In the world of television and filmmaking, a “wild wall” allows a director and crew to move around a stage set with ease.

A wild wall is literally a moveable wall, one that’s not fixed.

When a production team builds a TV or film set – of a police station, living room, kitchen or courtroom – of the four walls that are secured, one is moveable…sometimes even more than one.

Wild walls are necessary so that if the director needs to get a particular camera angle of the scene, she can move the camera to where the wall would normally be and shoot INTO the room from that angle.

Imagine, for example a bedroom scene.

Nice example, eh? What if you wanted to place the camera just behind the pillows at the head of the bed? The placement of your lens would represent the man’s “point of view” as he lies in bed. Recently, I was on a TV sound stage and was musing on this concept of wild walls and how it relates to a company structure.>What  are the “wild walls”of your business?

If you think of the structure of your business as you would the structure of a TV or film set, which walls might be useful to make moveable?

You chuckle. “Well, budget” you think. “It’d be nice to have an unlimited budget…”

No doubt, businesses want to go as high as they can, growing as much as they can. Everyone wants a moveable ceiling. But what about walls? What areas are you willing to expand upon, remove entirely or adjust in order to create what you need?

How creative are you willing to be to get the results you want?

Here’s one very interesting place to start. (And if this thought produces a knee-jerk reaction  of “that’s ridiculous” then this is JUST where you need to start…)

Think of the one “foundational wall” of your business that you would never consider moving. Perhaps it’s the cornerstone of your identity, who you are and what you consider your product or service to be. Then, just as an experiment ask yourself or your team, “What if we made that wall flexible…or removable…or replaceable?

What could you see if this wall wasn’t there ?

If your wall is a:

• PRODUCT or SERVICE, (i.e. financial services or the insurance industry) what if you didn’t sell complex financial instruments or pension plans? What MIGHT you sell?
• STYLE with which you offer your products and services…maybe a signature approach…what if you didn’t deliver it in this way?
• VALUE  such as integrity, in removing it you might see what others are doing which would give you further insight into what you WON’T do. Or you might realize this value no longer holds meaning for you.

Simply by asking this one question (even for the low-risk duration of a brainstorming session), you will gain perspective that is invaluable.

And that alone might give you your best shot yet.

Or at the very least, some award-worthy insight.