Versions of the questions that are specific
Questions that shift the
focus to a different idea
The Go/No Go
Question
Why are we talking
about this, now?
BASIC QUESITONS
What is our agenda?
What are our goals?
Need any ground
rules?
Where do we go next?
What is the cost of this
discussion? This email
thread?
MOTIVATION
Is this urgent to
discuss? Important?
Interesting?
PARTICIPATION
Do I need to be here?
Do you? Who else?
Who should participate
electronically?
Should we take this
off-line?
FOCUSING
Are we getting to the
heart of the issue?
Are we focusing long
enough on key ideas?
QUESTIONING THE
QUESTIONS
Where is the line of
questioning going?
Are we going down a
rat hole? Into deep
space?
© Dennis Matthies,
Monica Worline 12/00
from the college textbook
Precision Questioning
Questions that Clarify
Meaning
What do we mean?
AMBIGUOUS
Do we mean __ or __ ?
VAGUE
Where?
When?
To what extent?
What type?
Which parts?
What percentage?
How probable?
How confident?
Compared to what?
What’s the rate?
What’s the trend?
DIFFICULT CONCEPT
What is an example?
Paradigm example?
What is a rough
Definition? Formal
definition?
Synonym?
What are its parts?
What are its uses?
Why is it called “__”?
What is an analogy?
Draw a picture?
How is it related to __?
How is it unlike __?
MUSH
Are distinct
claims/arguments/source
s/etc. being mushed
together?
OTHER
Paraphrase: Are you
saying that __?
PRECISION QUESTIONING
Questions about
Assumptions
What assumptions are we
making?
EXISTENCE
Does __ exist?
UNIQUENESS
Is there only one __?
MEASUREMENT
Is there a valid way to
measure __? Can it be
judged quantitatively?
POSSIBILITY
Is __ possible? Feasible?
VALUE
Is __ good/bad/OK/etc.?
AUDIENCE
What is the speaker
assuming about his/her
audience?
How do our background
assumptions differ?
POLITICAL/HUMAN
STEREOTYPES
Gender, class, race, age,
disability, ethnic, etc.
CATEGORY
Ok to lump __ together?
Only one basic type?
SIMILARITY
Is __ similar to __?
TIME, CONSTANCY
Are the changes slow
enough, small enough or
steady enough to be safely
ignored?
The Basic Critical
Question
How do we know this is
true?
DIRECT SOURCE
What is the person’s
credibility?
INDIRECT SOURCE
Where did you hear this?
QUANTITATIVE REASONS
What is the data?
QUALITTATIVE REASONS
Is this argument valid?
(argument by analogy,
ends-means, precedent,
tradition, generalization
from a sample.)
METHODOLOGY
What do we know &
what do we need to
know?
Is it a quantitative or
qualitative issue?
Is it knowable?
Decidable? In what time
frame? At what cost?
With what certainty?
What level of certainty is
required?
How can we access firstrate expert opinions?
Method for
approximating?
How can we triangulate
lines of reasoning?
OTHER
For actions, the BCQ is
“Why do this?”
For value judgments:
“What makes it
good/bad/OK?”
Questions about Causes
Questions about Effects
Questions about Action
Why? What caused this?
What will be the effect?
FOCUSING
Is it caused by x? y? z?
To what extent are the
causes inside vs. outside
the system?
What level of explanation
do we want?
FOCUSING
How will it affect x? y? z?
To what extent are the
effects inside vs. outside
the system?
What could/should we
do?
BY WHOM
What should I do?
What should be done by
groups I belong to?
In collaboration with?
TRIGGER vs. CONDITIONS
What was the immediate
cause, the trigger?
What conditions needed
to be in place?
ROOT vs. CONTRIBUITING
What were the root
causes?
Contributing causes?
DYNAMIC CAUSES
What are the opposing
forces? How do they add
up? How changing?
OTHER QUESTIONS
A cause? A correlation?
Just random variation?
One cause or many? How
does it work? What is the
mechanism? What was
happening at the time __
occurred?
ALTERNATIVE SCENARIOS
What is the worst case?
Best case?
Most/first possible?
PROBABILITY
Most likely cause?
Less likely but possible?
TIME SPAN
Short-term effects?
Medium-term effects?
Long-term effects?
PRIMARY vs. SECONDARY
Positive side effects?
OTHER QUESTIONS
Is this prediction a
statistical inference?
Is it based on a causal
model?
WHEN CAUSALITY IS ORGANIC AND NOT LINEAR
Are causes interacting?
Are effects interacting?
Are effects feeding back on causes?
What are the system’s best intervention points?
BY WHEN
When will it be done?
Is this a commitment?
ROOT CAUSE FIX vs.
CONTAINMENT
Will this merely contain
the problem?
Is this a root cause fix?
STRATEGY vs. TACTICS
Have a tactical plan?
Have a strategy? =
Methodical analysis of all
relevant trends?
Attacking multiple
problems with
coordinated actions?
Global and long term?
Risk analysis based on
changes in deep
dynamics?
Competition taken into
account?
OTHER
Level of commitment vs.
level of confidence?
Alternatives considered?
Milestones?
Exit strategy?
Mitigation plan?
Timing?
Support?
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