Or hold a “show and tell” session in which (perhaps) at the start of the campaign you ask your contributors to bring and discuss one thing that could contribute to your success on the bid (for example, something that they have delivered for another client with similar needs).
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Let us know if you play with any of the ideas! I certainly intend to…