There’s a secret phrase you can use to jumpstart creative thinking. It’s something worth considering in the alarm industry, particularly SIAC’s arena, which revolves around the improvement of alarm management practices.
The phrase sparks innovative ideas. It gets people to question the status quo. It leads to solutions.
It’s a simple line, “How might we?” Pose that question next time you’re in a meeting and see what happens. “How might we work together to reduce those unnecessary alarms?”
“How might we monitor differently to streamline our responses and cut down on calls for police dispatch?”
You can come up with many questions to ask using the “how might we” phrase to start the sentence. What comes afterwards is an open dialogue between the parties.
Regardless of whether you are in an adversarial situation or among a group of peers who see a specific issue in a similar way, this question will open up a discussion, create lively input, and hopefully lead to some novel solutions or agreements that previously weren’t considered.
Try it next time you’re in a meeting. Take notes.