0:00

This episode is brought to you by Shopify. Shopify

0:02

is there to help you grow. Whether

0:04

you're selling shipping supplies or promoting

0:06

productivity programs, Shopify helps you sell

0:08

everywhere from their all-in-one e-commerce platform

0:10

to their in-person POS system. Sign

0:12

up for a $1 per

0:14

month trial period at shopify.com/accidentalcreatable. This episode

0:16

is brought to you by Indeed. We're

0:19

driven by the search for better, but

0:21

when it comes to hiring, the best

0:23

way to search for a candidate isn't

0:25

to search at all. Don't search, match

0:27

with Indeed. Just go to

0:30

indeed.com/creative right now. Need to hire?

0:32

You need Indeed. Hey

0:34

everyone, welcome to the show. My

0:41

name is Todd Henry. I am your

0:43

host. I'm also the author of several

0:45

books, including The Accidental Creative, Die Empty,

0:48

Hurting Tigers, and Daily Creative,

0:50

which is a daily reader for creative

0:52

professionals. On

0:54

today's episode, we're gonna replay something that I did in

0:56

2018. It's called 25

0:59

Questions to Help You Get Unstuck. Sometimes

1:02

when we're stuck, it's not because we don't

1:04

understand the problem. It's not always because we

1:06

don't have what we need in order to

1:08

solve the problem. Sometimes it's because

1:10

we're overlooking something, there's something obvious in front

1:12

of us, there's an impediment or a roadblock

1:14

or an assumption that we're making that's

1:17

keeping us from seeing things clearly as

1:19

they are. And so a

1:22

really well-timed, precise question can

1:24

sometimes unlock new

1:26

insights that were previously obscured.

1:29

So today's episode is very simply just

1:31

25 questions to

1:33

help you get unstuck. Hope you find

1:35

it helpful. And here is

1:38

the episode from 2018. Enjoy.

1:45

And speaking of stuck, today's episode is gonna

1:47

be all about how to get unstuck. No

1:50

matter how talented you are, we hear all the time people

1:52

say things like, well, there's no such thing as writer's block,

1:55

right? Or there's no such thing as creative block. Well, to

1:57

some degree, I understand that sentiment. I get

1:59

that. sometimes we use creative block

2:02

as an excuse. We

2:04

use it as sort of a

2:06

self-imposed barrier to prevent us from

2:08

having to take risks, prevent

2:10

us from having to leap out into the unknown.

2:12

The reality is that there are

2:15

some times when maybe we're stuck

2:17

because we haven't defined a problem

2:19

effectively or because we're not thinking

2:21

about the problem appropriately. And so

2:24

today's episode is going to offer

2:26

up 25 questions, questions

2:29

you can ask to get unstuck. All right,

2:31

it's bound to happen sooner or later. No

2:33

matter how skilled you are, no matter how

2:35

well prepared you are, inevitably

2:37

you're gonna find yourself stuck on a

2:40

tough problem with no clear path forward.

2:42

It's just the nature of doing creative work.

2:46

And it's tempting in these circumstances to keep

2:48

your nose down, just to continue cranking on

2:50

the problem, to stay myopically focused on what

2:52

you've been doing. The problem with this method

2:54

is that you may be digging yourself deeper

2:56

into an existing rut. at

2:59

the ready to help you reframe, shift,

3:02

or view the problem through a different window.

3:04

So I'm gonna share with you

3:06

a set of questions that have been used

3:08

in various situations to jog creative thoughts and

3:10

to help you think differently about stubborn problems.

3:12

And these questions can be used on your

3:14

own, but they're especially valuable if you use

3:16

them with your team. Now

3:18

at first glance, some of the questions might seem too

3:21

simple to be of value, right? So I just wanna

3:23

warn you in advance that some of these questions might

3:25

elicit a hearty eye roll. And

3:28

that's okay, because sometimes, even

3:31

some of the most simple tools

3:33

and tactics, if used appropriately, can

3:35

open up entirely new pathways of

3:38

exploration. Give it about 15 minutes of thought

3:40

and discussion, you might find that

3:42

some of these very simple questions lead to a

3:44

surprising level of awareness and potential new paths to

3:47

explore. So we have to be willing to immerse

3:49

ourselves in the process in order to get to

3:51

the deeply valuable ideas that reside just on the

3:53

other side of stasis. Again, if

3:55

you wanna download a worksheet with these questions,

3:57

just go to. little

4:01

creative.com/unstuck. It's

4:05

accidentalcreative.com/unstuck and you can download a worksheet that

4:07

you can use as a reference tool. Alright

4:09

here are 25 questions, 25 of

4:11

them that you can ask to

4:13

help you get unstuck. So if you're working

4:16

on a problem right now, if there's some

4:18

particular project that you're stuck on or that

4:20

you're having difficulty gaining traction on, I want

4:23

you to think about the project through the

4:25

lens of these questions as I discuss each

4:27

one. Okay number one, is

4:29

an assumption in the way. Alright

4:31

sometimes when we're really good at what we do, it's

4:34

easy to make assumptions about what is and

4:36

what isn't possible, what we can and what

4:38

we can't do because we've done it so

4:40

many times before but these are simply asumptive

4:42

ruts. So what are we assuming to be

4:44

true and what are we assuming to be

4:46

false are really valuable questions to ask if

4:48

you feel stuck. Now a lot

4:50

of things that come out of your mouth might be you know

4:53

might be valid assumptions but you might discover

4:55

that there's an assumption you're making that is

4:57

invalid. So what are we assuming to be

4:59

true, what are we assuming to be false

5:01

and what if they weren't? This

5:03

is a really valuable tool that you can

5:06

ask to get unstuck. So I encourage you

5:08

to ask that question. Number

5:10

two, what is the worst case

5:12

scenario? Sometimes we're stuck because

5:14

we're afraid of the consequences, we're afraid of

5:16

what might happen if we fail. So it

5:18

helps to envision the worst case

5:21

scenario. What's the worst case scenario if we

5:23

fail here? You know and

5:25

often we discover that the worst case scenario

5:27

really isn't as bad as we thought. A

5:29

lot of times the damage that's inflicted is

5:31

more psychological than actual. I'm afraid of my

5:33

reputation being tarnished, right? I'm afraid of how

5:35

people might look at me. I'm afraid of

5:37

a lot of other things that aren't

5:40

real consequences, they are

5:42

illusory consequences or psychological

5:44

consequences but not actual

5:47

consequences. So I encourage

5:49

you to ask what's the worst case scenario. The third

5:51

is what could I do the opposite? Okay

5:54

so I have a way that I normally approach the

5:56

work, I have a way that I normally tackle this

5:58

problem. Could I do the opposite? What if I... try

6:00

the entirely opposite approach, what would the

6:02

opposite approach be? Explore that.

6:04

Use it as a thought experiment, as

6:06

a way to get unstuck. How

6:10

can I thrill the end user?

6:13

Sometimes we're stuck because we

6:17

feel like we're being asked to do things that don't

6:19

really excite us and we don't really think are going

6:21

to excite the end user. If you step back for

6:23

a minute and you say, how can I thrill the

6:26

end user? What would it look like if there were

6:28

no resources as a constraint? How could I thrill the

6:32

end user with this? What would we do? What would

6:34

I do in that case? That's a great

6:36

fourth question. Number five, what

6:38

am I afraid of? What

6:41

is it that I fear might

6:43

happen if I take a

6:45

creative risk with this? It could be fear

6:47

of failure, but it also could be fear

6:49

of success, quite frankly. I know that if

6:52

I succeed, I'm going to have to continue

6:54

to sustain this pace forever. My expectations,

6:56

the bar for me, are going

6:58

to be raised moving forward. I

7:00

know that I'm going to have

7:02

to sustain this

7:04

pace. Am I afraid

7:07

of that? Or am I afraid of failure? Am I afraid of

7:09

what other people might think of me? What am I afraid of?

7:12

Could that be contributing to me being stuck? Number

7:14

six, do I understand why?

7:17

Sometimes the reason we get stuck is because we don't

7:19

understand the why behind the

7:21

what. We don't understand the core reason that

7:24

we're being asked to do the work. Highly

7:26

talented creative people struggle to do work if

7:28

they don't understand why they're being asked to

7:30

do it. They need to understand the deeper

7:32

patterns, the deeper themes. Ask yourself, do I

7:35

understand why? If not, maybe you need to

7:37

seek out that why. Maybe that's the reason

7:39

that you're stuck because you don't understand why

7:41

you're being asked to do what you're being

7:43

asked to do. Number

7:45

seven, where else has something similar

7:48

been done? Are there

7:50

any parallels? Is there any place out there that

7:52

you've seen something similar to what you're

7:54

working on right now? And could you apply some of

7:56

what you see out there to the

7:58

work in front of you? Number

8:01

eight, what is expected and

8:04

why? Sometimes the reason

8:06

we're stuck is because we don't understand

8:08

the expectations. We really, we're trying to

8:10

do something that we don't really understand.

8:12

We're shooting at a moving target because

8:14

we don't have clarity around what we're

8:17

supposed to do. So do I understand

8:19

my expectations and why are those the

8:21

expectations? And if you don't clearly understand

8:23

the expectations, that's a failure of leadership

8:25

and I address that in herding tigers.

8:28

I address the importance of setting clear

8:30

expectations for the team as a way

8:32

to create stability. But if

8:34

you don't understand the expectations, you need to seek

8:36

them out. So what's expected of me and why?

8:39

Number nine, who has

8:41

something to lose? Okay, sometimes

8:44

we're stuck because we're afraid on behalf

8:46

of someone else. Is there someone else

8:48

who has something to lose in this

8:50

project? And am I afraid to act

8:52

because I'm afraid of the consequences for

8:55

someone else? Who has something to lose

8:57

if this doesn't go right? And is

8:59

that contributing to my stuckness? Number

9:02

ten, this is one of my favorites, who

9:05

is the enemy and how do we foil them?

9:08

Sometimes we're stuck because we don't understand

9:10

what we're working against. We don't understand

9:12

the dynamics coming against us. So who

9:14

is actually the enemy here? And by

9:16

the way, it's not your competitor, it's

9:19

not the other company that produces a

9:21

similar product. That's not who it is.

9:23

The enemy is some force that you're

9:25

coming against in creating the work.

9:28

So if you're designing, you know,

9:31

branding for a new laundry detergent, well

9:33

what is really the enemy there that

9:36

you're fighting against? Right? Who are you really

9:38

coming against? It's not girt

9:40

and grime and it's not the

9:42

opposing company's laundry detergent. You

9:44

know, that's not what you're talking about.

9:46

What are you talking about? Really what

9:48

you're coming against is, you know, all

9:50

of the time that's wasted when you

9:52

have to rewash things, right? You're coming

9:54

against complexity in the packaging. You're coming

9:56

against all of these things. So what

9:59

are you coming... Against and who is

10:01

the enemy? How do you foil that enemy?

10:03

What are the forces working against you and

10:05

how do you for them number? Who

10:08

could solve this problem with ease and how

10:11

okay, so? Imagine that you

10:13

could draw upon the resources of anybody

10:16

in the world Anybody

10:18

throughout history that has there's

10:20

a brilliant creative problem solver Who

10:23

who could solve this problem with ease

10:25

and how might they approach this problem?

10:27

Right so how would they so get inside

10:29

their mind and ask how might they approach

10:31

this problem differently from the way that we

10:33

approach? This problem, and how would they do

10:36

it number 12? How would

10:38

my favorite superhero do it? Hey, so if

10:40

you get called upon Superman or Aquaman Aquaman

10:42

is Aquaman really anybody favorite super? Okay, maybe

10:44

it's my favorite superhero growing up Which is

10:46

really really weird and retrospect if you could

10:49

draw upon your favorite superhero What power would

10:51

they employ to solve this problem, and how

10:53

might they do it or? Another

10:56

13 that was very similar question. How

10:58

might my favorite movie character solve this

11:00

problem? Okay, so you're drawing upon your

11:02

favorite movie character. How might they solve

11:04

this problem number 14? Okay,

11:06

those are all kind of very similar questions number

11:08

14 could I change the

11:10

medium? Could I change

11:12

the medium sometimes we're stuck because the

11:14

container that we're filling is a

11:17

container that we're bored with or a container that

11:19

We know intuitively doesn't really match the kind of

11:21

work that we're trying to do so could I

11:23

change the medium? Is there a

11:25

way that I could do this in a different

11:28

format that might interact with people in a different

11:30

way? And how might that unlock new ideas for

11:32

expressing whatever it is? I'm trying to communicate okay

11:34

So could I change the medium number 15 could

11:37

I ask the question differently? Sometimes

11:39

we're stuck because we're asking the wrong question

11:41

We're asking questions that don't really get to

11:43

the heart of the matter and we know

11:45

that intuitively We know that we're not really

11:48

asking the right question That's really difficult for

11:50

us to reframe the question so

11:52

could I ask the question differently try

11:54

to reframe? The problem that you're solving

11:57

number 16 how with a third

11:59

grader of? approach this problem. This

12:02

is a really great one because if you

12:04

didn't have all of the residue and the

12:06

baggage and all the psychological stuff bouncing around

12:09

inside your head, all of the existing fears

12:12

and inhibitions and all of the things

12:14

bouncing around in your head, how would

12:16

you solve this problem? If

12:19

you were completely naive, if you walked into the problem

12:21

fresh, you had no clue what was going on, how

12:23

would you solve the problem? How would a third grader

12:25

approach this problem? Try to be

12:27

completely naive, ask stupid questions.

12:30

How would a third grader solve this problem? Number

12:33

17, what question do I need

12:35

to answer first? This

12:37

is a really good one as well because

12:39

sometimes we're trying to answer a question or

12:41

solve a problem, but we haven't answered a

12:43

more primal question. The reason that

12:46

we're stuck is because there's something more rudimentary that we

12:48

need to answer before we can get around to answering

12:50

the question that we're trying to answer with our current

12:52

work. What question do I need to answer first? Is

12:56

there something that I don't know that I need to know

12:58

in order to be able to get moving on what I'm

13:00

doing? Number 18, is there a

13:02

resource that I'm lacking? Is

13:04

there something I don't have in order to be

13:06

able to tackle this problem? Now, by the way,

13:09

this doesn't mean go out and buy new gear,

13:11

go out and buy new equipment because sometimes that

13:13

can be a distraction. If I only had the

13:15

right gear, I could write better or I could

13:18

make better music or I could design better. I

13:20

mean, sometimes it's reality, but

13:22

often that's a distraction. But is there a

13:24

resource I'm lacking? Is there some

13:26

knowledge I don't have? Is there a conversation I

13:29

need to have? Is there some tool that

13:31

I don't have that would help me attack this

13:33

problem more? Is there a resource I'm lacking? Number

13:35

19, how would I describe the

13:37

problem in three words? Sometimes

13:40

we make things too complicated and

13:42

we get stuck because there's unnecessary

13:44

complexity in how we're defining the problem.

13:46

How would I describe this problem in three words? If

13:48

I only had three words, what would

13:50

I do to define it? And how can

13:53

I simplify then how I define the problem so

13:55

it makes it easier to attack? Number

13:57

20, are there

13:59

sub-problems? to the main problem. Sort

14:02

of along the same theme of unnecessary complexity,

14:04

sometimes we're trying to tack too many

14:06

problems together. We're squeezing a bunch

14:08

of problems together into one problem. And the

14:10

reason we're stuck is because there are too

14:12

many sub-problems that need to be solved within

14:14

that main problem. So can you parse out

14:17

the project you're working on into sub-problems

14:19

that can be attacked individually and strategically?

14:22

You might be stuck because it's just simply

14:24

unnecessarily complex. There are too many things you're

14:26

trying to tackle all at once. Number

14:29

21, what's the world

14:31

like once the problem is solved? So

14:34

imagine that you have solved the problem.

14:37

Everything goes as planned. Everything

14:39

is perfect. What does it

14:41

look like after the problem is solved? And then once

14:43

you've figured out that ideal end state, you can work

14:45

your way backward. And sometimes what you can say, okay,

14:47

well, what has to happen in order to get there?

14:49

Okay, well, then what has to happen in order to

14:51

get there? Okay, well, then what has to happen in

14:53

order to get there? And you kind of work your

14:55

way back. This is a technique that's often called backcasting.

14:58

And it allows you to sequentially

15:00

work your way backward from an ideal end state

15:02

and figure out what needs to happen in order

15:04

to get there. So what does the

15:06

world look like once the problem is solved? This

15:12

episode is brought to you by Indeed. We're driven

15:14

by the search for better. But when it comes

15:16

to hiring, the best way to search for a

15:18

candidate isn't to search at all. Don't

15:21

search, match with Indeed. If

15:23

you need to hire, you need Indeed. Indeed

15:25

is your matching and hiring platform with over

15:27

350 million global monthly visitors

15:29

according to Indeed data and

15:31

a matching engine that helps you find quality

15:34

candidates fast. Bitch the busy

15:36

work. Use Indeed for scheduling, screening, and messaging

15:38

so you can connect with candidates faster. And

15:41

Indeed doesn't just help you hire faster. 93%

15:43

of employers agree Indeed delivers the highest quality

15:45

matches compared to other job sites according to

15:47

a recent Indeed survey. One of the things

15:49

I love about Indeed is how you can

15:51

do everything in one place with Indeed Instant

15:53

Match, with surveys, with interviewing, all in one

15:55

place. So you don't need to patch together

15:57

a bunch of different tools to get

15:59

there. get to the best higher. The

16:02

listeners of this show will get a

16:04

$75 sponsored job credit to get your

16:06

jobs more visibility at indeed.com/creative. Just go

16:08

to indeed.com/creative right now and support our

16:10

show by saying you heard about Indeed

16:12

on this podcast.

16:14

indeed.com/creative terms and conditions

16:17

apply. Need to hire? You

16:19

need Indeed. Today's episode is brought to you

16:22

by Shopify. Name some brilliant business partners who

16:24

got it done. For example Procter & Gamble

16:26

right here in my home city of Cincinnati.

16:28

Ben & Jerry, supply

16:31

and demand right? What about

16:33

the perfect partners when it comes to growing your business?

16:36

That's you and Shopify. Shopify

16:39

is the global commerce platform that helps

16:41

you sell at every stage of your

16:43

business from the launcher online shop stage

16:45

to the first real-life store stage all

16:47

the way to the we just hit

16:49

a million orders stage. Shopify

16:51

is there to help you grow. Whether you're

16:53

selling shipping supplies or promoting productivity

16:56

programs, Shopify helps you sell everywhere

16:58

from their all-in-one e-commerce platform to

17:00

their in-person POS system. Wherever

17:03

and whatever you're selling, Shopify has got you

17:05

covered. Shopify helps turn browsers

17:07

into buyers with the internet's best converting

17:09

checkout up to 36% better

17:12

than other leading commerce platforms

17:14

and sell more with less

17:16

effort thanks to Shopify magic,

17:18

your AI powered all-star. I

17:20

remember many times in my business

17:22

I was struggling to figure out

17:25

the right systems to support my

17:27

goals, to support my ambitions. Shopify

17:29

has that all figured out for

17:32

you. Just use Shopify

17:35

and see why so many people

17:37

have found Shopify their invaluable partner

17:40

in growing their business. Sign

17:42

up for a $1 per month

17:45

trial period at shopify.com/accidental creative all

17:47

lower case go to shopify.com/accidental creative

17:49

now to grow your business no

17:52

matter what stage you're in. shopify.com/

17:57

accidental creative. Number

18:03

22, who can I call

18:05

for help? Okay. Again,

18:07

creative work often is accomplished in isolation. We

18:10

do it on our own. We do it

18:12

in our office and we're just sitting there

18:14

and we're thinking and we don't get outside

18:17

of our own mind. We don't leverage other

18:19

people's experiences and perspectives and ideas. So

18:22

is there someone that you could call, not

18:24

because they're an expert on the problem, but

18:26

just to kind of jog new kinds of

18:28

questions. They might ask really naive questions and

18:30

that's great because it pushes you outside of

18:32

where you're currently looking. So who can

18:34

I call for help? Number 23,

18:37

can I create a metaphor for

18:39

the problem? Can

18:42

I create a metaphor? Is there

18:44

something that is kind of like

18:46

this or can I envision some

18:48

abstract way of envisioning this problem

18:50

that will help me think about

18:52

it from a more conceptual

18:54

standpoint? Sometimes we're too in the weeds. We're

18:56

too experienced. That's the problem. We're too experienced

18:59

and so we're too in the weeds and

19:01

we're looking at the problem too closely. It

19:03

helps to step back, create a metaphor, something

19:06

abstract that can help us

19:08

think differently about the problem, to

19:10

play with it, build a model of the

19:12

problem that we can play with that helps

19:15

us to think about the problem differently. Number

19:17

24, how would I start over? Sometimes

19:20

we fall prey to the sunk cost fallacy. We've

19:22

put so much effort and work into a problem,

19:24

into solving a problem or doing a project that

19:27

we feel like we have to continue on the

19:30

path we've been on. The reality is sometimes it's

19:32

better if we just blow everything up and start

19:34

over again. So if you had to

19:36

do that, would you do it the same way that

19:38

you're currently doing it? How would you start over if

19:40

you had to? It's a great way to get unstuck.

19:44

Number 25, what's the

19:46

primary block and why? Sometimes

19:50

you just need to ask yourself, what

19:52

is really in my way? What is

19:55

the primary block that is

19:57

preventing me? What is it about this

19:59

problem that is... especially difficult

20:02

or is causing me to feel stuck?

20:04

What is that? I mean, really spend

20:07

some time considering that. That's question number

20:09

25. All right. When

20:12

working individually on a problem, write a question at the

20:14

top of a sheet of paper in a notebook and

20:16

spend about 15 minutes writing an answer to it. You'll

20:19

be surprised by what you write. And when working

20:21

in a group, you can pose one of these

20:23

25 questions to

20:25

the group and record the answers on the whiteboard

20:27

or in some visible place and see what patterns

20:29

emerge over the course of 15 minutes. Whatever

20:31

you do, don't just get embedded in a rut.

20:33

Don't stare at the problem. If you want to

20:35

think creatively, you have to explore the periphery of

20:38

your problem. You have to stay active. You have

20:40

to stay alert. And these 25 questions can help

20:42

you do that. Remember that your

20:44

best ideas will often come from

20:47

the least expected places. Hey,

20:51

thank you so much for listening. If you

20:53

enjoyed the show, please support the show by

20:55

buying one of my books. You can buy

20:57

them anywhere books are sold. I have books

20:59

for creative pros, for leaders of teams, or

21:01

for people who just want to get some clarity about

21:04

what they're doing with their life. You

21:06

can learn more at toddhenry.com/books or

21:08

just search Todd Henry wherever books

21:10

are sold. Also jump on

21:12

the weekly newsletter. You can

21:15

subscribe at toddhenry.com/subscribe. Remember

21:17

friends, cover bands don't change the world. Don't be a cover

21:19

band. You need to find your unique voice if you

21:21

want to thrive. We'll see you next time.