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11 levels of thinking

Paint questions (see section 8: SHAPE Questioning) are a good tool for helping both you
and your buyer move towards levels 3 and 4, which tend to be forward looking and broad
in scope. See also Spicy Questions, which are designed specifically to help thinking
move outside normal constraints.

In Octagon™ terms (see section 16), big picture people and opportunity seekers will enjoy
the thrill of a level 4 conversation, so take them there immediately and then work down
through level 3 then 2 then 1.

If however, you are dealing with someone who is detail oriented and / or risk averse,
better not to start at level 4 as they are likely to respond, mentally if not verbally, with
“don’t believe you”, or “prove it” or “be realistic”.

Driving to Level 3 and 4 with PEST

New perspectives bring new insights. Similar to Spicy Questions, using a PEST analysis
or one of its variants helps unblock narrow lines of thought and almost always reveals new
insights.
video

PEST (which stands for Political, Economic, Social and Technological) is a macro-analysis
tool that looks at the broad strategic environment. It is less well-known, and less-used
by corporates than the SWOT micro-analysis tool that tends to focus on an organization’s
internal workings and immediate external environment.

Common elements of a PEST analysis include:
Political Economic
• Political stability • Home economy situation and trends
• Ecological / environment issues • Level of government intervention in
• Current legislation home market the economy
• Future legislation • Exchange rates, interest and inflation
• International legislation rates
• Regulatory bodies and processes • International trade / monetary issues
• Government policies • Overseas economies and trends
• Government term and change • Taxation
• National trade policies • Seasonality / weather issues
• Funding, grants and initiatives • Specific industry factors
• Home market lobbying / pressure groups • Market routes and distribution trends
• International pressure groups • Customer / end-user drivers
• Competition laws • Efficiency of financial markets
• Pricing regulations • Infrastructure quality
• Labor laws • Skill level / productivity of workforce
• Wars and conflict • Business cycle stage (e.g. prosperity,
• Legal framework for contract enforcement recession, recovery)
• Intellectual property protection
• Trade regulations and tariffs
• Favored trading partners

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