questions-methodology skill

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name: questions-methodology
description: "Question template for Methodology stories ('Here's how to do X'). Arc: Problem → Experimentation → Discovery → Refinement → Teaching. Use with question-design skill."
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# Methodology Story Questions

**Story type:** "Here's how to do X"
**Arc:** Problem → Experimentation → Discovery → Refinement → Teaching

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## 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.

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## 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?"

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## 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?"

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## 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.

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## 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?"

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*The methodology story earns its authority through honest experimentation.*