Methodology Story Questions

Story type: “Here’s how to do X” Arc: Problem → Experimentation → Discovery → Refinement → Teaching

The Shape

Methodology stories share a way of doing things that works. But they’re not manuals – they’re stories of how the method was discovered and refined. The reader learns both WHAT to do and WHY it works.

What makes it work: Earned authority. The method came from real problems, real failures, real refinement. It’s not theory – it’s practice that’s been tested.

Question Sequence

Opening: The Problem

What drove the search for a method.

• “What problem were you trying to solve?”
• “What was frustrating you?”
• “What wasn’t working with existing approaches?”
• “How long did you struggle before you found something that worked?”

Experimentation: What You Tried

The search process – including failures.

• “What did you try first?”
• “What didn’t work? What did you learn from that?”
• “Where did you look for ideas?”
• “What assumptions did you have to abandon?”

Discovery: Finding What Works

The core of the method emerging.

• “When did you find something that actually worked?”
• “What was different about this approach?”
• “How did you know it was working?”
• “Was it a sudden breakthrough or gradual improvement?”

Refinement: Making It Reliable

From “it worked once” to “it works consistently.”

• “How did you test it? How did you break it?”
• “What edge cases did you discover?”
• “How has the method evolved since you first found it?”
• “What’s the simplest version that still works?”
• “What’s essential vs. what’s optional?”

Teaching: Transmission

How to help others learn it.

• “How do you explain this to someone new?”
• “What do people usually get wrong at first?”
• “What’s the first thing someone should try?”
• “What prerequisites does this require?”
• “How do you know when someone has really got it?”

Tacit Knowledge Triggers (Methodology-Specific)

• “What’s the thing you do that you don’t even think about anymore?”
• “What would break if you stopped doing [specific step]?”
• “What variation have you developed that nobody else does?”
• “What’s the ‘feel’ of doing this right vs. wrong?”
• “What can’t be written down – what has to be experienced?”

Walking Adaptation

First quarter: Problem + early Experimentation (establish stakes) Second quarter: Experimentation failures + Discovery (the search) Third quarter: Refinement (the craft of making it work) Final quarter: Teaching (how to transmit it)

The Refinement section often surfaces tacit knowledge – they may not know what they know until they try to explain it.

Example: AI Collaboration Method

Opening: “What wasn’t working in your early attempts to use AI for coding?” Experimentation: “What approaches did you try that failed?” Discovery: “When did you find something that actually worked? What was different?” Refinement: “How has your method evolved? What did you add, what did you drop?” Teaching: “If you were teaching someone your approach, what’s the first thing you’d have them try?”

The methodology story earns its authority through honest experimentation.