OPEN QUESTION APPROACH
http://www.openquestionapproach.org/
See also: OQ Approach - Checklist and Hints
OQ Blackberry
The Open Question Approach ™
is a profoundly
effective,elegantly simple,
enjoyable way for people in groups to connect
deeply…rapidly…
and easily.
Trust, rapport, and energy develop in minutes.
Group intelligence takes over.
Rigidity fades.
"After we went around the circle once, everyone was really relaxed and kind of settled into the form. I felt a tremendous sense of energy from the circle." - a participant in the Bellingham IONS-AGNT Open Question gathering
Inspiration
The Open Question Approach™ evolved from exploring the potential of question-based systems, in contrast to the usual top-down, answer-based approach to group endeavors.
It is about making profound questions central, and letting working answers evolve as circumstances or knowledge develop.
Questions of shared concern are timeless. They bring people together in shared quests for mutual benefit. As things develop, fresh answers can include new considerations.
Rigid answers, though, become increasingly irrelevant and even destructive as circumstances change. Institutionalized, answer-based systems can be at the root of ongoing conflict by failing to meet real needs, yet resisting adaptation. Answer-based systems tend to gather emotional commitment and become vested interests, thereby institutionalizing the conflict they engender.
The search for alternatives to global self-destruction led to recognizing a distinction between answer-based and question-based approaches to collective activity. Shifting to a question-based management and governance approach, using appropriate questions, opens the way to a self-optimizing society.
Instructions
This is how to do an Open Question Circle™ , which is one application of the Open Question Approach™ More information and other applications are on the website.
The Open Question Approach (OQA™ ) uses carefully constructed questions. An Open Question suggests no hint of an answer, concerns all participants personally, includes all equally, and inspires those who answer it.
An example, used in an evening co-sponsored by Bellingham, Washington IONS and Woodside Church, a Church of Religious Science, is, "What is one thing you could do as a spiritual activist to make life more wonderful in your community?"
In a circle of up to seven people, one person asks the question of a neighbor, addressing the person by name. She or he takes a moment to hear it, look or feel inside, then answers with a single statement, not an extended argument or justification.
Everyone in the circle listens carefully, with no cross-talk or questioning. This listening and the completely egalitarian form engender safety and build trust.
After the first answer, the questioner asks the same person, "(Name), what would that do for you personally?" then says, "Thank you" after the answer. The "answerer" turns to the next person and the process continues around the circle three or more times. If there are multiple circles, they can mix and repeat for cross-fertilization.
ResultsThe OQA creates a safe space in which a meaningful question is explored in increasing depth and resonance. Answers may build on each other, even without discussion. Typically, a remarkable level of communication develops.
Enthusiasm and personal engagement increase as participants discover, reflect, and reveal deeper aspects of their own integrity and inspiration. Being listened to with respect, and with no need to defend themselves, people naturally open and become positive.
"It seemed like each time as we listened to each other, the commitments would be deeper, each one of us making our individual commitments to what we wanted to do to be more spiritual and more conscious ourselves as we heard each one talk. I noticed that we began to take more risks, talking about what we could do that would stretch us, that would be hard. That kind of energy and that kind of connection happened in just a very short time."- from the Bellingham IONS-AGNT gathering
Focused yet open-ended, the OQA opens participants to their creative potential and synergy. Organizations using it adapt more readily and become more intelligent.
"There is a mountain in Drammen with a road that circles it many times before it reaches the top. Just like that road, we went around and around with our question until a vision virtually lifted right out the top and we kept going!" - Nordic Coaching Federation participant
Applications
"[The OQA is] embarrassingly effective, because it so far outstrips other methods for accomplishing multiple tasks simultaneously-trust building, vision building, priority setting, and opening to group intelligence while replacing rigid answer-based thinking, one project at a time." - Newman Love, Project Team member in Scandinavia
The OQA is useful for moving conferences and other groups "instantly" to deeper levels of rapport, creativity and productivity. It is especially effective for project management, team building, and community building. It can replace moribund vision and mission statements with vital, compelling visions and provocative mission questions. The OQA raises a group's functional intelligence. Frustrating discussions are replaced with an efficient, intuitively satisfying process.
"Using the question 'How can Bellingham IONS be more of a wisdom community for you?,' the Open Question process completely transformed our group in two hours."
- Gloria Harrison, Bellingham IONS Coordinator"We began our [Board of Advisors] meeting with an Open Question Circle, and found the process so meaningful and fruitful that we dropped the agenda. The Open Question process fulfilled all our needs." - Brita Adkinson, Owner, Wambeliska Retreat Center
History
Daimon Sweeney discovered several basic concepts related to the Open Question and evolving systems. He observed that social organizations tend to fixate on specific aims or behaviors. Beyond their point of effectiveness, these can become highly destructive and prone to catastrophic failure. The logical alternative is to make questions central. With this change, systems adapt incrementally and usefully to evolving circumstances. The Bellingham IONS Project Group was looking for a project. They joined forces and the Open Question Approach™, including the Open Question Circle™, resulted.
The OQ Approach - Checklist and Hints
The OQ Approach - more