Three Minute Mastermind

The Three Minute Mastermind Strategy (3MM) consists of four Clean Language
questions and a capability check.

It is a simple model best used for small issues or tasks you have been meaning
to get to and just haven’t yet; the kinds of things you might put on a to-do list.
Perhaps there is a meeting to be planned, a report to be written, taxes to be
done, or any number of things one might procrastinate on or not be getting done
when and how one wants.

This model, 3MM, is a valuable way of working with both yourself and others.
Don’t worry if you begin to use this model on one of your to-do items and find it is
more complex an issue than you first thought. Sometimes you simply won’t know
until you put it through the 3MM model.

I worked with an author who thought getting herself to write was a complicated
issue and discovered what she needed was to have the “right pen at her
fingertips” and she discovered that by keeping one on her desk and one in her
handbag she was able write anywhere she was.

I worked with a homeowner who wanted to clean out his garage only to find it
was much more complicated than he thought. His wife happened to be with him
for this 3MM work and they had quite a laugh over discovering that even though
the garage was considered “his space”, cleaning it would take the two of them
working together.

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Here is your THREE MINUTE MASTERMIND strategy:

• What would you like to have happen?

• What needs to happen for ________?
• Is there anything else that needs to happen?
• Can you _______?
• And then what happens?

Did you get a chance to download your wallet size 3MM card? If not, it’s on the
last page of this booklet.

These questions are to be asked in a curious neutral way that lets the person
have time to think about what they would like to have happen and devise their
own strategy. Let's look at each of the questions in turn and then how to put
them all together using a real example.

Ÿ What would you like to have happen?

This question is designed to put the ball in the other person’s court. It makes it
clear that ‘this is about you and what you want'. The science of self
determination has found that if people are given the lateral to decide what they
want and what is best for them, they tend to adapt their actions and thinking to
succeed.

What would you like to have happen serves to direct a person's attention away
from problematic issues and towards what they want.

This is not about SMART Goals (Specific, Measurable, Actionable, Repeatable,

Time-bound). This work is about anything the client wants - even if it sounds a bit
silly to you or even them!

Ÿ What needs to happen for ______?

As soon as the client states any kind of ‘want’ or ‘need’, however vague, you can
ask the next question:

What needs to happen for _____?

This question
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a) helps your client re-consider their outcome, if necessary, and
b) helps them begin to define specific action items that might be needed for
success.

You can ask this question several times in a row if needed. It works along the
same lines as the Kaizen principle. We are seeking to find the smallest action
step they can do that will give them the least amount of resistance to doing it.
Once in action, more action generally follows.

Remember my example of the author above? We worked nearly 15 minutes to get to the
pen. Iterating several times and working from sitting at her desk, to keeping notebooks,
to using her alarm clock, etc. When she found that it was the pen that made the difference
- the feel of it in her hands, the weight, smoothness on her fingers, the way the ink flowed
and marked the page, the way all of that inspired her - then we both knew she had found
that one difference that would make the difference towards what she wanted to have
happen: to write more.

Ÿ Is there anything else that needs to happen?

This is a last check and is done when you are pretty sure you have gotten to an
easily achievable starting step. This is to make sure the client has had all the
time they need to devise their strategy and specific action steps.

Variation:

AndAnd when all of

when allthat (referring
of that inclusively
(referring to the
inclusively clients
to the developed
clients developed
strategy),
strategy), is there is there
anything elseanything else
that needs to that needs to happen?
happen?

Remember ‘cleaning the garage’ from above? This is where M really began to struggle.
He had devised his strategy and then found that this question brought out all the items in
the garage that belonged to other people. The boxes of shoes on the shelves that
belonged to his daughter (now in college), things from his mothers passing, items that
belong to his wife that she didn't even know were in there … all culminating to a
realization that what seemed a simple cleaning and sorting task to begin with was
actually more complex and needed the inclusion of others to complete.

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Ÿ Can you ______?

This is both a clean question and one used in Motivational Interviewing. In

Motivational Interviewing it is used via a 1-10 scale to determine confidence.
Here we are using this question to define capacity. Use this question with a
gentle tone. It is not to be used as a hammer simply because you, as the
facilitator or coach, think they can. Be curious, be neutral, and be open to letting
the client decide for them selves if they can or not.

If not, go back to What needs to happen for _____? and simply begin again.

Ÿ And then what happens?

This question was chosen due to its directing a client's attention to the future. In
NLP, they call this future pacing. It allows the client to imagine (simulate) what
might happen once they implement their strategy. It is a form of ecology check
giving the client time to simulate how the actions they have devised might effect
other aspects of their work or life.

Variation:
Variation:
And when
And when ________, then___________, then what happens?
what happens?
And what
And what happens next?happens next?

Great - you now have the questions, have downloaded your 3MM card for your
wallet, and understand a bit about what the ‘thinking behind each question' in
this mini-model. This model can be used in about three minutes for very simple
tasks or you may iterate longer if the to-do is a bit more complex. Lets see how
this works through an example.

In Clean Language we use the terms Facilitator for the question asker and
Client for the person being asked the questions. For ease of distinction we will
use this F and C for our examples. You may use any distinction you like that
serves your particular industry.

Clean Questions will be in Green and the clients words in Blue.

Example: From Frazzle to Simple

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Context: Getting taxes done and procrastination. It is August and she has been
“meaning to get to it” for months.

F: What would you like to have happen?

C: I’d like to get my taxes to the accountant by the end of the month.

F: And what needs to happen for you to get your taxes to the accountant by the
end of the month?
C: I need to set aside time on the calendar to sort out my income/expense
information

F: And what needs to happen for you to set aside time on your calendar?
C: Ugh, I just need to do it. Sit down at my computer and dedicate a weekend!

F: And what needs to happen for you to sit down at your computer and dedicate
a weekend?
C: Schedule my scheduling time right now. (client reaches for smart phone)

F: (waits while client makes schedule note, then continues with inquiry)

F: When you have done that, is there anything else that needs to happen for you
to sit down at your computer and dedicate a weekend?
C: Yes, find a weekend where both me and my partner are at home so I can
have some help

F: And is there anything else that needs to happen?

C: No, I have all my docs, most of the printed. I just haven’t gotten to it.

F: And can you find and dedicate a weekend?

C: Yes. I have my note and I’ll do that when I get home...today!

F: And when you do that when you get home, then what happens?
C: Well, it may not be perfect, but at least he can start and let me know what else
he needs once I get the bulk of the information to him. It will be a relief!

Follow up: two weeks later the client had scheduled a weekend with her partner.
Together they got a basic P&L statement done and to the accountant before the
end of the month.

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This card is meant to be printed, trimmed, and folded in half. You can adjust the size according
to your needs.

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