20 Questions to Surface Tensions

When new to Holacracy practice, leaders often tell me that they are concerned that “no one is bringing up tensions in the meetings.” The facilitator gets through the check-in round and the preamble, and then the dreaded sound of crickets as the agenda stays light or even empty.

It’s normal! Building the mental muscles to think in terms of tensions followed by building the discipline to sense a tension, capture it somewhere other than your head, and then have it ready to add to an agenda, takes time.

When coaching and facilitating new groups, simply leaving space during agenda building in meetings is a useful first step but may not be enough to help scaffold Holacracy practitioners as they build their capacity to sense and capture tensions for processing. I often find a few questions useful to spark additional thinking and precipitate new agenda items to process.

Here is my list of favorite questions to surface tensions.

1. Is there anything I could share or ask now to save writing an email/sending a text?
2. Is there anything I’d like to brainstorm that could use a few more brains?
3. Do I have any news/successes/announcements to share “for the good of the order”?
4. Is there something I need help with?
5. Is any of my work stuck, and could anyone here help me get it unstuck?
6. Is someone else waiting on me for something, and would an update from me help them?
7. Am I regularly doing work not currently captured in my roles?
8. Do I need money/people/other resources allocated from another role?
9. Am I having trouble with any customers/clients/proposals?
10. Is there anything upsetting or frustrating me?
11. Do I intend to make a decision that might impact other roles soon?
12. Is there anyone I’d like to recognize for doing something awesome, or would I like to be recognized for doing something awesome?
13. Do I have any questions about anything shared during the checklist, metrics, or project updates?
14. Is there anything I’m holding inside that would feel better if others held it with me?
15. Is there something someone else did for me as a favor that I would like to expect on an ongoing basis?
16. Is there a useful process/resource/document/tool I use that others might benefit from?
17. Are there any external updates that might impact our business?
18. Is there a Holacracy Habit lesson I found useful or was able to try recently?
19. Is there a company asset, process, or other piece of property I would like to control in my role?
20. Are there any external deadlines approaching that impact my role or another role I need to expect something from?

I also find these questions useful in my individual practice and with clients during one-to-one coaching when they develop their capacity to feel into their tensions, usually through some form of the question, “Is this even a tension?”

My stock answer is a resounding “Yes!”

If something is on your mind, it’s probably a tension. Capture it!

Each tension is unique in how you process it and who you involve. But remember, as long as you have a sense of the tension, you can use the four operational pathways to move forward.

This small cycle of sense, record, and respond is integral not just to Holacracy practice in work but in clarity of mind in life. The faster you are in this cycle, the easier it is to keep your mind and heart open for the next tension to surface.

As David Allen says, 

“The mind is for having ideas, not holding them.”