Hourglass thinking begins as you learn about and use very broad ideas (in our case, utilizing the broadest of business concepts and ideas) to “get your mind around” what you see as the nature of problem/opportunity you will research. For example, “what is the business of the company or industry in question - i.e. their product/market? Who buys this category; how do they buy and why do they buy? What other variables are relevant, such as competitor, legal, economic, social, and technological issue?
Your thinking then needs to segue to those concepts that are more narrowly focused, open to alternatives, and lead to some form of quantitative analysis in the neck of the hourglass. For example: is the issue (the decision) I should address ‘essentially’ a product, distribution, promotion or pricing issue. If it is a product problem, do I need to define my Problem/Opportunity more narrowly – e.g. a product design or a product line; and if it is a design problem, what alternative might be open?
And, then as you define and evaluate alternative solutions your thinking must broaden again to include more expansive ideas. For example: a cost/benefit or breakeven analysis of three alternative strategies; investigation of the future market potential based on consumer behavior, the competitive market structure, and segmentation of the market.