I have been approached by many novice trainers after they have observed me leading a training session, and they remark about how easy I make it look. Their experience of the session is as if I was just pulling questions out of the air. They wonder how I am able to quickly make up questions which zero in on participant experiences. Their conclusion is often that I was "winging-it." They couldn't be further from the truth, although I have often had to deviate from my original plan and "wing-it".

I have had twenty-five years of experience in asking anchor questions, so the generic stems have become a natural part of my work. I might have 10-20 different stems I can use for each quadrant, and yet I often only need to use 2 or 3. However, I always know which quadrant I am in, which one I am going to, and which quadrant the group is in. I also know that sometimes participants need time to respond to the anchors associated with a particular quadrant, and that if I rush through, they will continue to give me responses related to the previous quadrant.

Most people would learn from their mistakes if they weren't so busy denying they made them.

Grey Owl

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