Thread by @garius

Pro-tip: One of the things you should NEVER, EVER say at the beginning of a 'blue sky' session is:

"Remember! No idea is too stupid!"

Because then all you'll get are stupid ideas.

Indeed the FIRST question you should actually ALWAYS ask at a 'Blue Sky' session is:

"Have we correctly defined the problem that needs solving?"

Because nine times out of ten, when you step away and reassess things, you discover you're tackling a consequence not a cause.

This is how good teams solve problems during 'Blue Sky' sessions.

Not because someone suddenly has a stunning idea. That only happens in Silicon Valley wankudramas (in print/on Netflix).

It's because SOMEONE spots the real problem is further up the chain, and CAN be addressed.

"We cannot solve this problem" is too often seen as an admission of defeat.

It isn't.

It's the first stage of finding a solution. It tells you that you need to find a way of making sure that problem never happens in the first place.

Good tech and governance accepts that.

If Classic Dom had ever worked in a functional tech role, rather than just spaffing one out over the picture plates in Steve Jobs' autobiography, he'd know that.

And if the rest of this mob hadn't learnt their strategy and management techniques from LinkedIn memes they would too

Running a 'Blue Sky' session? Write the below on the board:

JUST BECAUSE WE'VE ALWAYS DONE IT THIS WAY DOESN'T MEAN IT'S NOT STUPID.

And work backwards from there.

Begin by establishing if the problem actually needs solving, or whether it's the result of institutional inertia.

If it is, then you likely CANNOT solve it.

You need to find a point further up stream where you can gently divert the flow of events, so that by the time it WOULD hit the problem, things move around it.

Not all problems are solvable. Some you have to turn into Oxbow lakes.