The many ways to ask questions

The art of asking rich open-ended questions is critical to the process of collective knowledge creation. New thinking, learning or decision processes can be created from a unique set of questions to perform specialized functions. Here are a few of these questions, categorized according to purpose: 


Discuss
Take it in turns to talk about your ideas, then [brainstorm....] 
Turn to the person next to you and discuss your ideas for two minutes, then [brainstorm, describe....] 
Discuss your ideas about [the subject] then... 
Share your experiences with a partner about........then.... 
Ask the person next to you a question about....... 


Decide 
If you were to be responsible for making a decision  about [describe the situation] what would you do and why?
What will you do about... 
[How, what, where, why, when] will you... 
Who will...? 
Integrate the [ideas, critical issues] into a single idea. 
If you could do anything you liked what would you do…. 
Choose one idea and give your reasons for selecting it… 
What would you now do if you were the boss? 
What will you start tomorrow? 


Generate ideas/information/opinions
List all the [people, things, stakeholders, parts, criteria, resources].... 
Describe what you [see, feel, hear, think].... 
Write a story about... 
In what ways can you... 
Think about and prepare a list of... 
Write down all the... 
Tell all about the... 
Compose a [letter, story, report, poem about... 
Type/write your ideas... 
In 25 words or less, describe....


Hypothesize
What might happen if... 
If you could invent the future what... 
What is your best guess?
If you were [name of person or thing], what would you do to... 
What theory could fit all the ideas you have? 


Judge
What are the benefits of.... 
Select and summarise the best [2, 3, 5] idea(s)... 
Rank this/the list of ideas in [ascending, descending] order... 
Which of these ideas would you delete from the list and why? 
Pick the Top 5-10 ideas and... 
What is the most important idea here?. 
What criteria will you use to... 
Write down a list of rules.... 
What criteria will you use to... 
Write down a list of rules to...


Modify
Combine the ideas... 
Choose an idea and improve it
Choose an idea and apply the following criteria (list of criteria) to improve it.
Modify the... 
Rearrange the following list in [ascending, descending, etc....] order... 
Make the [thing, subject, idea][bigger, smaller, longer, shorter]... 


Pattern
What is the pattern to the ideas/contributions?
What are the common ideas/features of... 
In what ways is the [subject] [the same as, different to]... 
Give another example of... 
What else is like this... 
What fits this same [pattern, description]... 
Describe similar [events, things, people, situations] that you..... 


Plan
Describe a project you will begin immediately (5 word snazzy title and 25-word description).  
Make a list of the first five (10) steps to get started. Respond like this....1....., 2....., 3....etc.
What are the milestones we wish to achieve. Respond like this (date 1: event, date 2: event etc.)
How will you... 
How you could (name of activity)... 
Prepare an action plan that describes [who, how, what, when, where, why]... 


Re-frame
Pretend you are........... What [ask a question about the consequences].
Reverse roles with... ….What  [ask a question about the consequences].
Do the opposite of.......What... 
Imagine you are a/the.....What...
Look at the issue from another perspective. ...What.... 
You are [name of a person, thing]. What do you [think, feel] about... 
Describe another way to.......What....
Describe what does not fit with……....Explain...  


Research
Conduct an experiment [describe the experiment] .Describe what happened in detail.
Explore the [topic] by [reading, watching, searching a/the] [CD-ROM, video, text book, Internet] and report back what you have discovered/learned.  
Go to page [number] of [name of text] and... 
Multitask with [another kind of software] and...  
Report back to the group about what you have found about... 

Working with the wisdom of your crowd

Your crowd has generated tens or even hundreds of ideas. How do you reduce the ideas to a manageable number, so that what you have created together is focused, doable, bridges differences and includes a call to action? We use a technique called "interventions", a single instruction to help turn the group's ideas into something of value. Interventions are designed to develop a new theory or model, resolve conflicting ideas into an overarching concept or decision, suggest new projects, make personal commitments or list action steps. We begin by reading aloud every idea, to acknowledge their value, then apply one of the following interventions: Themes: This is a sense making approach, which leads to the creation of new models, which are precursors of theories. Before the ideas are read aloud, ask the group to look for the key themes or patterns, the ideas that stand out or resonate with the group. Then at the conclusion of the activity, ask people to submit one 2-3 word theme each. Themes - What are the key ideas, patterns, common themes or underlying concepts? Integrate: This is a powerful dialectical knowledge building AND cross-boundary relationships development step, which asks participants to discern a higher level idea or concept, which embraces some or all of the ideas they have generated. It helps to bridge differences and integrate interests, and reduce ideas down to the most important so they are manageable. Before the ideas are read aloud, ask the group to identify 2-3 ideas that could be integrated into a single overarching idea. Integrate - Select 3-4 ideas and create a new idea that combines all the ideas. Invent a method: Sometime we ask groups to collectively generate questions or activities to explore an issue. We can use these questions to create new learning or decision methods. After the questions/activities have been read aloud, ask the participants to arrange/organize the various them into a sequence. Invent a new method. List the steps - 1....., 2...., 3....., etc. Action: The best way to start any new project is to make a list of the steps, preferably in the order in which they will be carried out. Later, the facilitator can accumlate all the suggested action steps into a final list with no redundancies, where every step is regarded as important. Steps - List the first five steps to get started. 1......, 2....., 3.....etc. Extended action plan: After the group creates a list of the first five action steps, and the ideas are read aloud, ask the group to make a more extensive list (ten instead of five) and improve the order. There is usually a big learning effect. Steps - List the first 10 steps to get started. 1......, 2......, 3.....etc. Milestones: A useful way to conceptualize a project is to make a list of the key milestones or accomplishments and how we will celebrate it, such as delivering a report, holding a first meeting, commissioning a project, or winning an award after the project is successfully completed. Milestones - Describe the major milestones at the start, middle and end of a project. e.g. (Date 1: activity, Date 2: activity etc.) Project idea: Joint action needs a common focus. One of the best ways to begin is to craft a snazzy or catchy titles for a project that will enthuse everyone to contribute to, or jointly agree to implement. Often projects are combinations of small projects, so even after everyone has contributed their idea for a project, a SECOND round intervention, which asks all the participants to combine two or three ideas into a larger concept is useful. We - Craft a project title (4-5 words) and a 20 word description. Recommendation: Rarely can a group make a decision affecting the entire organisation, unless they are the senior management team. Even then, the top team may also require some kind of permission/agreement, such as board approval. A useful way to encourage people to participate in the larger-scale organisation decision making process, is to invite them to propose recommendations, and justify what they would do if they had complete authority. This approach also helps people to think about who the decision will affect and how they might need to manage the organisation politics. Everyone - If you had complete authority, what would you do? Personal commitment: The main purpose of a decision making session is to "make a decision". If we are expecting participants to make some kind of personal commitment to action as a result of the session, then they can type, submit and subsequently announce what they will personally commit to. Me - Type your name and what you will do, by when, to make this happen. Improvement: The facilitator chooses an idea and asks everyone to improve it, in any way they like, or using a specific method such as SCAMPER (Substitute, Combine, Modify, Adapt, Put to other purposes, Eliminate or Rearrange/Reverse). Or each member of the team chooses an idea, they feel they can enhance, and improves it. Improve - Choose an idea and improve it using one of these criteria. Think about [list of criteria]. Forecast the consequences: When we make decisions, we also need to think of the consequences of what we might do. Use the Consequences intervention to ask participants to consider what might happen next if their ideas are implemented. You can insert the Forecast intervention to consider the consequences of all the ideas. Consequences - What could/will now happen? Imperatives: People who return from retreats with long shopping lists of strategies rarely act on their thinking. But if ask participants to set a time frame, think about who should be involved, what resources are required and the first steps, there’s a greater chance something may happen. What must we now do starting today? Who? How? With what? By when? Concept: We can learn to understand an issue or topic by paying close attention to its' language. We begin by listing what we know about it, especially the words associated with the topic and any key concepts, relationships, models or theories. We then choose and use the key words (as many as necessary but often not more than 5-6 words) to more robustly describe its essence. For example: how an engine works, and the component parts - engine, crankshaft, piston, valve, fuel, etc.. Concept - Select 4-5 key words/ideas and craft a new and better concept.