What’s the most innovative question you can ask? | Blog

What’s the most innovative question you can ask?

It’s surprisingly simple: “What do you do?”

I did some work at Harwell Oxford, an innovation campus where government-funded ‘big science’ facilities, academics, and entrepreneurs ‘spin out’ new businesses. At its heart are two essential components:

A particle accelerator enabling scientists and engineers to observe high-energy subatomic collisions, similar to those occurring just after the Big Bang.

A café enabling scientists and engineers to sit down and have a chat about their projects over a coffee and a biscuit.

Interestingly, it’s in this humble café that genuine innovation often sparks to life. It's here where top scientists, engineers, entrepreneurs, and academics casually ask each other, “what do you do?” And when they do this, magic happens.

True story from the Harwell café:

An ESA (European Space Agency) engineer sat down for coffee and a pastry next to a biotech scientist working on stem cells, and they got chatting. One was working on life-support systems for space, and the other was figuring out how to grow stem cells faster. Between them, they realised stem cells could potentially grow more quickly in orbit, as they wouldn’t need to expend energy fighting gravity. Just imagine satellite stem cell farms in space, cultivating essential, life-saving cells more rapidly. That’s exactly the kind of incredible innovation happening at Harwell, all starting from people simply asking each other, “what do you do?”

Amazing, isn't it?

Yet, while it's undoubtedly innovative, the question "what do you do?" is also one of the most difficult to answer. It’s not uncommon for people to fumble their response when asked how they make a living because it’s genuinely difficult to condense what you do into a simple, coherent explanation. You have to instantly summarise your life's work into an answer that is:

- Relevant

- Interesting

- Meaningful

- Humble but also, hopefully, a bit…

- Impressive?

And then there’s the puzzle of structuring your answer. What comes first? What to leave in? What to omit? This challenge, faced every time someone asks you what you do, is essentially the same issue branding solves for organisations.

A well-defined brand helps clarify complex services, products, or ideas into a succinct, compelling narrative. It's not just about logos or slogans - branding is fundamentally about effective communication. And effective communication means creating understanding, sparking interest, and prompting action.

So if you want to save yourself a pile of brand consultancy fees, here's a straightforward approach:

1. Have a coffee with a few friends and explain clearly what you, your startup, product, or service does. Give your explanation:

A recognisable ‘world’ your audience can relate to

A personal, emotional element to connect genuinely

A clear problem you're overcoming

Frame it as a series of tangible benefits

2. Evaluate carefully what resonates. Look for genuine flickers of recognition (if the response is just a polite ‘interesting’, start over!).

3. Pop your most successful explanations into Chat GPT and instruct it to:

"Assemble these messages into a brand strategy framework."

Of course, this might seem deceptively simple, but it’s incredibly powerful. Successful brands are those that can clearly articulate who they are, what they stand for, and how they make their audience’s lives better. They are able to connect quickly and effectively, creating immediate understanding and appeal.

The Harwell café story illustrates that breakthroughs and genuine innovation often start with clear and open communication. Similarly, effective branding is about fostering conversations that simplify complex concepts, making them accessible and relatable.

By applying this approach, you’re essentially equipping yourself to confidently answer that deceptively simple yet often daunting question, “What do you do?” - transforming it from a difficult challenge into an opportunity for meaningful connection.

Boom, job done.

I just saved you £50K.

BRANDsplained®