Works with Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini, or your own local model: paste this prompt and your AI will co-facilitate this exercise with you.

Help me prepare and run the exercise below. First ask for my participant count, time, setting, access needs and intended result. Check these against the stated limits. Use the supplied rules and materials. Explain any proposed changes before using them, and label them as adaptations. Do not invent source claims or require personal disclosure. Give me one step at a time when I say start. I manage the people, physical activity and clock; do not claim to observe the room. Ask me what happened before choosing a next step.

Reference revision: afe6662be98ea7c080ff182a917013d0f5acefb79e2e7eecf706f21a1c7c3ed0

# Asking Questions to Promote Curiosity

Small groups map affected parties for a complex problem, examine assumptions about their concerns, and draft inquiry questions to explore those perspectives directly.

**Time:** 55 minutes. Source step timing totals 55 minutes (15 + 10 + 20 + 10).
**People:** 4 to 24. Small groups of 3 to 4 participants. For 5 people, form one group of 5 or a pair and a trio. With any other group size, use trios and quads. Whole-room sharing for steps 2 and 4.

## Choose this exercise

**Purpose:** Draft questions targeted at specific community groups to examine assumptions and learn about their viewpoints on a complex problem.
**Use it when:** Use when a team or class prepares to research an issue, conduct interviews, or engage people whose priorities they may have oversimplified.
**Skip it when:** Skip when the group needs to resolve an immediate tactical emergency or when participants lack a shared problem topic to analyze.

## Materials and tools

- One printed Identifying Stakeholders Worksheet per small group
- One printed Question Chart reference sheet per small group
- Pens or pencils (one per participant)
- Whiteboard, chart paper, or shared digital board
- Dry-erase markers

## Before participants arrive

1. Select a complex problem relevant to the participants (for example: local public transit funding cuts, high school cell phone bans, or hospital wait times).
2. Write the chosen problem clearly at the top of the room's main board.
3. Print or link the Identifying Stakeholders Worksheet and Question Chart for each small group.

## Say this to open

Welcome. When we examine complex problems, we often carry unexamined assumptions about how different groups see the issue. Today we will identify groups affected by our problem topic, examine what we think they care about, and write clear questions to ask them directly.

## How to run it

### 1. Map affected parties and assumptions (15 minutes)

Introduce the chosen complex problem. Form groups of 3 to 4 (or a group of 5 if exactly 5 attend). Hand out the Identifying Stakeholders Worksheet. Groups list distinct groups or roles affected by the problem. For each party, write how that party might define the problem, their primary concerns, and the sources forming your perception (media, personal experience, education). Complete at least 3 parties. Stop when the 15-minute timer rings.

### 2. Select priority groups (10 minutes)

Groups review their worksheets and choose up to 5 priority parties to contact directly. Each group writes their top parties on the room board. The facilitator removes duplicates. If there are more unique parties than groups, select the most critical ones up to the number of groups. If there are fewer unique parties than groups, assign each unique party to at least one group and distribute duplicates across remaining groups so every group has one target party.

### 3. Draft inquiry questions (20 minutes)

Distribute the Question Chart. Each group writes 3 to 5 open inquiry questions tailored to their assigned party. Questions should test assumptions, uncover priorities, or explore lived experience rather than steer someone toward an answer. For example, instead of asking 'Why do you oppose transit cuts?', ask 'What daily routines change for you when bus routes are reduced?' Groups record their final questions clearly on paper or the shared board.

### 4. Share questions and debrief (10 minutes)

Invite 3 or 4 volunteer groups to read exactly one drafted question aloud (about 30 seconds each). Collect 1 or 2 quick observations from the room. Use the remaining 6 minutes to ask 1 or 2 debrief questions from the list to the full room. Stop on time.


## Debrief questions

- Facilitator note: Select 1 or 2 questions below to fit the remaining time.
- Which question type stood out as most helpful for uncovering new information, and what made it work?
- How might you rephrase one of these questions if the listener seemed defensive or skeptical?
- What assumptions did your group notice while drafting questions for your assigned group?

**Finished output:** A completed stakeholder map and a set of 3 to 5 drafted inquiry questions tailored to an affected group.

## Remote

Run in an online meeting platform. Put participants into breakout rooms of 3 to 4. Provide the worksheet and question chart in a shared digital document or whiteboard (such as Miro or Google Docs). In step 2, groups type their top parties into a shared plenary slide or chat. In step 3, groups draft questions directly in their assigned section of the shared document. Return to the main room for spoken debrief.

## Hybrid

Pair in-person participants with local partners and remote participants into online breakout rooms. All groups record their identified parties and draft questions into a single shared digital document displayed on the room screen. In step 4, alternate between an in-person group and a remote group reading questions aloud.

## Access and participation choices

- Participants may choose whether to write, read aloud, or contribute ideas orally within their small group.
- Any participant may pass during whole-room sharing without giving a reason.
- Digital and paper options are provided for all prompts and reading materials.

## If the session gets stuck

**Groups draft leading questions that sound like cross-examination (such as 'Don't you see how this harms riders?').**

Intervene during step 3. Point them to the Clarifying or Exploratory examples on the Question Chart and prompt them to start with 'How' or 'What'.

**One or two groups take all the obvious parties, leaving other groups unsure what to analyze.**

Prompt groups in step 2 to look for less visible or quiet groups, such as maintenance workers, weekend commuters, or front-desk staff.


## Terms used here

- Stakeholder: An individual, group, or organization directly affected by or involved in a specific problem or decision.
- Inquiry Question: An open question asked to learn another person's view, reasoning, or experience without steering them toward a pre-set answer.

## Participant material: Identifying Stakeholders Worksheet

Problem Statement:
[Write the group's problem topic here]

Party 1:
- How do they define this issue?
- What are their major concerns?
- What sources formed your perception (news, personal experience, study)?

Party 2:
- How do they define this issue?
- What are their major concerns?
- What sources formed your perception?

Party 3:
- How do they define this issue?
- What are their major concerns?
- What sources formed your perception?

Party 4:
- How do they define this issue?
- What are their major concerns?
- What sources formed your perception?

Party 5:
- How do they define this issue?
- What are their major concerns?
- What sources formed your perception?

Priority Selection:
List up to 5 parties it is most critical to talk with directly regarding this issue.

## Participant material: Question Chart

Use these question types to build your inquiry list:

1. Clarifying Questions
Purpose: Understand facts, definitions, or routines.
Example: 'What does a normal shift look like when staffing levels change?'

2. Exploratory Questions
Purpose: Surface values, hopes, and concerns.
Example: 'What outcomes would make this policy change feel fair to your team?'

3. Perspective-Checking Questions
Purpose: Test whether outside assumptions about their priorities are accurate.
Example: 'Outside observers often assume cost is your primary worry. How accurate is that from where you sit?'

4. Impact Questions
Purpose: Reveal downstream consequences that others might miss.
Example: 'How does this decision affect people who do not have access to a personal car?'

## Sources and adaptation

Observed in Collaborative Discussion Project curriculum item 4.6, 'Asking Questions to Promote Curiosity'.

Retained the four-step sequence, 55-minute duration, and core mechanic from the Collaborative Discussion Project source text. Added concrete sample worksheet contents with slots for up to 5 parties to match priority selection, concrete grouping rules for edge counts like 5 participants, robust party assignment logic for step 2, capped plenary sharing in step 4 to fit the 10-minute debrief, along with explicit hybrid sequencing and troubleshooting guidance.

[Collaborative Discussion Project](https://www.collaborativediscussionproject.com/items-1/46askingquestionstopromotecuriosity)

Current run sheet: https://unitedwetransform.com/exercises/6-asking-questions-to-promote-curiosity/