HOW TO REBUILD TRUST THROUGH QUESTION STORMING

BY SANDRA BAER

For years, city leaders have been too quick to jump to answers and invest in technology that fails to address the interdependencies across city challenges. We must inspire new approaches to understanding the problems many cities face through Question Storming, which is based on the idea that to change the world, we must ask questions that disrupt the world.

In 2020, my business partner and colleague Dr. Lawrence Jones and I decided that we were of one mind about how cities often are too quick to jump to solutions and too quick to jump to answers. We decided to do a process called Question Storming. It’s not brainstorming, but it’s an idea that says we can solve problems in new ways. We can get people to think differently, take different actions, and, sometimes, find solutions they’d never thought of before.

The experience of Question Storming is intense and, for some, life-changing, always resulting in insights and actionable ideas. Our intention is to help us “see” a difficult question through the lens of others—to be open-hearted and openminded and willing to truly listen. Rather than being certain we are right, we learn to view differences of opinion in a clear light, ideally creating a more trusting world.

Our research reveals that inertia and a willingness to follow a traditional path—to “do things the ways they have always been done”—get in the way of truly exploring a question.

To set the stage for Question Storming, we share H.L. Mencken’s quote: “For every difficult question, there is an answer that is simple, clear, and wrong!” We discovered that this is true.

We’re taught to give answers. From when you are little, you ask your parents a question, and they’re expected to answer it. When you go to school, you ask your teacher a question, and they are supposed to give you an answer. And now that you’re an adult, you’re expected to have those answers. But it’s not always the case that giving those answers quickly is the right solution.

For Question Storming, we gather a group of 10 to 20 people from diverse backgrounds and experiences, allowing a brief introduction only stating their name, location, and passion. We then pose a “difficult question,” for example, “How can we rebuild trust?” The session, lasting 90 minutes, has just three rules, designed to provoke new thinking and fuel new actions.

First, we ask that each person be receptive and willing to truly listen Complexity is not a justification for inaction. It means that you have to listen even more intensively. Listening is critical to delving deeper into the problem. Put aside smartphones, close the computer, and take time to allow each question to inform your thinking. Know that we are not in a hurry. Question Storming works best when we take the time and space to reflect and discover.

Second, we ask that you are committed to problem-solving and willing to only ask questions. We are not interested in commentary or immediate answers—only

Sandra Baer CEO, Personal Cities Washington, D.C.

Sandra Baer is a champion of creative collaborations between the public and private sectors. She leads Personal Cities, a smart city company focused on city identity and placemaking, social inclusion and equity, climate actions, and accelerating digital technology investments to support innovators and entrepreneurs. She has advised cities in the U.S., Europe, India, and Middle East and has consulted Cityzenith, Citibeats, and Urban Leap. She has served on the board of professional and civic organizations and has held marketing leadership roles with ATT, Speechworks, Discovery Channel, Smart Cities Council, CIVIQ Smartscapes, and Bloomberg Government. Baer is the brand ambassador for SmartCitiesWorld, a special advisor to “Saving the City: Remaking the American Metropolis,” and on the global advisory board of Leading Cities.

questions that “peel the onion” and reveal a set of catalytic questions.

For example: What is trust? How do we measure it? Can it be taught? Once trust is broken, can it be repaired? What is the relationship between trust and religion? Trust and technology? Trust and social media? Trust and nature? The list is endless and helps us to rethink our perceptions.

Finally, at the end of 30 to 40 minutes, we ask each participant to state the most insightful questions they heard, setting a launch pad for Solution Storming.

Because the issue is quite complex, we

How to Rebuild Trust

Question Storming to Create a Platform for Thinking Differently and Taking New Actions

acknowledge that enduring solutions will require more time, more conversations, more analysis, and more work. Yet we also recognize that the process can invoke new ideas and new approaches that had never come to mind before.

As a call to action, we invite everyone to try out the Question Storming process in their community, with their family, or at work. We believe that to change the world, you must ask questions that disrupt the world, so we encourage everyone to become a Question Storming ambassador.

Buckminster Fuller inspires our work every day: “You never change things by fighting the existing reality,” he said. “To really change something, you must build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete.” We invite everyone to push for new models and new ways of living and working in our uncertain and constantly evolving world.

I’m so passionate about Question Storming and our ability not only to trust one another but to help cities become much more resilient, sustainable, and intelligent.

For help in facilitating a Question Storming event, please contact me at sandra@personalcities.org.