'art of provocative questioning'

Tue Dec 21 03:51:05 PST 2004

The 'art of provocative questioning' recalls me of the practices of ontological coaching... when I read at was has been written under this thread, I realize that most of us face a similar challenge: overcoming the fear of "losing control". Management fears the opinion of subordinates and clients. Why? That is THE real question for me: Why do you fear what others have to say about you/your organization? I feel that, at least, part of the answer may be found through ontological coaching (aka executive coaching), a discipline that uses questioning as a way for the coachee to "realize" what is going on with her/him, the others; and also introduces an interesting definition: to see others as "clients", it is, to see oneself as a node in a network of conversations, were everyone has commitments (tasks to be done in a certain time with a certain standard of satisfaction defined with the client). To be effective, one has to be capable of "hear the client", it is, to articulate even those
 needs that the client isn't aware of, not to speak of those that the client can articulate by herself. Open Space Technology is a wonderful oportunity for people/organizations to "hear its clients", internal and external, and to: get praise, get ideas, get complaints (precious stuff that helps us improve and that is oh-so difficult to get right) and get commited. I think there is a VERY strong link between Ontology of Language and OST.

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Date: Mon, 20 Dec 2004 15:56:06 +0800
From: Brendan McKeague
Subject: PROVOCATIVE QUESTIONS

G'day folks

I've been pondering lately on the 'art of provocative questioning' - or
curiosity.
Working recently with couple of 'undecided' clients - co-designing a
process for working with staff groups on such themes as 'team-building
days' or 'planning conferences' - we've discussed the notion of 'different
purpose, different space, different process'
They had already decided that they wished to go off-site but seemed
reluctant to engage in any unconventional or 'way-out/weird' activities...

One of my key questions to them now is:
Why would you invest so much to take your staff, team, whatever away from
their normal 'business as usual' space - place of work - and then just
expose them to the same old 'business-as-usual' processes...where
predetermined plans, outcomes, bells and whistles dominate the timetable?

During the ensuing conversation, I usually have the opportunity to provide
an invitation to consider a real alternative - if you are going away, then
go away in more than just a physical sense - go away in terms of place,
pace and space...
a different place - removed from the usual environment, sights, smells,
sounds, tastes, touches in order to create
a different space - in which the unknown can be made known, the unusual can
be accessed and the creativity of people can be unleashed at
a different pace - a slowing down and/or a speeding up, determined by those
who are there, in response to the energies and passion that emerge from
them as they engage with each other and with the theme...

This basic, simple question and subsequent conversation seems to have
provoked a couple of welcome 'ah-ha' moments from sponsors struggling to
accept the 'risks' associated with their 'loss of control' or fear of the
unknown....

It's so much fun developing 'provocative questions' - much easier than
trying to provide answers!

Any other favourite 'provocative questions' hanging around?

Cheers
Brendan

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Date: Mon, 20 Dec 2004 13:55:25 +0200
From: Funda Oral
Subject: PROVOCATIVE QUESTIONS

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questions in case of fear of "loss of control" might be;

* what you would lose in the worst case?

* what is the most negative scenario you could imagine?

but it's necessary to find create positive answers and scenarios for the above questions.

Sometimes people are already living in a very negative atmosphere but they don't realize that..so sometimes we can say something like that

* don't you see? it can not be worse than how it is now? isnt'it?

Funda

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------------------------------

Date: Mon, 20 Dec 2004 16:16:03 +0100
From: "Pannwitz, Michael M"
Subject: Re: PROVOCATIVE QUESTIONS

Why do you work so hard?
(author unknown, sometimes attributed to a phantom with hat)
merry xmas
mmp

On Mon, 20 Dec 2004 15:56:06 +0800, Brendan McKeague wrote:

>G'day folks
>
>I've been pondering lately on the 'art of provocative questioning' - or
>curiosity.
>Working recently with couple of 'undecided' clients - co-designing a
>process for working with staff groups on such themes as 'team-building
>days' or 'planning conferences' - we've discussed the notion of 'different
>purpose, different space, different process'
>They had already decided that they wished to go off-site but seemed
>reluctant to engage in any unconventional or 'way-out/weird' activities...
>
>One of my key questions to them now is:
>Why would you invest so much to take your staff, team, whatever away from
>their normal 'business as usual' space - place of work - and then just
>expose them to the same old 'business-as-usual' processes...where
>predetermined plans, outcomes, bells and whistles dominate the timetable?
>
>During the ensuing conversation, I usually have the opportunity to provide
>an invitation to consider a real alternative - if you are going away, then
>go away in more than just a physical sense - go away in terms of place,
>pace and space...
>a different place - removed from the usual environment, sights, smells,
>sounds, tastes, touches in order to create
>a different space - in which the unknown can be made known, the unusual can
>be accessed and the creativity of people can be unleashed at
>a different pace - a slowing down and/or a speeding up, determined by those
>who are there, in response to the energies and passion that emerge from
>them as they engage with each other and with the theme...
>
>This basic, simple question and subsequent conversation seems to have
>provoked a couple of welcome 'ah-ha' moments from sponsors struggling to
>accept the 'risks' associated with their 'loss of control' or fear of the
>unknown....
>
>It's so much fun developing 'provocative questions' - much easier than
>trying to provide answers!
>
>Any other favourite 'provocative questions' hanging around?
>
>Cheers
>Brendan
>
>*
>*
>==========================================================
>OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
>------------------------------
>To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options,
>view the archives of oslist at listserv.boisestate.edu:
>http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html
>
>To learn about OpenSpaceEmailLists and OSLIST FAQs:
>http://www.openspaceworld.org/oslist
>

Michael M Pannwitz, boscop eG i.G.
Draisweg 1, 12209 Berlin
++49 - 30-772 8000
www.boscop.de www.michaelmpannwitz.de

Seit dem 17. August 2004 ist die Open Space World Map online. Stand: 128 Teilnehmende in 30 Ländern, davon 46 aus Deutschland. Werft mal einen Blick in
www.openspaceworldmap.org

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