Fresh eyes, fresh ideas

Good businesses are fuelled by good ideas, but it’s difficult to keep the ideas coming when you’re at the sharp end of running a business. Jodie Newman explains how to find clarity.

Have you got fresh eyes? (And no, this is not a question about if you got to bed before midnight). If you have been running your business for any length of time, the answer to this question is probably no. Fresh eyes - that amazing ability to look at something very familiar (like your own business) and see it as if for the first time - is a tough trick to pull off. But as a business skill, it’s a really useful one to develop.

Because fresh eyes give you a different perspective, and a different perspective on your business can bring fresh insights and new ideas: the very lifeblood of business growth. 

When I worked in a large marketing agency in London, I named a questionnaire I devised for new starters ‘the Fresh Eyes Review’. Because what I realised was that people new to a business were guaranteed experts in one thing: asking questions. And it is some of these questions – well, three, to be precise – that all business owners should learn to ask – both new starters, and themselves. So what are these questions, I hear you ask? (See, you’re already asking questions, so this is going to be easy). Here they are:

Why do we do it like this? 

One of the most powerful questions you can ask a business. Whatever you look at in your business – be it a process, a product, a way of recruiting or how you make the tea – ask this question. You may think you know the answer, but ask it anyway. Then ask the people around you and listen to their answers, they may well have a different response. And definitely ask the new starter, as they probably have no clue whatsoever why you do it this way, and their answer may prove very interesting indeed. Jot down all the responses you collect and study them long and hard. Do they make sense? Are there compelling reasons why you do it like you do or do some of the answers stray into ‘because we’ve always done it like this’ territory? BAU (business as usual) may be BAU because it's the best way to do it, but so often, BAU is simply BAU because SOTUTDILT (someone once told us to do it like this). Which thinking leads nicely to our next question…

What if we do it like that instead?

Be brave and ask this question, because if you really want to improve your business, this is the killer question. Ask everyone and anyone what that could be – there will be a myriad of ‘thats’ – and consider each one. Which provides improvement? Are there elements of these solutions that you can adopt? What are the benefits of doing it like that instead of like this? And our final question…

What do other people do?

So whilst you are asking questions about your business, this is a great tertiary line of enquiry as it is all about helping you to see a range of possible alternatives to how you do what you do. But it is not about copying, sending out a legion of spies to your competitors or losing a sense of your own unique approach. In fact, this question is best asked about a brand or business completely separate to yours. One of my favourites is: What would Richard Branson do? Because no matter if you run a cupcake stall or a pet shop, trying on the approach of someone else to get you a fresh perspective is going to help you think differently about your business, and might just get you the competitive edge you need.

So, why not try to grow your business with these Fresh Eye Questions? You may just end up asking yourself a fourth: why the heck didn’t I ask these questions before?