Asking Questions to Promote Curiosity

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.

Group arrangement: 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.

Timing: Source step timing totals 55 minutes (15 + 10 + 20 + 10).

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.