What-If —-

What if you could make a difference in your life, your company, your church, or your world? Would you? Do you know how to get started? It is not easy to explore What-if. It takes effort. It is not just about thinking in the future or thinking about possibilities. It includes describing what it looks like, how it behaves, and the impact the what-if idea generates.

What if a doctor could examine you from the comfort of their office while you are at home? This sounds outrageous to some while others are already working on parts of this equation.

The first part of What-if is defining the opportunity or issue at hand. Here we want the convenience of seeing a doctor from our house saving time and effort. In addition, the doctor can see more people without investing in large multi-room buildings potentially lowering their costs.

Second we begin to identify what might be needed to make the What-if scenario work. This example would require high quality camera and display equipment in each location. It would also require the doctor to have the ability to open a secure telecom line with an application to capture the camera display. It would require the ability to schedule just as if the patient came into the office. So far every item is available in some form in the current marketplace.

Next we begin to identify everything that would derail the What-if concept. Our goal is to understand those items that make the concept either hard to do, or would drive costs up thus eliminating us from moving the concept forward. It would require the patient to invest in the proper camera and streaming video services. It would require the doctor to have an application built to upload the video and break it into individual pictures. The doctor would also need the ability to expand or enlarge the image to see properly. The final set of needs would center around getting the patient vitals – ear, nose, throat, pulse, blood pressure, etc.

Once we have collected all of the data we can begin to outline potential solutions, understand the investment required, secure the infrastructure and begin to construct the concept pilot.

What-if is a great exercise for every leader to participate in. It will challenge the boundaries of your mind using a real world opportunity. What are some of the What-if exercises you have participated in?