Wicked Questions
Surface the paradoxical challenges a group must face to succeed, by naming opposing-yet-complementary forces as a single wicked question. Adapted from Liberating Structures (https://www.liberatingstructures.com/wicked-questions), licensed CC BY-NC 3.0.
3 parts · 7 phases
We'll look for opposite forces that, addressed together, can become complementary. First, work alone.
- List what's true about the challenge
List the things or forces that are true about our shared challenge — both the difficulties and the opportunities.
- Find two truths in tension
Circle two truths that seem opposed or in creative tension with each other.
- Draft a wicked question
Use this template to turn your two truths into a single question:
"How is it that we are ____ while simultaneously ____?"
A truly wicked question makes people go "arrrgh" — both sides are real and both matter.
Now help each other sharpen your questions.
- Make your questions more wicked
Share your draft questions and help each other make them sharper and more paradoxical. You know you've got a good one when it draws an "arrrgh".
- Share your most dramatic questions
Each group shares its most wicked question. Notice which questions have the most potential to move our work forward if we address them creatively.