4 Strengths and weaknesses of the question ladder

Photo of a man’s head with a fourteen cartoon question marks above him
Figure 5: When you have completed the question ladder, you'll need to select the most appropriate questions

The question ladder provides a structured and systematic approach to building a series of questions, and this is its major strength. Others include versatility (it can be applied to any problem or opportunity), the simplicity of completing the template by following the across-and-down approach, and how the questioning gently becomes more complex – and contested – as you move from left to right across the grid.

However, the disadvantage is that while the question ladder helps you to generate many different questions, some of these questions will be redundant. You will generate questions that you never use, which can be frustrating. In addition to this, while you select the most appropriate questions to seek answers to, this does not necessarily mean that you will be able to gain answers to them and therefore there may be evidence gaps. While having good questions increases the chances that you will gather robust evidence, it does not guarantee it.

As a way of checking and critically reviewing the answers to the questions, it might be helpful to use the DIY Toolkit Evidence Planning Tool which can be found on page 10 of the DIY Toolkit [Tip: hold Ctrl and click a link to open it in a new tab. (Hide tip)] . This will support you in re-examining ‘why you are doing what you do,’ and whether your approach is the best it can be. The tool is a quick way to help reconnect with the goal of your work and improve the chances of realising it.

Activity 4

Timing: Allow around 30 minutes for this activity

Reflect on a problem or opportunity of your own, either at home or in the workplace, and complete a Question Ladder Template to help you examine it in more detail. Once you have completed the template, select the questions that you feel are the most relevant to your problem or opportunity. You can choose as many or as few as you need.

Discussion

I hope you found that you were able to complete most of the cells, and then select the questions you felt were the most useful for your problem or opportunity. The process itself might have brought some revelations, and the completed template should help you see where you need to gather more information in order to better understand the issue.

3 The question ladder: a case study