Stuck thinking is usually stuck on the wrong question. A question burst generates many questions about a problem in a short, constrained burst (questions only, no answers), to break attachment to the current framing, then ranks them and picks the single most catalytic one. Because a model can generate questions endlessly, the value here is not the generation, it is the ranking and selection: this skill produces a ranked set ending in one chosen next question, never a bulk dump. The output is that ranked question set.
When to Use
- Stuck, or over-attached to a single framing of the problem.
- At the start of exploring an ambiguous problem, before committing to an answer.
- When a better question would unlock more than another answer.
When NOT to Use
- To produce a bulk list of questions with no ranking or selection (low signal; the main failure mode for an AI).
- When the issue needs answers and convergence, not more questions.
- When the catalytic question is already known.
Instructions
When asked to run a question burst, follow these steps:
- State the problem in one line.
- Burst. Generate roughly 12 to 20 questions about it. Questions only, no answers, no preamble. Mix angles: why, how, what-if, who, what-would-change-if. Keep it brief.
- Rank. Order the questions by how much answering them would change the approach, not by how easy they are.
- Select. Choose the single most catalytic "next question" and give a one-line reason it would shift the problem.
- Emit the ranked question set per
references/TEMPLATE.md.
Output Format
Use the template in references/TEMPLATE.md. The deliverable is the ranked questions plus the one chosen next question, not a flat list and not answers.
Quality Checklist
Before finalizing, verify:
- The burst was questions only, no answers.
- The questions are ranked by catalytic potential, not ease.
- Exactly one "next question" is selected with a reason.
- The output curates, it does not just dump a long list.
- The output is the ranked question set artifact.
Evidence
Tier P. The method is Hal Gregersen's question burst (MIT Sloan): generate many questions under a strict questions-only rule, then find the catalytic ones. MIT Sloan reports participant benefits (broader view, recognizing one's own role); there is no controlled decision-outcome evidence, and for AI the generation half has little value, so this skill is built around curation. Evidence is transferred from human workshops, not AI-validated. Full grading: evidence/dossier.md.
Examples
See references/EXAMPLE.md for a completed ranked question set.