Resources and References
From KM4DevWiki
Templates
Victoria writes...
"The other template which might be worth drawing on is the one we used more recently for short (one hour) oral history interviews for a lessons learned investigation for our Department of the Environment. Once again, my km is rubbish and I need to find out who has it where, because its in my old crashed hard drive, but I can remember it if I need us too. Briefly, we structured the conversations in 3 parts:
- autobiographical. tell me a bit about yourself up to the point of engaging with this project
- reminiscence, tell me what you recall about the highs and lows and turning points for you, take yourself back to that time and recall it for me
- GAP
- reflection, now you are here, looking back at it but your your present context, what are the lessons you think need to be invested in the future
Remeniscence and reflection are quite different modes. For the former you are inside the story, reliving it, for the latter you are looking back on it from the filter of the present and your predictions for the future. You are outside it and more analytical. We've found its really important to distinguish the two modes or you lose the rich storytelling which remeniscence gives you."
Story eliciting questions
Victoria writes...
"These story eliciting questions came from Lisa Hirsh when she was interviewing someone about a United Way project in Rhode Island at a United Way conference organised by the International Storytelling Centre in Tennessee. The stage was set up in the small theatre with two comfortable chairs, faced slightly towards each other and slightly towards the audience. In the background was a visualisation of the history of the project which created a kind of aspect to the space where you could see the project history, nicely illustrated, as the question and answer unfolded. The sense of intimacy and conversation and Lisa's good questions made a big difference to the depth in which we heard the story of the project. And the 'hero' question seems to me to be a terrific one to get people to really tell you some personal stuff. I like the idea of the questions being 'juicy' too. Bear in mind there is always a tension between the live experience and the documentation process."
Questions for the interview with Tony Maione about his change programme at Rhode Island United Ways.
- What made this such a profound transformation?
- Engaging with the community was really central to the transformation – what were some critical moments, how did you handle them?
- You said that major changes happened on the Board. What was a critical conversation or moment when you felt there was a shift?
- Take us back there What happened?
- United Way has said that it wanted organisations to do public policy. That can sound pretty dry. How did you make that come alive and for whom? Did you use stories? How?
- In classical stories, the hero goes through many changes – fights a dragon, gets advice from a dwarf – personally, what were some of your biggest challenges, perhaps even fears, during this journey?
- As you look forward in the coming 18 months, what’s really exciting to you about what is coming up next on this journey? Where’s the real opportunity?
- (optional) another principle was leverage – how have you made that meaningful for donors?
Tips for crafting good questions
- Have a purpose: what do you want to find out?
- Surprise and invite the interviewee ‘I’ve never said this out loud’
- Make the questions ‘juicy’ – have them be about something you are genuinely curious to learn
- Construct them so they appeal to the head and the heart – what does the person think and feel?
- Provoke self-discovery and learning for individuals, groups and organisations – ‘I’ve never thought about it this way before’
- Include questions that inspire people to think about the future – trends, possibilities, hopes, improvements, leverage
More hints on formulating powerful questions (Marc Steinlin)
Juanita Brown and David Isaacs (the inventors of WorldCafé) have written a short guide: "THE ART OF POWERFUL QUESTIONS - Catalyzing Insight, Innovation, and Action". Nice document! May help, too. Media:Art_of_Powerful_Questions.pdf
