In the movie City Slickers, Curly Joe tells Mitch (Billy Crystal) that the secret to life is “one thing.” I think in business, the secret can be one thing. Most people equate the one thing to that which they do exceptionally well. That’s a good secret. But I also think the secret can be the “one question” we need to work on.
Bill Hewlett, founder of HP, famously asked, “What are you working on that’s new?” Two of the more prolific tag lines for HP have been Invent or Innovate. What he was doing was driving the culture of innovation by simply asking one question. I worked with a service company and they chose, “What are we doing today to create an exceptional customer experience?” Someone recently asked me, “What do you do that’s better than your best competitor?” That question has been spinning in my head for months. Our secret can be the question we consistently and regularly ask ourselves and others.