Nine Whys

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Not five why’s but nine!

In practice

I find the act of answering the Whys to be a strenuous and vulnerable act. It takes so much focus to keep digging within and finding the words to express what I encounter there. I’ve noticed that I become very sensitive to how my questioner interacts with me. Whenever there is a millisecond of inattention or disinterest, the intensity between us wanes, making it even harder for me to respond.

Therefore being the questioner is a big responsibility - stressful, in fact. The energy put into answering the questions can only be honored by matching their intensity and presence. I need to listen deeply and ask questions that will help my partner think. I need to be careful not to bring in new vocabulary or my own ideas because it might break their train of thought.

Workshop design notes

The temperature in the room needs to be tuned very carefully before it’s ready to receive the gift of individuals uncovering layers of intent.

Because the ability of the questioner has such a big impact on the experience, not to mention the “result”, it’s best to model the question-response interaction before asking participants to do it with each other.

On the lookout for recorded examples.

Facilitation notes

When run online, the pair will most likely be in a breakout room. It will be a very intimate space, and we need to be incredible gentle as we call them back to the main room. It’s very easy to break the feeling of connectedness by speaking too loudly or making carelessly casual comments.

If the pair are not able to enter the depth spiral-ing as intended (by going down a different line of questioning, for example) it may be difficult to recover.

Updated February 24th 2021, after another experience with it.

This entry is part of Liberating Structures Field Notes, my collection of stories and reflections from the field. It's written for people who already know LS and are deepening their practice. If you're just getting started and looking for activity instructions, you'll find them at liberatingstructures.com..