questions-evolution skill

---
name: questions-evolution
description: "Question template for Evolution stories ('X changed from A to B'). Arc: Origin State → Pressure → Transition → New State → Reflection. Use with question-design skill."
---

# Evolution Story Questions

**Story type:** "This thing changed from X to Y"
**Arc:** Origin State → Pressure → Transition → New State → Reflection

---

## The Shape

Evolution stories track how something transformed over time - a project, a practice, a belief, a relationship. The reader watches change unfold and learns about the forces that drive transformation.

**What makes it work:** The tension between what was and what became. Evolution requires pressure - something had to push against the status quo.

---

## Question Sequence

### Opening: The Origin State
*What it was before change began.*

- "What was [thing] like in the beginning?"
- "What was it designed to do? What problem did it solve?"
- "What did you believe about it then?"
- "What was working? What assumptions were you making?"

### Pressure: Why Change Became Necessary
*The forces that pushed against the status quo.*

- "What started to not work?"
- "What pressure built up over time?"
- "Was there a breaking point, or gradual erosion?"
- "What could you no longer ignore?"
- "What external forces were pushing?"

### Transition: How Change Happened
*The messy middle of transformation.*

- "How did the change actually happen?"
- "Was it intentional or did it emerge?"
- "What did you try that didn't work?"
- "What had to be let go of? What was hard to release?"
- "Were there false starts or wrong turns?"

### New State: What It Became
*The transformed form.*

- "What is [thing] like now?"
- "What's different? What stayed the same?"
- "What can it do now that it couldn't before?"
- "What trade-offs did you accept?"

### Reflection: Meta-Learning
*What this teaches about change itself.*

- "Looking back, was the change inevitable?"
- "What did this process teach you about transformation?"
- "Would you do it the same way again?"
- "How do you recognize when something else needs to evolve?"

---

## Tacit Knowledge Triggers (Evolution-Specific)

- "What died in the transition? What was the cost?"
- "What tried to stay the same that had to change?"
- "When did you know the old way was really over?"
- "What do you miss about how it was before?"
- "What couldn't exist until after the change?"

---

## Walking Adaptation

**First quarter:** Origin State (establish the baseline, comfortable territory)
**Second quarter:** Pressure + early Transition (tension building)
**Third quarter:** Transition completion + New State (resolution)
**Final quarter:** Reflection (meta-learning, synthesis)

The Pressure section benefits from walking - physical movement can help process the discomfort of what wasn't working.

---

## Example: Stockbook → Zenvestor

**Opening:** "What was Stockbook in the beginning? What problem were you solving?"
**Pressure:** "What started to break? When did you know it wasn't sustainable?"
**Transition:** "How did the decision to rebuild happen? What did you throw away?"
**New State:** "What is Zenvestor now that Stockbook could never have been?"
**Reflection:** "What did building the same thing three times teach you about software evolution?"

---

*The evolution story honors both what was and what became.*