Another fascinating article in the NYT Sunday Magazine by my dietary hero, Michael Pollan. (If you haven’t read his essay “Unhappy Meals” yet, drop everything and do it. Now.) Pollan’s latest essay takes on Washington as it explores how the Farm Bill has influenced American diets. What was meant to be a simple support to retain independence of our food supply has become a major economic dysfunction that has led - directly, he suggests - to the obesity and health crises, as well as creating a destructive impact on the environment, global poverty and immigration.

Pollan’s solution is yet another great example of the power of framing. If we reframe the Farm Bill as the Food Bill, he suggests, it will put the issue in strict relief, refocusing the discourse in the appropriate c0ntext. After all, when a dollar can buy 1,200 calories of cookies or potato chips but only 250 calories of carrots, something is wrong with the way we have structured our nutritional infrastructure. The Farm Bill isn’t built in the best interest of our nation of eaters.

Pollan does a great job demonstrating how innovation, in this case, an economic policy innovation that’s been around for decades, can create unintended consequences for the broader ecosystem at large. And how something as simple as framing can be the first step in focusing the debate and solving the problem.

Pollan’s work is always fascinating and thought-provoking. Read it.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/22/magazine/22wwlnlede.t.html?_r=1&ref=magazine&oref=slogin

The more I learn, the more convinced I am that framing is everything. The right framing concept can make or break your business. The right framing language (visual or verbal - since framing is a mental construct and mental constructs are experiences through language), is the difference between success and failure.

Two thoughts:
1. I was lucky enough to sit in on a lecture by Jeremy Alexis last night at IIT’s D-School. Jeremy’s class on Problem Framing is terrific. He focuses on the first step of problem solving, problem framing. If you don’t take the time to fully understand and appropriately frame the problem at the beginning of a project, you may end up solving for the wrong thing and either shifting or exacerbating the problems at hand.

Often, we frame our problems incorrectly, making attribution errors, allowing biases and blind spots to color our understanding, and scoping incorrectly. We try to solve our problems in familiar ways and succumb to the mistake of methodism - using established constructs and frameworks, not because they are the best deductive tools, but because they are the only ones we know. As Einstein said, “We can’t solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.”

It was a reminder that we need to understand the problem deeply before we jump in with a solution. Business problems tend to be complex and dynamic. They require systems thinking. And, as Jeremy said, “Design doesn’t solve all problems, it solves design problems.”

Another wonderful point that Jeremy made - you can frame problems negatively (”stop the pain”) or positively (”create a better experience”). Positive framing opens the doors to opportunities. Try to be positive. (See my March 22 post for more on the power of positivity).

2. There are fantastic case studies of the power of reframing in the marketplace today. Axe reframed deodorant into body spray for young boys, to help them win the mating game. They moved the product from anti-stink and sweat to pro-fragrance and used the application instructions as a way to reinforce the product difference. (”Spray on your pits, your chest, your neck - anywhere you want to smell great”). Reframing created new opportunities that became a billion dollar global category.

Another example - check out the new ads for Metamucil. P&G has reframed the dusty old OTC health brand into a pseudo-cosmetic that will “beautify your insides”. They’ve gone from anti-constipation to pro-gut health. I’m eager to see if this new frame invigorates this very mature brand.

Both of these examples are the result of reframing the problem and reframing the solution. If either brand’s objective had been stated within traditional terms…and if powerful research hadn’t been conducted to open the team, beyond their internal biases and assumptions, to new possibitilities…neither reframe would happened.

Framing is everything. Try it.