A palindromic query is a statement or question that applies in multiple (sometimes any) context, that will always result in improvement. The search for palindromic queries can unleash genius. They're the secret sauce for growth, innovation and the unearthing of lucrative, immensely scalable 21st century business models.
2. A palindromic query is a question or statement you can apply in multiple contexts... such as to any area of your business (including strategy, structure, plans and process) ...that will always result in improvement
6. will result in improvement Applying the question to any (business) area
7. Zoom right in to a product roadmap, production workflow, departmental structure or UX design Zoom right out until your business is a dot Palindromic queries apply across, down and throughout business, strategy and ethos Unveiling a design for life
8. Palindromic queries offer a pathway to the optimum Serving as a hub around which you can connect seemingly unconnected ideas
9. Another example… ‘The more connections something has the more powerful it is’ or connectedness = power
10. In a network the most connected nodes are the most powerful
11. The Law of the Few “The success of any kind of social epidemic is heavily dependent on the involvement of people with a particular and rare set of social gifts” [Malcolm Gladwell]
13. ‘If one style of thought stands out as the most potent explanation of genius it is the ability to make juxtapositions that elude mere mortals. Call it a facility with metaphor, the ability to connect the unconnected to see relationships to which others are blind’ [Joshua Cooper Ramo & Debra Rosenberg] Palindromic queries are the glue of genius
14. The only difference found between Einstein’s brain and that of others was the richness of connections between brain cells Whenever we think a new thought or explore a topic in a new way (perhaps as you’re doing right now) the more connections we make between our neurons and dendrites… the more connections, the greaterour brain capacity and potential for intelligent thought
15. The more you unpick, the more obvious and fundamental the concept seems This is a key characteristic of a palindromic query
18. Over 3 billion years ago molecules were created that could make copies of themselves The earth’s first replicator was born
19. In Richard Dawkins’ The Selfish Gene [1976], he explored how genes will get copied if they can, regardless of the consequences; and so long as you have variation, selection and heredity, you must get evolution ‘Design out of chaos without the aid of mind’ [Dan Dennett]
20. Humans are replicators too... copying information (‘memes’) from brain to brain We’re part of a design process… variation, selection, evolution
21. Starfish have a decentralized neural structure permitting regeneration
22. ‘If you cut off a spider's head, it dies; if you cut off a starfish's leg it grows a new one, and that leg can grow into an entirely new starfish’ ‘Traditional top-down organizations are like spiders, but now starfish organizations are changing the face of business and the world’ [The Starfish & the Spider, OriBrafman & Rod A. Beckstrom]
23. What can you remove from your [business/product/life] and it still make sense?
24. How can you put connectedness at the heart of your organization? How can you help your customers, colleagues, offices, partners, processes, websites, products, services, systems... connect more?
25. How can your [business model/organization structure/marketing] become a better replicator? How can you operate in a more decentralized way?