Untold Stories. What are they not telling you?

Reveal multiple layers of depth and meaning through provocative prompts.

Don’t you ever tire of dancing around the real issues at work? Have you ever wondered what the real story is behind the so-called ‘user’ story? What’s not being said may be more important than what is.

The purpose of ‘Provocative Prompts’

The purpose of ‘provocative prompts’ is to timely surface hidden and unexplored perspectives. They may be uncomfortable, and they invite candor, yet they shouldn’t trigger combativeness. The intention is to broaden the narrative so that the Scrum Team (and broader organization) may see the bigger picture. It allows the team members and stakeholders to voice their doubts sooner rather than later. If there is any tension, let’s clear the air right away.

For me, Provocative Prompts proved effective during Product Backlog refinement when I observed neither stakeholders nor team members cutting to the chase. In bolder terms, I used it when I felt the Scrum Team needed to cut through the bullshit.

20 provocative prompts

You can provoke “Untold Stories” using these 15 prompts as a Scrum Master to help your team uncover what’s really at stake.

• “What or who is missing from [the story]?”
• “What’s really important that is not told?”
• “What might [the storyteller] have kept from you?”
• “In what way does [this story] impact you personally?”
• “What is implied here?”
• “Do you really believe that [doing this] will make [that] better?”
• “What’s the BIGGER picture?”
• “Who’s ambition is it?”
• “How do you know this approach is right?”
• “What’s the first thing we should ask ourselves?”
• “What do you find uncomfortable about [the story]?”
• “What might [the storyteller] really need to know about?”
• “Is it really going to improve [the situation]?”
• “What might be the unintended outcome of [the story]?”
• “What might really be behind [the story]?”
• “What did the story reveal that wasn’t explicitly told?”
• “How is [a person] really impacted by [this story]?”
• “What’s still not clear about [this story]?
• “What really needs to be revealed?”
• “What’s important to you, but not mentioned in [the story]?”

The impact of ‘Untold Stories’

Yes, it makes your team members and stakeholders uneasy. At the same time, this play may promote psychological safety. It requires openness and courage. In time, it increases trust. After all, you don’t want the Untold Stories to be revealed during a Sprint Retrospective (or a Post Mortem 😵) when it’s too late to act on them.

Applying these provocative prompts can be hit or miss. It does involve some awkwardness. Good! Embrace it.

Team members may make (wild) assumptions and express concerns in responding to the prompts. Great! it’s better to have these out in the open, so the group can clear them up before they breed discontent.

It’s near impossible to determine the impact of these prompts. Would they have made a difference in the chatbot example? We can’t run parallel timelines to compare outcomes. At the very least, they offer the opportunity for individuals to broaden their perspectives, to be heard, welcome critical thinking, and assess their strategies timely.

When and How to Apply?

You can apply these prompts in various ways. For example, rather than asking the question out of the blue, you can invite team members and stakeholders to brainwrite answers collectively on sticky-notes. They may discuss them in pairs before sharing them with the whole group. This way, everyone is involved, and participants can think through their answers before sharing them.

Whether it makes sense to try provocative prompts in your context is for you to contemplate. Context and culture matter. So does your intuition. In my humble experience, it’s most effective when it stirs a little commotion. So be ready for that.

In my experience, it was helpful to test the resolve and congruency of specific stakeholder needs. It resulted in team members openly querying and challenging needs rather than accepting them mindlessly, saving their complaints for when it was too late to address them effectively. It also resulted in stakeholders (and Product Owners) being more thorough in thinking through what they are asking the developers to develop.

You can invite your team and stakeholders to try it out. Be playful. Be bold. Allow the experience to guide your play.

Inspired by: “The Unveiling Stories” a visual thinking routine developed by Project Zero, a research center at the Harvard Graduate School of Education.