Thoughts on the 5 W's and H: Could another question be added to the thought technique

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What are you working on?

I’m currently taking the STEC certification course and working through the 5 W’s and H task.

What are you sharing or asking?

  • While working through the thought experiment, I feel like it’s not actually challenging my assumptions. I’m wondering if we could add questions that probe deeper when using the technique

What’s the context?

##How can others help or join in?

  • Are you hoping for examples, ideas, or questions to reflect on? Yes

What I would love to know is…

What questions would you add to challenge the assumption you are using in the assigned task?

:red_question_mark: Questions I’m considering:

  • WHAT: What other factors could have contributed to the outcome you experienced, if it’s possible that your initial assumption is not correct?
  • WHAT: What pieces of information could you search for to challenge your current assumption?
  • WHY: Is there a benefit to holding your current assumption over considering other contributing factors?
  • HOW: How can you test your current assumption? What other factors or variables can you test for to either prove or disprove your initial assumption?

Task Context: Below is the assumption I’m working through. It’s very raw but want to provide the example I’m working with:

Activity: Use the 5Ws and H Framework to Challenge Assumptions

  1. Identify an assumption: The City of Madison, Wisconsin, gives me headaches

    1. I recently traveled to Madison, Wisconsin. Before I left, I did not have a headache. While I was there, I had a headache the entire time i was there. Coming home, my headache went away.

  2. Challenge your assumptions using thought techniques: Now, use the 5Ws and H (Who, What, When, Where, Why, and How) framework to think more critically about your assumption:

    1. Who was affected by this assumption, and could thinking from their perspective have helped? I was affected by this assumption, but this assumption could affect my partner because we are considering moving there. If I make a decision based on my assumption alone, my partner will be affected as well.

    2. What was the assumption you made? Because I felt bad in Madison, I assumed it was the city, since altering my food did not affect how I felt (this typically works).

    3. When did you make this assumption, and did the timing or time pressure affect the outcome? While I was in Madison

    4. Where did this assumption come from (your past experiences, habits, unconscious biases, etc.)? This is my first time being in Madison, so I have no prior experience.

    5. In answering the previous questions, can you determine why you made this assumption? Because I felt fine before traveling and coming home.

    6. How could you prevent this from happening again? What steps could you take to improve your process or thinking?

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