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Timely Action Inquiry

ARINA’s philosophy, principles, and praxis cite action inquiry as the individual and collective practice that will need to be embedded in endeavors at all levels of the organization. In this way, we can consciously engage the process of the emergent activity that is happening all the time, inwardly and outwardly. Thus, we all have a responsibility to learn, model, and teach timely action inquiry in the course of fulfilling our roles. 

As people associate with ARINA, we do not expect them to be familiar with this practice. At the same time, we convey this praxis as one that characterizes ARINA, so that everyone begins with knowing the expectation to learn about and use it, alone and with others. It is a means to the end of creating and sustaining a culture of creativity, reflection, and increasing conscious awareness that is so essential for transformative work (not to mention, it's an end in itself due to its transformative value)!

To make it easier to get into the increasingly timely practice of action inquiry, individually and collectively, we provide below a “template” for using action inquiry in any setting or instance. It includes some explanations and examples. We think these are natural human behaviors, and some might seem quite obvious. Yet, we find that it takes practice to pay attention to what we're doing as we're actually doing it! We usually need practice to develop healthy new habits.

The "template" certainly does not represent “all” that’s involved in action inquiry, but it has proven to be an effective way to begin. Some people begin by using this after a specific task or effort, as a reflective evaluation/learning process. The experiential learning and increased effectiveness that comes from evaluating efforts after-the-fact can gradually lead people to  recognize that using action inquiry during efforts leads to even more learning and effectiveness. That is the ideal of timely action inquiry.

The six, simple reflection questions are worded in a generic way, with “after” and “during” versions of key questions. After first introducing the questions in a straightforward, numbered list, they are then repeated with annotations and some examples of ways they might be tailored to specific events. The collective pronoun “we” is for group reflection moments, and can be replaced by the first person pronoun “I” for individual reflections.

Notice that there is a natural rhythm through the questions, one of gazing both inward and outward, each movement informing the next, helping us engage the territories of our individual and collective experience. Also notice that the last inquiry affords us an important “network linkage” that reminds us to share what we learn not only with those in our immediate circles, but throughout the ARINA network. These are pearls to be intentionally shared with others in specific and generalized forms, and Our Oyster Bed! is for just that purpose!

“Template” for Timely Action Inquiry    1.      What did we set out to do? (And, in the midst: What are we trying to do?) 2.      What was important to us in doing          this?    And, in the midst: What is important to us, right now, in doing this?) 3.      How did we do? (And, in the midst: How are we doing?) 4.      What have we learned from this?     (And, in the midst: What are we learning?) 5.      Do we need to re-examine any of our assumptions about this? (And, in the midst:  What assumptions are operating right now?) 6.      How can we, and others, use what we’ve learned? (And, in the midst: How can this moment’s learning inform us?) For individual inquiry, substitute “I” for “we” and use both when with others! ARINA, Inc.   This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License. 2004

Discussion & Examples

 1.       What did we set out to do?         

This question reminds us of our “agenda,” whether in a meeting that literally has a written agenda, or in any effort we intend(ed) to engage. It reminds us of our original and ongoing intentions, and we can develop a discipline of being explicit within and amongst ourselves about them. We can be surprised when we begin to notice how many efforts we start and even finish without ever having been explicit about why we were really doing them. There are often several reasons, and they need to be named so we’re conscious of them and can work with them. Even in developing basic meeting agendas and items within them, this is a key question.

Using this inquiry to revisit our strategy for accomplishing something is effective for making course corrections in the midst of action, or in after-the-fact evaluation of a strategy that has been implemented.

Examples:

§         Planning a meeting agenda. “The most pressing purpose of this meeting needs to be our thorough discussion and decision about _____. So, let’s not follow the usual meeting routine and risk running out of time for this. We don’t need to allocate precious in-person time to verbal committee reports that can be done in writing.”

§         Contemplating the act of confronting another person about something. “What is the real issue here for me? What am I hoping to accomplish by raising this issue? Am I really clear enough, in myself, to do this right now?”

§         While planning a conference format: “This schedule is definitely managing to squeeze in all the presenters we wanted the participants to hear. It’s shaping up nicely, and we still have some question and answer time after each speaker.” “Are we forgetting we wanted to have interactive learning dynamics? How will the limited question and answer time make that qualitative difference?”

2.      What was important to us in doing this?

This query helps us be explicit about our motives and strategies. One of the first benefits of this question is that it opens a prime opportunity to listen for, and articulate, the assumptions that underlie our motives and strategies. When this question is used to “slow us down” long enough to really pay attention to what we’re thinking, saying, and planning, those unstated assumptions have a chance to surface. Our assumptions can sabotage our efforts, perhaps more often than we realize.

The second benefit of this inquiry is to be clear about the values underlying our aims and outcomes. If we do not develop a clear picture of what we are hoping to accomplish and the values and principles our aims are anchored in, it can be very easy to move off-target. It will also be very difficult to evaluate our effectiveness afterward.

Examples:

§         In the midst of a long but unfinished group discussion: “We’re all tired and we’re having trouble keeping our focus. Yet we also agreed it was essential to get at least this one major issue worked out before we leave. Will it help us re-focus, and re-gather our energy, if we each re-state why we believe, or believed, this was so important to do?”

§         In debriefing after a meeting to get citizens working on an issue: “Why didn’t anyone sign up for a task force to work on this? That was the whole point of having the meeting!” “Okay, we designed and called the meeting to get what we wanted out of it, and it didn’t work. So, did we totally forget to consider what other citizens might have wanted to get out of coming? Maybe we assumed they wanted the same things we wanted, and they didn’t. Come to think of it, we didn’t even ask them why they came tonight, or what they wanted to get out of it.”

 3.      How did we do?                           

This is a qualitative evaluation, and a useful inquiry to accompany the more classic quantitative question, What did we accomplish? It presumes we had clarity of intention and reasons for the strategies we used, so we can compare our performance with our expectations or hopes. There is another benefit of this question, especially when it is used in the midst of endeavors. When we encounter unexpected difficulties and surprisingly successful effects, it can “slow us down” to re-assess situations and make course corrections that can be more effective in fostering the desired outcomes.

Examples:

§         Inner thoughts, in the midst of confronting a co-worker about something: “At the rate this conversation is going, our working relationship is going to be permanently soured. Is my complaint about that other incident really worth this? Which principle do I value the most here? How can I change what I’m doing?”

§         In the midst of a workshop event: “Hmm, participants are generating a lot of substantive learning in this interactive session. The schedule is tight, and the next session is supposed to be _______ giving a presentation. That activity will seem too passive, dissipate the energy, and fail to use all this new learning. When we planned this, we didn’t imagine folks would be so engaged this early in the workshop. Maybe we better figure out how to re-work the next session.”

4.      What have we learned from this?  (And, in the midst: What are we learning?)

This inquiry needs to become a classic evaluative question, because it draws our conscious attention “full circle” back to the beginning. This can refer to the beginning of an event, or the beginning of a moment. If “events particularize our ultimate creative power,” this inquiry gleans the learning that empowers. Ideally, this query applies to and engages the full spectrum of who and what is involved in an event or moment. This is part of researching our experience.

Individually, the question applies to our body and embodied actions, mind, and spirit, so all levels of an experience can be integrated. Collectively, it scoops up and includes those individual learnings, and puts them into conversation with our other learnings so they are further integrated. It also puts them into conversation with others’ learnings – integrates them – and into a group’s collective learning as a group.

            Examples:

§         Individual reflecting after a conversation with someone: “Hmm, I didn’t go into that discussion with any real clarity of intention, did I? That may have contributed to why things seemed fuzzy in the middle of the conversation. Oh, and I didn’t even notice, at the time, how fuzzy it was! I remember feeling fidgety at one point, and a bit impatient. So, I’m learning it will be helpful if I take at least a moment to ‘check in with myself’ beforehand, and get clear about why I’m in the conversation to begin with.” 

§         In a group reflection, after deliberating about alternative ways to do something new: “I am amazed at how much I learned from really listening to what each of you were saying, and why it was important to you. It brought out so much more life experience than I could possibly know about by myself. I’m learning I can’t know as much as I need to know about some things, without including others’ knowledge too.” “I was so sure I knew in my head what we ought to end up deciding, but I was fooled! By the time we all contributed our diverse perspectives, values, and experiences, we came to an unusual synthesis I never could have imagined. And I think it will be more effective than what I thought initially.” “We decided to take this deliberative approach because we thought this would be a pretty complicated issue to figure out. We’ve really learned how productive and creative it is, haven’t we?

5.      Do we need to re-examine any of our assumptions about this?

By the way this inquiry is worded, it serves as an in-built reminder that we always want to “do” question 2, so we identify our entering assumptions early in our efforts. We cannot re-examine, in inquiry 5, what has not already been examined. The value of re-examining our assumptions, of course, is that it is an opportunity to adjust our perceptions that underlie assumptions. It also can bring to our conscious attention any hidden assumptions we had not realized we were operating on. Once an event has reached its completion, we are better equipped to stand back and search for other assumptions as part of fully developing our learning.

Examples:

§         In an individual reflection: “I had no idea he would remember what I said about my feelings after that incident last year. He has still seemed so callous in his comments. I assumed that indicated what I said last year just went right over his head. Hmm, what else have I been assuming about him?”

§         In a group reflection: “Almost the whole time we’ve been working on this, we were assuming their behavior was all their own fault, their own choice. What we just finished talking through right now, though, gives us insight into how our own assumptions blinded us to our role in the situation. What else might we be assuming about this, that might be fooling us into thinking things are simpler than they are?”

 6.      How can we, and others, use what we’ve learned?

The precious pearls of our learning need to “seed” new pearls in other oysters! Un-used or un-shared learning is as useless as not having learned at all. This inquiry directs our attention to intentionally planning how to keep building on the learning we gain, for our own and others’ benefit.

For the greatest personal and social benefit, it is best to spend enough time in this inquiry to formulate the learning in two different ways, where possible. It is rare that an “exactly the same” event will arise in the future. But we, or others, may experience similar sorts of events. The first way to articulate the learning is in the context of the general situation in which it arose. Others may have similar situations and can apply what we share with them. The second way to develop the learning is to scan our individual and/or joint experiences, and look for other contexts where similar patterns may or do occur. We may notice patterns of behavior within ourselves, or in social interactions or issues. When we can formulate the learning to apply to human patterns in other contexts, it becomes generalized knowledge we can both use and share.

§         Continued, individual reflection from first example in question 4, above. “And if I do check in with myself beforehand, then it will help me notice how things are going from my perspective in the midst of a conversation. And I can pay more attention to what my body and background attitude are trying to tell me in the midst of things. Then I can check with the other person to find out if things seem to be getting confusing or fuzzy, from their perspective. Yes, this little experience taught me some things I can use in the middle of every interaction.”

§         Continued, group reflection in second example of question 4, above: “It sounds as though there might be a number of other occasions when a similar approach would yield better outcomes. Perhaps we should identify what different kinds of situations and decisions we confront, and which ones can put this learning to ongoing use.”

Concluding note: Timely action inquiry is an ongoing process. Practiced over time, it becomes more and more a constant process operating at various scales and in various domains of our existence. The conclusion of every reflection becomes the beginning of a new one. This is one way to foster conscious living, through conscious ways of being and operating in the world. Definitely a pearl worth sharing!