Methodology Story Questions

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

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.

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?"

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?"

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.

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?"

The methodology story earns its authority through honest experimentation.

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