The Path of the 5 W's

This one is so obvious, the story almost tells itself. ;-)

One of the most powerful problem solving tools we have is the combination of curiosity and the courage to ask questions.  This technique also comes with a bonus; it lays the foundation for telling great stories. Paul J. Zak wrote about why we love stories in the Harvard Business Review last year.

Jak's research found that exposure to character-driven stories consistently influences unselfish behavior, like donating money to a charity. His team explored the reasons that stories are powerful motivators;

"We discovered that, in order to motivate a desire to help others, a story must first sustain attention. Then it is likely that attentive viewers/listeners will come to share the emotions of the characters in it, and after it ends, likely to continue mimicking the feelings and behaviors of those characters."

This is very powerful stuff and yet another example of why Design Thinking works better than other methods; Empathic Listening and Storytelling are the two key components which bracket the framework that Design Thinking occurs in. That can lead to very powerful stuff.