Welcome to the second-and-a-half installment in your step-by-step guide to building The Red Thread® of your message or content. To go to the previous post, click here. To go to the next post in the series, click here. First, though, why is it the second-and-a-half post? Because I’ve discovered over time that just presenting your audience with a problem they didn’t know they had sometimes isn’t enough to get them to let go of their current beliefs and behaviors. Sometimes they need to hear something they can’t unhear—something that explains why the status quo can’t stand… at least not if they want to achieve their Goal. I call this new element of the Red Thread the “Problem Principle,” and it can make your Red Thread even stronger.
WHAT IS THE PROBLEM PRINCIPLE?
Remember that the Two-Part Problem describes the real reason your audience has struggled to achieve their Goal. They’ve struggled, you’re saying, because their current focus is keeping them from seeing the full picture, where a better path—your recommended path—to the Goal exists. While describing this “real” problem is sometimes enough on its own to sway your audience, I’ve discovered it can be even more powerful when you root that problem in a principle both you and the audience agree with.
That shared belief or value, stated as a proverb-like sentence, is the Problem Principle. It explains why the tension between the two parts of the Problem will keep someone from their goal. It also explains why the new focus—the second part of the Two-Part Problem— must be a primary component of the Change. Think of it as you would the Truth Statement, but for the “truth” behind why the Problem is such a problem.
Remember that your Problem Statement should fit comfortably in this sentence:
While there are barriers we all know exist, the real problem is we tend to focus on [TWO-PART PROBLEM, PART 1] more than on [TWO-PART PROBLEM, PART 2].
Similarly, your Problem Principle should fit comfortably in this sentence:
That’s a problem because… [Problem Principle].
It should also meet the following criteria:
- The Problem Principle needs to be a single self-evident value, belief, fact, or discovery that your audience would find inarguable
- To help with that, it needs to be something your Audience can validate without you (i.e, through their own experience or via some kind of third-party validation like published and/or peer-reviewed research)
- It should be something that already exists in your audience’s belief ecosystem or readily would
- It must explain why the “new,” second part of the Two-Part Problem delivers on the Goal
- It should be stated as a single, complete sentence
- It should be structured as much like a proverb or axiom as possible (generally: present tense, using “you” either explicitly or implicitly, 140 characters or fewer, 10 words or fewer
- Uses only descriptive language—language that describes the way things are; it does not contain any “prescriptive” or directive language that tells your Audience what to do
- Keep the framing positive, i.e., avoid words like “can’t” or “don’t”
Examples
[Please note: since the Problem Principle was created after my original work with these clients, these are my suggestions based on that work. They have not been officially endorsed by and may therefore not be fully representative of my clients’ points of view. That’s also why you won’t see them included in the official Storyline summaries of these messages.]
Despite the barriers we all know exist, the real problem is…
- “…tests reveal what’s real in what’s recalled.” (life science startup client UrSure; project: investor pitch)
- “…experiences drive data, but are rarely captured by it.” (client Tricia Wang’s TED Talk)
- “…[subscriber’s financial] contributions create capacity.” (nonprofit media company client; project: persuasive messaging coaching)
- “…when you solve the parts, you solve the whole.” (client Linda Ugelow; project: drafting keynote)
- “…incentives are individual” (client Tracy Timm; project: diversifying message to a new audience)
- “…every element [of a ring] is an opportunity for expression (DeBeers — not a client, just one of my favorite examples!)
- “…we can’t control fear, only our response to it” (client Judi Holler; project: revising keynote)
- “…leaders create new levels” (client Ted Ma; project: differentiating core message)
HOW TO BUILD YOUR PROBLEM PRINCIPLE
STEP ONE: Find the bedrock belief behind your why — the principle that explains how that new element delivers on the Goal:
- DO THIS: Ask yourself, “Why do I believe so strongly in Part 2 of the Two-Part Problem?”; frame your answers as “Because I believe…
- DO THIS: Eliminate any answers that are essentially versions of “because I believe it helps achieves the Goal” — you’re looking for something that explains why or how it achieves the Goal
- DO THIS: Draft a statement that meets the criteria listed above
You can also dig deeper with the Five Whys exercise:
- DO THIS: Take your answer from the bedrock belief brainstorm and ask yourself “Why?” about that answer (E.g., “Why is doing X the best way to achieve the goal?”)
- DO THIS: Keep repeating that pattern of using your previous answer in your next “why” question until you arrive at a “root” cause — a Problem Principle that meets the criteria above
Warning: this isn’t necessarily an easy task! It’s not easy because you’re asking yourself to make what is probably an implicit belief explicit to the audience. In other words, you believe so strongly in why the Problem is a problem that it likely doesn’t even occur to you to explain why. That’s a very human belief, by the way, that others see the world the same way we do. Unfortunately, it’s not often true.
But even if your audience does see the world the same way, articulating this “bedrock belief” out loud (or in writing) eliminates the possibility of misunderstanding. If your Audience agrees that:
- They want the Goal, and that
- They have been focused more on the first part of the Two-Part Problem than on the second (more on the “duck” than on the “bunny”), AND that
- The Problem Principle is true…
Their brains cannot tolerate the cognitive dissonance of holding onto the status quo in the face of the risk to the Goal the Problem represents. And, because you’ve based your evidence for that risk on something your audience won’t usually argue with—their own belief system—you don’t have “convince” them of the risk. They see it for themselves. Once they’ve taken that big step away from what they’re doing, you’ll usually find your Audience is ready, and often even eager, to understand where to step next, which is where the Truth comes in.
As always, it’s your turn: Send me what you’ve built so far! I’m happy to give you some quick feedback on what you’ve come up with!
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