Most change management initiatives start with needing the answer to a specific business question, like "How do we get ahead of our competitors?" or "How can we reduce costs while increasing productivity?"

These questions can seem straightforward from a business perspective:  Questions about getting ahead of the competition or improving the bottom line appear to be rooted in solid business imperatives and designed to deliver a demonstrable ROI.

However, the truth is that a question like "How do we get ahead of our competitors?" is much broader than it first appears - which means that the answer isn't nearly as simple as you'd think it should be.  After all, your competitors may be doing all kinds of things better than your organization:  Maybe they have better economies of scale, or better patents, lower prices, better customer service, a bigger marketing budget - the list of possibilities is virtually endless.  Suddenly, trying to answer a 'simple' question becomes a whole lot more complex.

But maybe the problem isn't finding the answer, but asking the right question in the first place.

In the late 1980s, British Airways was in trouble.  Recently privatized and struggling to compete with the new Virgin Atlantic Airways, BA needed to rehabilitate its image and win back brand loyalty.  After several years of trying to answer the wrong question - which got them in a lot of legal hot water - they finally changed the question.

Instead of asking themselves "How do we beat Virgin Atlantic?", they asked "How can we give travellers a fantastic flying experience with BA?"

So while Virgin was still talking lower prices and no-frills travel, BA sought to bring back the glamour and romance of flying, injecting more emotion into the experience.  Those of you of a certain age will no doubt remember this famous commercial, which won all kinds of awards at the time:

Service was improved, meals were upgraded, staff were trained to be more entrepreneurial - and soon, customers were less concerned about saving $20 on their flight and more interested in how comfortable that flight would be.

The result?  By 1990, British Airways was one of the most profitable airlines in the world, even as other airlines were struggling to stay afloat.

The lesson?  When you're struggling to come up with the right change strategy, it may be time to reconsider the question that got you thinking about change in the first place.  BONUS TIP:  Questions that may not look particularly ROI-related at the outset may, in fact, be the questions that have the most effect on the bottom line in the end.