{"id":59122,"date":"2025-06-19T21:53:36","date_gmt":"2025-06-19T21:53:36","guid":{"rendered":"\/ajj59ug\/analysing-potential-problems\/"},"modified":"2025-06-19T21:53:36","modified_gmt":"2025-06-19T21:53:36","slug":"analysing-potential-problems","status":"publish","type":"product-content","link":"https:\/\/www.mindtools.com\/ajj59ug\/analysing-potential-problems\/","title":{"rendered":"Analysing Potential Problems"},"content":{"rendered":"

Problems come in all shapes and sizes, and sometimes you need to try a number of different methods before finding the right solution to a specific problem. The ‘What if?’ technique is a quick and easy creative thinking technique that will help generate solutions, and can be applied to almost any problem.<\/p>

\u2018What If?\u2019 is all about letting ideas flow without judgment, and sometimes what may at first glance appear absurd can, with continued thought, provide a surprising solution. <\/p>

<\/p>

You begin with the question \u2018What if it<\/strong> was \u2026?\u2019 and insert a random word from a list. \u2018It\u2019<\/strong> is the problem you are trying to solve and could be more than one thing.<\/p>\n\n

Example<\/h2>\n\n

Let\u2019s use \u2018There\u2019s no room for these files\u2019 as an example problem.<\/p>

You might ask \u2018What if the files were \u2026\u2019<\/p>

  • \u2026 imaginary?<\/strong> What would happen if the files didn\u2019t exist? A record needs to be kept, but does this have to be a hard copy? This could help you to think about how it might be if the files were electronic. Even if a back up file was kept on a storage device, they would be smaller, and storage would be less of a problem. <\/li>
  • \u2026 missing?<\/strong> This might help you to think about renting storage externally. <\/li>
  • \u2026 newer?<\/strong> This might help you realize there are old records stored which could be cleared out to create room for the new files. <\/li><\/ul>

    Below is a list of words to get you started. However, there are many idea-generating words and phrases that could be added. You could also try opening a dictionary and picking a word randomly.<\/p>

    <\/p><\/div><\/div>

    larger<\/p><\/th>

    smaller<\/p><\/th>

    missing<\/p><\/th>

    real<\/p><\/th><\/tr><\/thead>

    drier<\/p><\/td>

    wetter<\/p><\/td>

    boring<\/p><\/td>

    white<\/p><\/td><\/tr>

    happy<\/p><\/td>

    clearer<\/p><\/td>

    darker<\/p><\/td>

    taken away<\/p><\/td><\/tr>

    hotter<\/p><\/td>

    colder<\/p><\/td>

    richer<\/p><\/td>

    invisible<\/p><\/td><\/tr>

    poorer<\/p><\/td>

    longer<\/p><\/td>

    shorter<\/p><\/td>

    green<\/p><\/td><\/tr>

    more<\/p><\/td>

    less<\/p><\/td>

    special<\/p><\/td>

    personal<\/p><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/div><\/figure>

    Not all words will give you useful ideas. Nonetheless, don\u2019t automatically dismiss words without considering them.<\/p>

    For instance, take darker.<\/strong> Initially it may seem unlikely that this word can help. The phrases \u2018darker ink\u2019, \u2018darker files\u2019 or \u2018darker filing cabinets\u2019 don\u2019t suggest anything that would help generate more space. However if you continue on to \u2018darker room\u2019, this might trigger the thought that the basement could be converted into additional storage space.<\/p>\n\n

    Summary<\/h2>\n\n

    \u2018What if?\u2019 helps to get your mind working in a different way, and prompts you to look at the problem from an alternative angle. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    The \u2018What if? technique is a quick and easy creative thinking technique that can help generate potential solutions to almost any problem.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"product-content-category":[7150],"product-content-type":[2580],"reading-time":[5167],"class_list":["post-59122","product-content","type-product-content","status-publish","hentry","product-content-category-problem-solving-approaches","product-content-type-article","reading-time-3-minutes"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nAnalysing Potential Problems - Mindtools<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The \u2018What if? technique is a quick and easy creative thinking technique that can help generate potential solutions to almost any problem.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mindtools.com\/ajj59ug\/analysing-potential-problems\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Analysing Potential Problems - Mindtools\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The \u2018What if? 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