6.8 A starter set of questions
You can use these questions in different ways…
If there’s someone you just want to get to know better, you can do a discovery interview with her and ask her a bunch of these questions to help her talk about herself. And hopefully she’ll get to know herself better, too, in the process.
You can read through these questions to provoke your thinking about the questions you’d like to ask friends or fellow activists.
You can use these questions as they’re needed, as they’re useful, in problem-solving conversations.
What do I call this a starter set? Because people are complex. And there are so many more great questions you can ask them.
When I’m coaching someone…
I ask questions that respond directly to what they need.
So I’m improvising and customizing. And I’m watching how my client reacts so I know what question to ask next.
And sometimes…
I surprise myself with a question I ask.
It’s almost as if I didn’t think of it, but it so badly wanted to be asked that it popped out on its own. Those are some of the best questions.
Of course, with someone you know well, you might not need a set of questions. You might have a very clear idea of how you want to start and then develop the conversation. If so, cool. This starter set is back-up for whenever you need it.
The Starter Set
Past.
When you think back to childhood, do you remember a time when you took stand for something you felt deeply about? Maybe something little. Maybe something big. Did you shut down a bully? Did you name an injustice? What’s another example of taking a stand? And another?
Were there times when it wasn’t safe for you to take a stand, but you wished you could speak out or take action? Tell me about those. And what do those wishes say about who you are?
When did you first become aware that activism was a thing that people did together in an organized way? Did that dawn on you slowly, or was there a specific event that made that clear for you? What was your response? How did that revelation change you?
How has your activism changed over time? Has there been a constant underlying theme? Or has the core of your activism changed?
What’s been your best experience of being part of a team or a group?
Who are the people who have influenced your development as an activist the most? How did they influence you? What was it about them that touched you in a deep way?
Present.
With regard to the activism you’re engaged in presently, what do you feel proud of? What are you struggling with? How does it reward you? In what ways does it ask too much of you? How would you like to change it? Is it changing already?
If you decided to focus on just a few people, who would they be? And what would you do? If you decided you wanted to speak to the largest possible audience, how would you do that?
Are there days when you feel so discouraged about politics and current events that you lose hope altogether? What do you do to take care of yourself on those days? What do you do to climb back out of that despair?
Do you know anyone who’s in a constant state of despair about the future of our country? What do you say to them to help them? What have you not said that you wish you could say?
On a scale of 1 to 10, how scared are you about the future? With 10 being very scared.
If you could pick anyone in the world to represent you in the House and Senate, who would you pick? What do you think it would take to recruit better people to run for office?
How do you think our community could do a better job of taking care of its young people? What do you think can be done about the troublesome division between young women and young men?
Are you friends with someone who has very different political views than you? And if so, what’s that like? Have you lost friends because of political differences? If so, what do you think about that?
How could major corporations help make things better for working families? How could billionaires help make things better for working families? Do you have any hope they would actually ever do any of these things?
What are the challenges of democracy? Why is it so hard for so many people? How can we help them rise to the occasion?
Do you know people who feel politically homeless? If so, what do you say to them?
What do people get wrong about who you are and your activism? How do they misjudge you? What do you want them to know about you, so they can understand you?
Does this country ever break your heart? If so, how and when?
Future.
In what ways do you feel hopeful about the future of activism? In what ways do you not?
If you got a MacArthur grant and could design re-activism any way you wanted to, what would you do?
If we gave you the job of creating a new political party, how would you design it? Who would you put in leadership? What three issues would it start working on first? How would you touch the hearts of the people you wanted to reach?
Wild card.
What question should I ask you that I didn’t ask?
