Ask Your Team These “4 What’s” For A Productive Meeting

We’ve heard the stories of how corporations have gone to the assembly line guys to ask for ideas.

It’s not that simple.

Because brainstorming with your team can be tough.

Tougher if you don’t have a productive agenda.

Good news,

DYB’s got your back 😀

By using this simple 4 question framework,

we generated many great ideas back when I had my painting business, (Burnett Painting before we sold it),

and still even today with my DYB Coach team.

And you can too.

Here they are and then I’ll explain why they work.

What’s working?
What’s not working?
What’s missing?
What’s next?

What’s working?

This gets everybody and the conversation started off in a positive direction.

You won’t have a positive outcome it starts off as a complaint session.

This also puts everybody in an attitude of gratitude, and that’s huge.

What’s not working

Now that we’re all in a positive mindset, we can discuss what’s not working.

This can range from anything to do with operations, and equipment, to team members and culture.

Capture all of these to a list.

Once you feel like they have shared everything, make sure by asking

“If there was one more thing, what would it be?”

What’s missing?

Here we’re looking for opportunities from another angle.

You’ll be surprised what responses you’ll receive.

Add these responses to the list.

Once you feel like they have shared everything, again make sure by asking

“If there was one more thing, what would it be?”

Next comes the best part

What’s next?

This is here you look through the list of what’s not working and what’s missing actionable.

Items that you can take action on.

Select those items that you deem important and actionable and then my favorite part.

Assign an owner and due date.

The leadership key here is to delegate as much of this list as you can.

In doing so, it’s important that you assign 1 owner with a due date.

And those are the 4 questions to having a productive brainstorming session with your team.

Try it next time, and let me know how it went.

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About the Author

As many of you know, my journey has been one of grit, grace, and transformation. At 19, I was a high school dropout, single father, and struggling paint contractor in Michigan. I later moved to Florida, where I faced both personal and professional hardships. With nothing left to lose, I turned to prayer—and was blessed with a relentless hunger to learn. I devoured books, attended seminars, and discovered better ways to streamline and grow my business—even through the Great Recession (and yes, I did hit the wife lottery along the way!). In 2014, I published How To Double Your Business and later sold the painting business, launching a new chapter: coaching others to grow their businesses. For the past 10 years, I’ve dedicated myself to helping business owners scale through the DYB System, while also drawing from frameworks like EOS, Scaling Up, and The Four Disciplines of Execution. Yet something was still missing—something more adaptive, integrated, and complete. Then I found Pinnacle. After months of research and interviews with other Guides, I joined Pinnacle. Their tools and strategies have exceeded every expectation. Now, as a Pinnacle Business Guide, I help leadership teams implement a custom-tailored operating system that draws from the best in the industry—but flexes with your unique business. It’s a dynamic, proven approach to achieve clarity, momentum, and lasting growth. I’m no longer taking on any more 1:1 coaching clients… Instead, I now specialize in working with visionary business owners who are ready to get their leadership teams aligned—around a clear vision, a focused strategy, and an actionable execution plan. With the tools and process I now have as a Pinnacle Business Guide, I help turn alignment into momentum, and momentum into results. If your business is growing—but your leadership team isn’t fully rowing in the same direction—let’s talk.