Door #3
Why the third option may often be the best.
It can be really easy, when faced with important decisions - whether in business or in life - to narrow down the options to the Top 2 and, from there, decide between them. It's a useful application of sorting and filtering and helps us wade through the choices put before us, and can help us create a seemingly simple head-to-head comparison of options.
But the problem is - when we spend much time, energy, and mental horsepower devoted to narrowing down to the Top 2 and deciding between them - we run the risk of missing the best possible option.
Better to, once you've narrowed down to 2 doors you could choose to walk through, step back and ask yourself "What is Door #3?"
Examples are always helpful, so here are a few:
Product Launch:
Door #1 - Announce a new product at a big press release event with coordinated omni-channel activations
Door #2 - Give early access to the product to select influencers and hope they post to their networks about it
If you stopped there, you'd be skipping over a unique opportunity to co-create. Door #3 may be to call on key customers or influencers to have a seat at the table in designing, naming, or selecting key features before the launch - building hype, creating shared ownership, and generating an engaged audience before Day 1 of the launch.
Customer Service:
Door #1 - Hire more customer service agents to provide live support faster
Door #2 - Implement an AI Chatbot to resolve customer issues
If you stopped there, you'd miss Door #3: an opportunity to consider creating a library of engaging and entertaining on-brand video tutorials that, if done right, may be highly-shareable - solving for both customer support and generating organic marketing impressions through sharing.
Job Selection:
Door #1 - Stay in your current job
Door #2 - Apply for a promotion and weigh the increased responsibility and workload against the gain in compensation
If you stopped there, you'd miss the open opportunities offered by literally every other company on the planet. So, in this case, Door #3 would be to explore external job opportunities.
Trade Shows:
Door #1 - Buy a bigger footprint and spend your budget creating a booth that wows
Door #2 - Spend more budget on travel and bring a bigger team to engage with more prospects or generate leads walking the floor
If you stopped there, you'd miss an interesting opportunity to zig where others zag. Door #3 may be to skip the show altogether and, instead, host an exclusive event for your top clients or prospects - delivering an unforgettable experience to those you seek to connect with at the show anyway.
Once you start looking for it, you'll see Door #3 everywhere.
So here's the challenge - think about problems you're trying to solve and try to step back from the "A vs B", head-to-head comparison. Pause and ask yourself: "What's the real problem I'm trying to solve?" followed by "What is Door #3?"
Thanks for spending time with me in my workshop,
Eric
