Scale Up (The ONE Book, p. 177)

Sometimes we struggle to think a little further beyond our usual frame of reference. Have you ever gotten ‘stuck’ when looking for a fresh idea? This is much like ‘writers block’ but it can apply to virtually any situation – not just writing! So how do we break free from the same old – same old ways of thinking? We scale UP!

This means thinking bigger and broader than usual. It means stretching our imagination to well beyond our typical limits and it’s easier than you may think. It all comes down to asking BIG questions.

1. Start with your Curious Question: In what ways can I/we…
2. Write down the first three to five answers/ideas that come to mind like we’ve done in the first column of the example table below.
3. Now ask yourself three questions for each of those ideas: 1) what would be bigger than this? 2) what would have a broader reach than this? And 3) what could take things deeper? Fill in the table with your answers as we’ve done below.
4. If any of these ideas strike a chord with you right away, run with it! Start exploding that idea into more ideas by asking who, what, when, where, why, and how. If these ideas aren’t jumping for you yet, ask more BIG questions, like:
   • What’s the highest level of achievement with this idea?
   • What has never been done before?
   • If money was no object – where would I take this?

Working through this brainstorming strategy has so many benefits. First and foremost, you’ve likely explored some ideas that would have otherwise been missed if you had limited how big you thought you could go. Secondly, you’ve reframed your mindset. BOOM – just like that you are actually considering that you might be capable of something bigger and better than you’ve ever considered before. That’s the trick to it all – actually being open to scaling up and then believing you’re capable (or at least willing to give it a try).

EXAMPLE:

1. The Curious Question: In what ways can we promote our new service to attract new customers?
2. First three answers: 1) Social media, 2) Ads, 3) Word of mouth

	What's Bigger?	What's Broader?	What's Deeper?
Social Media	A full campaign plan	Influencer marketing	Brand building or a rebrand
Ads	Billboards	Radio/TV	Podcasts or speaker engagements
Word of Mouth	Testimonials	Affiliate marketing	Referral program with existing customers

 

Can you now see some room to scale up your ideas into something bigger and better? Go get it!