Are you in a new situation and don't know what to do next? Just ask yourself "So, what?" to find your next step!
Why is it important to be actionable?
In today's world, we are constantly bombarded with new data.
It's difficult to know what to do with it. But it is our responsibility, especially as consultants, to understand the data and find the next steps to solve a problem.
When presented with new facts, I always try to figure out what I should do next to act on them.
"So, what?" I ask myself.
The "So, what?" question Method for finding actions
"So, what?" is a simple way to determine what actions result from a situation or piece of information.
It is used by consultants to determine the next step in solving complex problems.
To find your next step, ask, "So, what?"
"So, what do these numbers tell me?"
"So, how do I proceed from here?"
"So, what should I do to solve this problem?"
Putting in the effort and thinking in this manner will allow you to easily condense a large amount of information into a single actionable step.
Situation Examples
Here are a few examples of how I used this method in my day-to-day work as a consultant.
I received a large amount of data for a business case: "So, what do we to do now? Is option A or option B preferable for us?"
A colleague called in sick: "So, what now? Is it necessary to allocate additional resources, or can we live with the delay?"
I was told, there are problems with my idea: "So, what do we need to change to meet all of the requirements?"
I was able to easily plan my next steps and navigate these situations by using this method.
Bonus Tip:
Always answer the question "So, what?" when creating something (text, slides, data). Make sure the takeaway is simple to understand.
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