Strengthening the Inquiry

In conducting an inquiry using CHRIIS or another tool, we can seek to strengthen our models of the organization, environment, and situation in a number of ways. We can evaluate how we have framed things, and whether we have captured the essence of the situation and the factors involved in it. We can insure that we include as many relevant parts, relationships, and perspectives as we can, and even go beyond what we recognize as relevant (see "gigamapping"; Sevaldson, 2011). We can seek evidence of fidelity and accuracy. We can be thoughtful in our choice and application of tools. Most importantly, we can continually assess our increase in understanding.

We can be equally disciplined in strengthening the inquiry itself, since it too is a system. For example, we can evaluate and strengthen the parts and the relationships in our methods and tools. In the case of CHRIIS, this involves constructing questions that improve our definitions of the action-object pairs, and more importantly, the relationships among them.

Here are some sample questions for the steps:

• Challenge Identity: Have we been sufficiently critical—not too much, not too little—in asking who are we?

• Honor Values: Have we included all relevant perspectives in asking what we value?

• Release Assumptions: What evidence do we have that our assumptions are reasonable?

• Imagine Ideals: Have we intentionally over-conceptualized and under-specified our ideal images (Weick, 2004)?

• Innovate Actions: What has informed our critique and selection of direction, and our planning?

• Sustain Transformation: Have we designed enabling systems to sustain and nurture change?

Here are a few sample questions to strengthen relationships, in this case relationships among adjacent steps:

• How do our articulated values align with and inform our identity?

• Has our examination of assumptions been deep enough to productively guide our imagination?

• Have we been sufficiently creative in innovation such that movement will be as near to ideals as possible?

And here are sample questions that relate to the whole:

• Does the inquiry move us in a good direction? Do our judgments in designing the inquiry have positive consequences?

• Does the inquiry give us deeper understanding and put us in a stronger position for the next moves?