By Cuda Zmuda, ICAD Process Designer 2022
As a student who has had the opportunity to develop their facilitation skills through their university experience, I have had the opportunity to learn tips and tricks from a variety of different facilitators. In Dr. Lori Britt’s undergraduate facilitation class, I heard the idea of radical curiosity for the first time.
Dr. Britt shared the concept of radical curiosity, a concept she coined to help students learn how to balance being prepared to guide a group in conversation while also “following” the conversation that emerges. I would describe radical curiosity as being an attitude of diving deeper, beyond the pre-established questions that were developed in advance to shape and guide the conversation.
Radical curiosity represents the importance of treating what we call the Facilitator Guide as a framework to guide discussions. Preparing a guide is important as a way to think of the types of questions that will help a group achieve its goals. However, radical curiosity allows us to better react and adapt to the conversation as it unfolds. It allows the conversation to emerge organically and promotes richer understanding of others’ perspectives and experiences.
When I had the opportunity to facilitate a conversation with a group of community members from a variety of professions working to use their knowledge and experiences to consider options for addressing housing accessibility and affordability, a spirit of radical curiosity led me to ask for clarification of some jargon that group members were using in their discussion. It helped me better understand how to shape questions and to identify themes across answers. It also likely aided others in the conversation by modeling what more can happen when we deeply engage with the ideas of others. Dr. Britt stresses that radical curiosity allows student facilitators to relax and engage more deeply, which I noticed within myself and my peers.
I also recognized that radical curiosity impacted the members of the group engaged in talk. Radical curiosity can encourage everyone to remain in the moment, following ideas as they emerge rather than thinking about what they want to share next. It reminds us to reflect on what is being said and be vulnerable enough to admit that we need more help from a speaker to fully grasp their views. This type of vulnerability can build trust and make people feel heard and understood, which brings groups together.
The major lesson for me is that our pre-planned questions serve as the “chapters” of a book; however, radical curiosity is what allows us to fill the chapters and connect all of the content being discussed, which creates the “full story” which emerges collectively. It empowers facilitators and group members to authentically participate in discussions and prevents pre-planned answers to pre-planned questions.