Protected: Challenging/Reversing Assumptions
Reversing assumptions is a powerful technique for rapidly generating new perspectives on old problems.
1. After identifying the problem, list all assumptions associated with it – aspects of the product or process, aspects of the relationships between involved parties, etc. List as many assumptions as you can.
2. Then reverse them one by one by writing down the opposite, or what constitutes the most different perspective.
3. Use the reversed assumptions as seeds for new ideas.
4. Integrate the most useful resulting ideas into practical solutions.
Example: A church wants to increase membership. The problem statement might read “How might we increase our membership?” Some of the assumptions associated with a church might be:
- Services are held on Sunday morning.
- People come to church.
- Services feature traditional music.
- Services are taken verbatim from an approved source (prayer book, etc)
- Services are formal, everyone dresses up
- Fundraising activities are focused on balancing the budget
Reversing the assumptions creates a list of new ideas and approaches:
- Services are held on days other than Sunday – determine if adding services on other days would attract people with busy weekend schedules
- Church comes to the people – conduct services ‘in the field’ in nontraditional places like community centers, assisted living centers, outdoor recreation sites, etc.
- Services don’t feature traditional music – hire modern musicians and adopt more modern music
- Services aren’t taken from an approved source – integrate aspects of different services to come up with something new or create your own from scratch
- Services are informal – people wear whatever they want
- Fundraising activities have nothing to do with the budget – make them focused on the unique talents of the parishoners to increase fun and participation
Any or all of the ideas that come from reversed assumptions can be integrated into one or more concrete solutions.
