The Art of powerful questions - Eric E.Vogt, Juanita Brown, and David Isaacs


PRESENCE
  • Can we bring our full essence to this discussion?
  • What stands in the way of each of us being fully present in this gathering?
  • What natural process might emerge, if we let it happen? 
  • How can I remain open to grace?
  • Could I ever take a group to a place that I have not already visited?
  • How well do I know myself?
  • Do I give myself permission to be fully myself? If so, when does that occur?
  • To what degree am I being what others expect?
  • Does our "expertise" distract us from exploring the essence?
  • What am I hiding?
  • If I hold clues and intuitive knowing in my body -- can I learn to read the signs and tap into a different way of knowing?
  • How might we develop a new language -- made of symbols and signals that would enable us another form of communication?

INDIVIDUAL & COLLECTIVE
  • What are our individual rhythms and ways of learning and knowing?
  • At what level do we want the conversations to begin? 
  • Is there an individual, a collective and an over-arching "source? If so, would it be helpful to tap into individual sources or collective ones, rather than the ultimate source?
  • How can Cafe learning contribute to a collective intelligence?
  • How can we balance the need for design with the desire for emergence? Where is the "both/and" of these two?
  • To what degree might it be possible for me to see the world through your eyes?
  • When in life have you waited until it was too late to have an important conversation? What is keeping us from the necessary conversations?
  • What are the most simple, elegant designs that might bring us together?
  • Where is the "magic" in our self organizing, in our collective "remembering" in our sense of "coming home"?
  • In what ways are we already connected?
  • Collectively, what are we letting go of? 
  • What role does collective grief -- a shedding of tears of joy as well as sorrow, play in our coming together?
  • Can we step into the unknown? How comfortable are we with not knowing?

DESIGNING WORLD CAFE CONVERSATIONS
  • How much does the first person who speaks set the tone for the ensuing conversation?
  • What is the impact of "initiating conditions" on the Cafe? Is there a way we can decide to FEEL first and only then speak? What might result?
  • Can we by-pass some of the trust issues that normally keep us from opening up and move more quickly to deep conversations? If so, what processes might best enable us to do that?
  • What social patterns are common to your culture? Does "Cafe" have meaning? What other terms work to convey a place where intimate informal conversations might take place? Around the kitchen table? at the "tavern" or "pub"? How do cultural differences impact the way in which bring ourselves fully to the Cafe?
  • What is the relationship between self-knowledge and the ability to participate in these conversations?
  • What is the role of storytelling in our Cafe experiences?
  • How can we develop a CULTURE OF COMPASSION?
  • Can we heal the past through our present actions?
  • What is the role of healing in our gatherings? How can we become a healing community? 




ASSUMPTION
  • What assumptions or beliefs are we holding that are key to the conversation we are having here?
  • What assumptions do we need to test or challenge here in thinking about (your specific situation)? 
  • What would someone who had a very different set of beliefs than we do say about (your specific situation)? How would we come at this if we held an entirely different belief system than the one we have?
  • What’s the question we should be asking (that we're not asking)?
MEANING
  • What does all this mean?
  • What does it mean to be ethical?
  • What can we learn from what’s happened? “What’s possible here and who cares?” NOT What did we do wrong, who's responsible?
SCOPE
  • Reflect on times they had participated in a community experience that really worked: 
    • What allowed that positive experience to happen? 
    • What kinds of activities were taking place? How did you fit into that?
    • How does a community (instead of a traditional company structure) deal with adversity and adapting to change? What happens with members who don’t uphold the community’s standards?
  • Personal Evaluation: What caused it? • What led up to it? • What is the hardest part about this? • How does this fit with your plans/way of life/values? What have you tried so far? • What do you make of it all? What do you make of it? How does it look to you? How do you feel about it? 
FOCUSING COLLECTIVE ATTENTION
  • What question, if answered, could make the most difference to the future of (your specific situation)? 
  • What’s important to you about (your specific situation) and why do you care? 
  • What draws you/us to this inquiry? 
  • What’s our intention here? What’s the deeper purpose (the big “why”) that is really worthy of our best effort? How can we be the best industrial research lab for the world? NOT in the world (HP)
  • What opportunities can you see in (your specific situation)? 
  • What do we know so far/still need to learn about (your specific situation)? 
  • What are the dilemmas/opportunities in (your specific situation)? 
  • What is the commitment you hold that brought you into this space? What can we create together that will enhance our capacity to make a difference in early childhood teacher preparation? What is the promise I’m willing to make that constitutes a risk or major shift for me? 
  • Who called you to this Cafe? What role did this person play in your expectations?
  • What most attracted you to the idea of participating in this Cafe?
  • If there is a deeper reason for us to be here, what is it?
  • What draws us together?
  • What is possible here? Can we "listen to the source" and bring in something greater than ourselves?
  • If the Universe is trying to create something THROUGH us, what is it up to? How could this work be more fun? 
CONNECT IDEAS & FIND INSIGHT
  • What’s taking shape? 
  • What are you hearing underneath the variety of opinions being expressed? What’s in the center of the table? 
  • What’s emerging here for you? What new connections are you making? 
  • What had real meaning for you from what you’ve heard? What surprised you? What challenged you? 
  • What’s missing from this picture so far? What is it we’re not seeing? What do we need more clarity about? If there was one thing that hasn’t yet been said in order to reach a deeper level of understanding/ clarity, what would that be?
  • What’s been your/our major learning, insight, or discover so far? 
  • What’s the next level of thinking we need to do?
POSSIBILITY
  • What’s the possibility we see in this situation?
  • What haven’t we thought of that could make a difference? What possibilities exist that we haven’t thought of yet?
  • What else can I do? What could a good school also be?
  • If you could do it over again, what would you do differently? • If it had been you, what would you have done? • How else could a person handle this? • If you could do anything you wanted, what would you do?

CREATE FORWARD MOVEMENT 
  • What would it take to create change on this issue? What can we do that could help shift this situation?
  • What could happen that would enable you/us to feel fully engaged and energized about (your specific situation)?
  • What needs our immediate attention going forward? 
  • If our success was completely guaranteed, what bold steps might we choose?
  • How can we support each other in taking the next steps? What unique contribution can we each make? 
  • What challenges might come our way and how might we meet them? 
  • What conversation, if begun today, could ripple out in a way that created new possibilities for the future of (your situation)? 
  • What seed might we plant together today that could make the most difference to the future of (your situation)?
  • How can the "quality that has no name" be sourced into hope? How can we offer hope?
  • Can time and healing flow through us? 
  • How can we share what we are developing through a new model that is not bound to traditional conventions of rights, authorship and ownership?
  • How do we carry this "spirit" back to the world?
  • How can we stay connected? Are we already connected in ways we have failed to notice? How can we enable/encourage others to move to more fluid relationships?
  • What is the new collective story that we could live into?
  • Our institutions are lagging behind -- what might move them to a shift of consciousness? Perhaps we are already moving to a collective consciousness -- if so, how can we make it more visible? What images, symbols, key phrases (such as "I have a dream") might cause a shift?
  • Why are so few people willing to look at larger issues such as the potential for conscious co-creation of our evolution, the need to rethink most of our major institutions, the danger to human life on earth? What would engage more people in working toward change?

THE GAME PLAN PROCESS

■ Assess Your Current Situation
  • Frame your findings (SWOT, signals, trends) as questions rather than as problems or concerns
  • How does A affect C and what questions does that suggest? If X were at play here, what question would we be asking? What’s the real question underneath all this data?”
■ Discover the “Big Questions”
  • 3-5 core questions that, if answered, would make the most difference to the future
  • Cluster related questions
■ Create Images of Possibility
  • Developing scenarios— stories of the future based on different ways your big questions might be answered
■ Evolve Workable Strategies
  • Strategies are key initiatives you invent to address your “big questions.”

German companies Daimler, Bayer, Siemens, or SAP have Direktor Grundsatzfragen - Director of
Fundamental Questions.


Thus, a powerful question (Sally Ann Roth Public Conversations Project c. 1998)
•  relevant to the real life and real work 
•  generates curiosity in the listener
• stimulates reflective conversation
• is thought-provoking
• surfaces underlying assumptions
• invites creativity and new possibilities
• channels attention and focuses inquiry
• stays with participants
• touches a deep meaning
• evokes more questions
• travels well - spread across with a life of its own


IS YOUR ORGANIZATION AN INQUIRING SYSTEM? ASSESSING YOUR ORGANIZATION’S CAPABILITIES

  • To what degree do leaders in your organization foster an environment in which discovering the “big questions” is encouraged as much as coming up with workable solutions? 
    • Do your leadership development programs contain as much of a focus on the art and architecture of framing powerful questions as they do on techniques for solving problems? 
    • Do your organization’s strategic planning processes include structured ways to discover the “big questions” that, if answered, would have real strategic leverage?
    • Do senior leaders in your organization see the process of strategy evolution as one that engages multiple voices and perspectives in networks of conversation?
  • Does your organization have rewards or incentives for members to work across functional boundaries to find challenging questions that create common focus and forward movement for knowledge creation? 
    • Does your organization use collaborative technology tools to enable people on the frontlines to ask each other questions related to their daily work (i.e. customer service, equipment maintenance) and receive help with these questions from colleagues in other locations?
    • What enabling tools or technologies does your organization employ to “seed” itself with strategic questions that “travel well” and catalyze learning conversations both within and across functions? (e.g. C Space)

A community of practice is made of up people who share a common interest and who work together to expand their individual and collective capacity to solve problems over time.

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